Politician, businessman, husband and father of two lovely daughters, Sodienye Amah Pepple is the Public Relations Officer of the Bonny Integrated Recruitment Centre (BIRC). An alumni of the University of Port Harcourt, Choba, he has distinguished himself in diverse fields of endeavour and today is responsible for the reputation management of Bonny Kingdom employment house.

In this interview with Kristina Reports’ Correspondent, Clariza Allison, he clarifies issues relating to the operations of the BIRC, gives insight into the corporate policy thrust of the current administration and volunteers advice on what residents of Bonny LGA, whether indigent or resident can do to leverage opportunities in the various construction projects and post construction phases of the various projects in the area. Enjoy!

Kristina Reports: What is this BIRC all about?

Sodienye Pepple: Well, the Bonny Integrated Recruitment Centre is an employment house. A lot of activities in the society hover around employment. Employment is at the core of everything. So, it’s an employment house, where every kind of employment in Bonny is managed. This is where you hire and staff the companies in Bonny.

How would you describe the journey so far?

Well, the journey, so far, as it concerns this administration has been wonderful. There are few changes the leadership of Amasenibo Louis Banigo has brought to bear. I can say, so far, it’s been good. Though, it’s been very challenging I think we’ve had results, very positive results too.  

We are talking about results…

Yes, employment results, we don’t have any other results, if not what concerns our office. There are new innovations and new operational fronts that are being developed. It’s been wonderful but very challenging, especially, when you’re innovating things for the first time. It’s not easy. We get reports, positive and negative, and most of them are criticisms that comes from the place of ignorance. We try our best to also educate people on what we are doing.

How long had this administration been in office?

This administration was inaugurated last two years, July, 2022.

So, in this two years, if you were to mention how many requisitions have you gotten? how many of those requisitions have been closed out, like people being employed and all of that?

That will be a lot of documents. I implore members of the public to just come around and take a look. Everything is documented like I have here. I can quote off hand what we have had in the last three months, which is quarterly. Per quarter, that’s three months, I can give a rundown of how many employments we’ve done, how many have succeeded, how many are waiting. There are a few other factors though, we have X factors. We have persons that passed and persons that failed; they have also processes. There are also people on the waiting which is what we see typically during operation in the site.

Now, before this administration came on board there used to be a large crowd here but we don’t seem to see that crowd now what could be that magic one that extra thing that you get that BIRC has done to be able to…?

First of all, I must give applause to our bosses up there, the traditional council and Bonny Local Government Chairman. First of all, we have more spaces to accommodate people courtesy of the Council Chairman, Hon. Anengi Barasua Claude-Wilcox, we must give it to her. The new edifice is a big, big facelift for us and it has helped a lot. I will also give applause to my Chairman, Sir Louis Banigo. He is at the policy level. There are a few policies that he has created that has made this crowd reduce drastically; not because we chased them out but due to somethings he introduced. Of course, at the operational level – when he sets a policy and we agree to carry it out. One of such is the policy that the employment chances go to the chieftaincy houses strictly. So, you make people to participate at the House level, right? When the employment goes there you see the crowd here reduces.

Apart from that, as I said the Council Chairman has given us a waiting hall. Now, you can relax and wait for your turn to be attended to. Mind you, this crowd are of two categories, one of people that are looking for jobs, which, like I said, has reduced because you have to go through your Houses. Secondly, there are a few persons on the waiting list – test issues, victimization, we get complaints – it’s pretty more like a police station at some point. So, it’s a general waiting room. At some point, there are about 70% of complaints which hit directly at my office or other of our offices and we handle immediately.

Looking at what you have explained now, there have been issues of job racketeering, selling of chances and all of that; what is the position and what is the body language of the current administration in things like this?

First of all, at the beginning of this tenure the Chairman put us all on a very tight leash and this is the first time we presented ourselves to the public. When we get any complaint we hit it at his table, you don’t have to cover anything. This is the first administration that we have arrested somebody that came to buy job, the first time since inception. This is the first time we’ve purged ourselves and the Chairman is willing to suspend anyone who defaults. But I can tell you now, categorically, that employment racketeering does not happen within the offices of this BIRC. Why I’m saying this now is because I need to challenge the public to bring me results, otherwise to say office A, office B even the Chairman has put up himself for public scrutiny. I say the case is the transaction that have gone on the employment racketeering, bring it and we will deal with it decisively. Count our failure when we are not able to nip it in the bud and like you know also, the Council Chairman has said it as well that she has zero tolerance for it and we are following suit also.

