The Rivers State Youth Leaders Assembly (RSYLA) has charged international oil and gas companies (IOCs) to expand the scope of opportunities for indigenes of their operational environments across the Niger Delta region in line with the extant local content laws in the country.

Speaker of the RSYLA, Prince Tonye Jeminimiema gave this charge on Saturday, October 15, 2022 during the Niger Delta Youth Summit organized By the Niger Delta Youth for Practical Development (NDYPD) in Bonny, Rivers State.  

He enumerated the resolutions of the summit as captured in the communique to include

1) NLNG and other IOCs should, as a matter of urgency, accommodate Bonny and Niger Delta Students for IT

2) NLNG Train 7 Project should comply with the Bonny Kingdom Local Content Parameters in the area of Employment, Empowerment, Supplies and Contracts.

3) NLNG and other IOCs should review their staff database or nominal roll in all ramifications to accommodate Bonny and Niger Delta Graduates with respect to Local Content Compliance.

4) Review Salary and Welfare Package for Workers under the NLNG Train 7 Project, considering the hazardous environment they found themselves.

5) NLNG and other IOCs should review, as a matter of urgency, and also take over the Bonny Utility Company (BUC) as per water and light supplies to the Kingdom of Bonny, to give adequate and sustainable attention.

6) Primary Health Care Centers and the Bonny General Hospital should be given adequate attention by the Local Government Council in partnership with NLNG and IOCs in the Kingdom of Bonny.

7) Bonny Local Government Council in partnership with the traditional institution, should as a matter of urgency, review the mobility and operational support of security agencies in the Kingdom of Bonny, to enable them effectively and efficiently deliver on their respective constitutional mandates in the area of protection of lives a d properties of the residents of the Kingdom of Bonny.

8) Companies under the Bonny NLNG Train 7 Projects, and IOC in the Kingdom of Bonny, should as a matter of urgency, review their database or nominal roles to accommodate Bonny and Niger Delta Indigenes residents in Bonny 

He expressed optimism that these steps if taken would reduce the unemployment and poverty rate across the Niger Delta region and in Bonny LGA, in particular, commending some distinguished personalities who were conferred with awards during the summit.

He used the occasion to convey his appreciation to the Amanyanabo and Natural Ruler of Bonny Kingdom, His Majesty, King (Dr.) Edward Asimini William Dappa Pepple III, CON, JP; other traditional leaders, women and youth leaders, and other stakeholders for ensuring sustainable peace and stability prevails in Bonny Kingdom.

In his speech, National President of the Niger Delta Students Union Government (NIDSUG), Maaloo Dgreat commended the organizers for a successful event, regretting the apparent disparity in development paradigms in Lekki in Lagos State and the Niger Delta region, harping on the need to reposition the youths to optimally leverage the multifarious benefits of the oil and gas sector there should be concerted efforts etched on three pillars of Compelling Vision, Sufficient Knowledge and Strategic Engagement.

In his presentation on the theme: “Repositioning the Youths for Effective Participation towards Employment Generation and Local Content Compliance in the Oil and Gas Industry in Bonny Kingdom, Rivers State”, the Keynote Speaker, Michael Jackson, averred that the NLNG and other IOCs should prioritize residents of Bonny LGA in its employment and contract paradigms.  

Earlier in his Welcome Address, Acting Chairman of NDYPD, Bonny Chapter, Lucky Albert said the summit was a platform to discuss burning issues affecting the youths in the area of employment, empowerment and full compliance with the Host Community local content laws and proffer realistic and workable solutions therein.

Some dignitaries including the Chairman, Bonny Local Content Compliance Committee (BKLCCC), Opuada Willie-Pepple; acting Rector, Federal Polytechnic of Oil and Gas (FPOG), Ibifiri Pollyn; a former Permanent Secretary in the Rivers State Government, Fubara Hart, amongst others were conferred with awards at the event.