RECRUITMENT OF 1,050 GRADUATES TRAINEES INTO THE NIGERIAN NATIONAL PETROLEUM CORPORATION (NNPC); A BREACH OF THE NIGERIA CONSTITUTION

25/5/2020  

HIS EXCELLENCY

MUHAMMADU BUHARI (GCON, GCFR)

PRESIDENT AND COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF

FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA

Dear Mr. President,

RECRUITMENT OF 1,050 GRADUATES TRAINEES INTO THE NIGERIAN NATIONAL PETROLEUM CORPORATION (NNPC); A BREACH OF THE NIGERIA CONSTITUTION

Your Excellency, we join millions of Nigerians all over the world to celebrate Eid-el-Fitri with you and your family.

The National Association of Itsekiri Graduates (NAIG) - a non-political, non-partisan, and non-religious group is an alumni body of all Itsekiri Graduates from various Tertiary Institutions across the world.

The aims and objectives of this Apex Itsekiri graduate body includes;

1. The Association shall also use legitimate means or measures to seek skilled employment and other benefits for its members from all organizations operating within Warri kingdom and other places. The economic wellbeing and or welfare of its members shall be a focal point of the association.

2. The Association shall liaise with the Federal, State, and Local government, Federal Character Commission or its agents, or any other name it may be called from time to time for onward acquisition of its due benefit (quota) in Warri Kingdom, government ministries, extra ministerial departments, the armed forces and other areas that will be beneficial to members of the association.

The Itsekiri People live mainly in Warri South, Warri North, and Warri South West Local Government Councils. These three Local Government Councils make up Warri Kingdom under the over-lordship of the Olu of Warri. Significant Itsekiri Communities also exist in Delta Central, Edo State and Ondo State.

The Itsekiri people are host to the Chevron Tank Farm Ugborodo, Escravos-Gas-To-Liquid Plant, Escravos Export Terminal, Otumara Gas Plant, Abiteye Field, Dibi Field, Olero Field, Okan Field, Meren Field, Uton Nana, and also host major part of the Trans-forcados Pipeline (TFP). We also host the Warri Refinery and Petrochemical Company (WRPC), Nigeria Gas Company (NGC), Nigeria Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) etc. The Itsekiri people produces about 28% of Nigeria’s Oil and Gas.

Your Excellency, the recent recruitment of 1,050 graduates Trainees by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) clearly affects the wellbeing and welfare of members of NAIG especially because it was done in bad faith to shortchange the Itsekiri ethnic Nationality. This is a breach of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which you swore to uphold.

The NNPC recruitment process has also made a mockery of your anti-corruption crusade.

The recent statement credited to the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Dr. Kennie Obateru that the recent recruitment of graduates trainees, experienced hire, and promotion was based on “unblemished academic competence, logical thinking, ability to engage meaningfully in problem solving in addition to Federal Character are key to becoming an employee of the Corporation” is not only ridiculous but laughable.

Your Excellency, it is daylight witchcraft and broad day robbery for the GGM Group Public affairs Division to have stated inter-alia “the basic academic requirement for newly employed Graduate Trainees is a minimum of a Second-Class Upper Division or an Upper Credit for Higher National Diploma, HND certificate holders. Alternatively, a candidate holding a Second-Class Lower Division degree or an HND Lower Credit Diploma Holders must in addition have acquired a Master’s degree in a relevant field’. This is not only a fallacy but a ploy to divert attention of the Nigerian Masses from the evil being perpetrated in the NNPC by a cabal purportedly supported by some top government officials.

We wish to place it on record that over a thousand qualified Itsekiri graduates applied for openings in the recent NNPC recruitment especially the graduate Trainees category. Surprisingly, most of the Itsekiri applicants were not shortlisted for the aptitude test and none employed at the end of the recruitment exercise despite holding not just a Second-Class Degree or an Upper credit HND Certificate but also First Class, and Master’s Degree. We are bewildered that the NNPC perpetrated this daylight robbery despite the provisions of Chapter 2 Section 14 (3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which clearly states that;

“The composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the Federal Character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few state or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that Government or in any of its agencies”.

Your Excellency, it may interest you to know that the NNPC is also in breach of the Section 28(2) of the

Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Act which provides inter alia that " the Board shall ensure that the operator or project promoter maintains a reasonable number of personnel from areas it has significant operation".

Your Excellency, it is this breach of the Nigerian Constitution and Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Act that led the NNPC to approve the sack of over 300 casual workers by the Warri Refinery and Petrochemical Company (WRPC). Sir, it will interest you to know that the over 300 sacked casual workers are mainly from NNPC Host Communities.

Your Excellency, it is also important to state that the NNPC and her subsidiaries have been grossly marginalizing the Itsekiri ethnic Nationality in terms of job placement not only in the recent NNPC graduate Trainees recruitment but also the recent recruitment by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) where about 136 persons were employed with non either from any of the Host Communities in the Niger Delta or the Itsekiri Ethnic Nationality.

The management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has clearly breached the Constitution and the Federal Character Principle in the recent recruitment of Graduate Trainees and Experienced hire as it was done to favour certain political interest and a particular ethnic group.

Your Excellency, assuming without conceding that the Itsekiri ethnic Nationality does not have those qualified going by the NNPC criteria, common sense dictates that “affirmative action” should be considered for such a tribe without qualification.

OUR PRAYERS;

Your Excellency we wish to use this medium to appeal that you take a cursory look at the facts of our petition and use your good office to correct the anomaly in the recent NNPC recruitment by;

1. Compelling the NNPC to publish the names of the over 1,050 successful candidates for the graduate Trainees position. This will not only show transparency but also prove to the general public whether the NNPC has truly breached any section of the Constitution.

2. Compelling the NNPC to hire equivalent numbers of graduate Trainees from Host Communities specifically of the Itsekiri ethnic Nationality to make up for the deficit in their employment quota.

3. The over 300 casual workers sacked by the WRPC be recalled, and given first consideration in the recruitment of experience hire.

4. Compel the PPPRA to give the Itsekiri ethnic Nationality her due quota in the recent employment of about 136 persons carried out by the agency as the recruitment clearly violates Chapter 2 Section 14 (3) of the Nigeria Constitution.

 Your Excellency, these measures will in no small way help in correcting the anomaly in the recent NNPC and PPPRA recruitment exercise.

Eid Mubarak!

Comr. Edema Collins Oritsetimeyin

(President)

Comr. Dede Shuwa

(National. Public Relations Officer)

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