In a few moments, a new Management Committee and Employment Monitoring Team for the Bonny Integrated Recruitment Centre (BIRC) will be inaugurated. Expectations are high that this will signpost a breath of fresh air into a system that has been groaning under the weight of perceptions that it was not fulfilling its mandate of sourcing, streamlining and creating access to employment for its owners, the people of Bonny Local Government Area.

It is apparent that the new Chairman, Dagogo Fanyeofori Jumbo, also known as, Opuminigi (High tide in Ibani) is broadly accepted choice given the rousing reception that greeted the news of his nomination by the Amanyanabo of Bonny Kingdom, His Majesty, King Dr Edward Pepple III, CON, Perekule XI, and subsequent appointment by the Chairman of Bonny Local Government Area, David Irimagha. His appears to be a household name which symbolized a huge endorsement of his appointment by the entire Bonny Kingdom.

It is on record that opinion is divided over his personality and character. While some who are close to him describe him as very humble, affable, unassuming, a grassroots person, knowledgeable in employment matters, and down-to-earth in his approach to issues, others hold that his carriage, forthrightness, outspokenness, and unbending stance on issues could be an intimidating challenge for a sector that demands diplomacy, tact, firm grasp on issues, negotiation, among other qualities.

The countrywide reception accorded his emergence, however, is expected to serve good uses in the streak of a former Chairman of the BIRC, Idabelema Hart, who in his time, also received such resounding acclaim. This is on the wings of optimism that there will be real change in the current order at the employment bureau as the BIRC was originally known given the qualities already associated with him.

Another dimension to it is that the incoming Secretary of the BIRC, Ibifuro Longjohn, Chairman of the Employment Monitoring Team, Tamuno Dan-Jumbo, amongst other members of both committees, gives some hope that it would no longer be business as usual for the body tasked with the onerous responsibility of managing employment issues in the area.

Ibifuro Longjohn, described as a dogged unionist and a good negotiator of workers’ welfare and wages is said to be an added spice to the well-thought-out choice of the Bonny Monarch and the Bonny LG Chairman of Opumingi to man the BIRC. With another combination of hot, hard and level-headedness in Tamuno Dan-Jumbo, it is generally expected that the best should come to the people of Bonny LGA in terms of employment.

Generally, the issues of employment should cover non-skilled, semi-skilled, and skilled jobs, service based engagements of indigenous companies, among others. The outcry has been on about relegating Bonny people to only menial jobs such as security at company premises, cleaners, helpers, skilled jobs such as scaffolders, welders, riggers, etc, and excluding them from supervisory, managerial and coordinating roles, which allegations are rife that most companies source from places like Lagos and Abuja.  

It is expected that this gaping lacuna should be abridged by engaging the various corporate bodies doing business in Bonny LGA and insist they adhere to the global best practices of equal opportunity and host community prioritisation in employment issues. Bonny job seekers should not only be good enough for on-site jobs while in-house and managerial opportunities are outsourced to others. The indigene/non-indigene quota system should be adhered to with a view to assuring the host community, in this instance, Bonny LGA, of the altruism of the companies in question.  

The Opumingi led BIRC should as a matter of priority checkmate or totally crash the racketeering syndicates that are responsible for sales of employment chances, short-changing of Bonny job seekers, underhand and unwholesome practices that have continued to bedevil the BIRC over the years. Also, the thuggery, hooliganism, touting, and other atrocious practices in and around the BIRC should be done away with.

The system of streamlining the job seekers database needs to be optimised and made accessible to the public. The system should be able capture all categories of job seekers whether graduates or non-graduates and become a template for sourcing candidates for various advertised roles in the various companies. It is also important that the various companies provide their respective nominal roles, not just the list of Bonny people employed by them, but the total staff roll call for the BIRC to keep tabs with their compliance with the quota system which remains the basis of engagement between them and the community.

It is our expectation that the goodwill trending already in their favour will be justified and more and more Bonny people will benefit from their tour of duty at the BIRC.