My Chairman has zero tolerance for it, even me speaking I am under scrutiny too, eyes are watching me. So, I charge every member of the public that anything concerning job racketeering within the BIRC, call my attention to it. This is our first port of call which we can handle, which we are very responsible for. There are other forms of job racketeering too at the site level which we are not saddled with the responsibility to prosecute. We don’t have the resources to charge and prosecute. But we can report to the relevant authorities. There are a few persons that are under our investigation. We are serving the public and we need to take note that there are alot of things that may not be lies but they’re not entirely the truth. So, we look into the issues and when we see that it is what it is, we can then report to the relevant authorities because, quite frankly, we are not the Police, we don’t have right to prosecute.

Recently, in an interview with Kristina Reports, the Director of Manpower at the Bonny Youth Federation alleged or claimed that there was this issue of gaps in the system, employment racketeering happens that normally, when requisitions are sent, they are transmitted to the Houses and nominations are supposed to come back here. Now, there are two sides to it. The indigenous list and the non-indigenous list, which is the company quota, and that the companies come upfront, they get clearance for the list. Now when they go to site, the indigenes go for testing while the company quota will start working and when that happens, the company somehow sneak in people to cover the indigenous quota and then at the testing level, they disqualify the indigenes and then they don’t have a shot at the job. They send back the report that these people failed but the work is going on. Have you looked at that?

Ok, like what you just said, these are purely operational issues and I want to also commend the BYF – this current executive of BYF are working with us so well – especially, the Director of Manpower, who, in fact, works directly with me because we are both on operational level. I must commend him. He’s very, very active and I’m happy working with him. What you said is not a blanket judgement, we cannot say it’s a regular occurrence. In the system and operational levels, there are black sheep, alright? We have issues where this is right and this is wrong, and like I tell you, it may not be entirely true, that the company quotas do not go for test. I may disagree.

Sometimes, the company brings real experts handling the equipment for them outside Bonny here and at that point they tell you they don’t need a test.  They need people that will assist them, which is community quota. This is on a different level. There are also companies I know that even their quota fails tests. I can mention it and they are even sending replacement for us to clear. I can give instances of companies like that. So, it’s not a blanket judgement.

Another aspect we want you to look at, now when you send your requisitions to the Houses; we have had reports like complaints at Kristina Reports that some of the House elders sell these chances at the House level and then the list is now sent to you. Is there any way you’re checking these?

House elders selling chances? We’ve not had reports about that.

You’ve not heard of that?

If there’s a report, anybody alleging that should bring it to us. But now we have not had that report.

Is there a system to be able to identify?

There’s always room for feedback, within the BIRC. I have not heard that complaint, if my Chairman has heard it, he would have also communicated to me. There’s no such complaint of job racketeering from the elders. We have people – employment representatives – at House levels and, so far, we even have a leader, we work directly together. We’ve not heard a complaint. I’m yet to hear the complaint, and I charge anybody with such complaint, please bring back to us, and until a complaint is established I won’t even agree that such problems exist.

We are also looking at the system you put in place. We understand at the House level, there’s a chief, chairman and vice chairman, depending on what nomenclature each House is using and there’s a youth leader, and then there is already a screening process for that. And from what you’re saying now, you’re saying that, with what you’re also doing on your own part, the system is watertight, there’s no way any infraction can happen?

As long as I’m concerned, the Houses will send an employment rep, sometimes the employment rep doubles as the youth president, or whatever the nomenclature is in the House. But it’s not that automatically the youth chairman is the employment rep. If you recommend the employment rep to be the same person as your youth leader, that’s no problem. But he comes with recommendations and we deal with the employment representative. As a matter of principle and of policy, my Chairman and all of us here do not interfere in matters of the Houses. It’s not our problem, it’s not our business. Bring your recommendations.

