The Chairman of Bonny Local Government Area, Dame Anengi Wilcox has been applauded for her deft stance on ensuring that employment issues are consistent with established protocols without any interference by the government or its agents.

A former Chairman of the Finima Youth Congress (FYC) and elder of the Buoye Omuso Brown House (BOBH) of Finima, Soala Brown came out with this applause in an interview with Kristina Reports on Sunday, September 4, 2022 in Bonny, Rivers State.

Brown asserted that employment issues are the sole prerogative of the government, noting that the Ministries of Employment, Labour and Productivity are domiciled under the authorities of the federal and state governments, respectively.

He therefore, pointed out that the same responsibility of keeping an overwatch of employment opportunities and the processes of managing them at the grassroots naturally falls under the purview of the local government council.  

“Employment is strictly a government business, that is why all the governments at the various tiers; federal, state or local governments are in charge of the ministries of Employment, Labour and Productivity. That is to let you know that employment is strictly government business.”

“In Bonny, because of the advent of multinational activities, the Bonny Kingdom, in synergy with the Local Government, came up with a strategy on how to manage this employment thing for the betterment of our teeming people.”

“This made the local government and the kingdom to synergize and form first the BKEB, that is Bonny Kingdom Employment Bureau, and later from the experiences they have got, they now modernized it and it’s now called Bonny Integrated Recruitment Center.”

Recently, there has been some hullabaloo over the management of employment chances accruing to Finima Community with allegations that the Bonny LG Chairman interfered with the existing arrangement wherein youths of the community under the aegis of the Finima Youth Congress (FYC) managed the process.

But in his reaction, Elder Soala Brown disagreed with such insinuations, asserting that it had always been the prerogative of the chieftaincy houses to nominate persons to handle employment opportunities coming to respective houses and youth bodies are not involved in handling employment issues.   

“All the 35 houses in Bonny today have youth bodies; the Tolofari House, the Allison House, Pepple House and the Brown House. Everywhere they have youth bodies. Youth bodies are not in charge of their house employment.”

“If employment were to be an exclusively youth thing, maybe, the youth would have said, ‘okay, look, you go and handle it. Also, there is an umbrella youth body in Bonny, the BYF or Bonny Youth Federation. The BYF never meddles in employment matters.”

He disclosed that the Finima Youth Congress only came into employment related issues during the eight years interregnum when there was no chief in Brown House, explaining that such era had passed and there is a return to the status quo, observing that the complaints were only sequestered in the Brown House.

“If you look at it, it is only the Brown House that is complaining. Have the Tobin or Attoni Houses complained of anything about employment?”

“Whether it’s Tamunotonye or Charles or Soala, it’s all Brown House. So, you can see that it’s the Brown House hiding under the cloak of Finima Community to complain in order to draw sympathy.”      

He called on members of the Buoye Omuso Brown House to refuse to be dragged into anything that will compromise the existing peace in Bonny LGA, maintaining that the Chairman, Dame Anengi Wilcox has been doing her best to ensure equal opportunity and fairness to all, especially, those in Finima Community.