Before we close out on that, there are some Houses, where in some cases, they have two chiefs, in some cases different factions are either in court…

(Cuts in) We don’t interfere in matters that are subjudice. We don’t. As an institution, we would not go against the laws of the land. There are laws governing us such as the 1999 Constitution as amended, it supersedes all other laws. We don’t talk about a matter that’s in court.

Your job scope actually focuses on job seekers. So, in a case where you have such a situation, that you are restrained by law, not to interfere in whatever happen in the House, what now happens to job seekers from that House?

Well, we absorb them individually, that is why you see them in the waiting room too. There are some Houses that because of their problems in the House and we don’t want to go against the law, they come we adsorb them individually. After the Houses there are few other chances that we also give out to people that come here to ask for it. So, I think they fall into that category which understandably is not our fault. We also show goodwill to such persons that have problems. Employment has been designed here to touch everybody whether you have a problem or not.

Before we round up, looking at the policy thrust of the current Executive Chairman of Bonny LGA, and from what you’ve said, the policy position of the current BIRC administration, what is that expectation you want to create in the minds of job seekers in Bonny, whether indigenous or non-indigenous but basically residents?

Well, the truth is that, assessment usually comes at the end of the tenure and I can tell you that by the time we are done, the public will yearn for us to come back, because one, we’re very transparent. We don’t have anything we’re hiding. In fact, I tell members of public to even ask us what we employ. The documents are there for you to collect. But because of processes we would advise that you come as a front, maybe the House. Let’s say when stakeholders want to know what we did in January; the documents are here looking at you. If you need them, I will photocopy and give you. They should come and see that we are very transparent. The employments are moving very well. In fact, we employ more people, understandably. So, there’s progress and we’ve broken new fronts too. About our challenges, there are companies that people haven’t known that they exist. With the wonderful monitoring team – they’re very excellent, they’re very efficient, they’re very pro-active, I work directly with them – we’ve broken new fronts. I may not be able to mention, but employments have gotten to more people because before now there was so much concentration on NLNG and Train 7 and the construction. But there are also maintenance companies. So, with the help of the monitoring team we’ve broken new fronts. So, there’s more employment now.

So lastly, going forward, what should people expect, what should they hope for?

First of all, generally speaking, we have to hope for the best. Employment will come and go so long as construction is concerned. These are construction sites, if you’re building a housing project and you’re a mason, there comes a time civil works are done. So, masons, iron benders will have to leave. Now what I think, our people should look out for is improving their skills. If you want to stay on the jobs. There are employments, but if they’re iron benders and you are a scaffolder, you have crossed a particular line. You work in civil and you work in the mechanical. So, our people should look out for ways of improving themselves too. When you make money keep some aside, go for trainings, upgrade yourself. Apart from even skilled men, there are people that work in the office, there are applications to improving yourself. There are several courses to improve yourself for the greater challenge coming. The companies will not stop, they must have workers, the project must go on whether you improve yourself or not, so, it’s better for you to improve yourself so that wherever you go, if you finish the construction, there are requisite skills that are needed for the maintenance.

So, what are we gonna hope for? It’s a construction project hoped for improving yourself. The jobs are there. The jobs are there, until the construction is finished the jobs are there. Now, another part is, I hear a few things, I see things on social media and I feel complains come, they are dropping our people. We are on top of it and this place takes care of that. The way you hire is the way you fire. This is what we we’ll look at so that our people are not victimized. If it’s 60/40%, when you fire, that’s how you hire. When you’re firing, you fire 60, also 40, so they need to understand it, that the company has to remove when the work scope has reduced and when the work scope increases we’ll take more and give you the 60/40, whatever it is as the case may be.

So, our people should understand that this job, so long as it’s construction it will have an end, and in sympathy and fairness to them, we are also open to address victimisation issues. There are a few we are handling and we put our feet down. We create disciplinary actions to make sure the companies don’t victimize our people. Everything about redundancy is not victimisation. I need to put that down on record. Now for any victimisation, our offices are open. We are handling a few we have, more than 95% success for this. So, they should feel free to reach out to us on these. We are here for our people. We’ve handled several matters and the ones that are over us, we escalate and the Council Chairman is also there to help us when it gets to that level.  So, I hope I answered your question.