Popularly known as Mr. Worldwide, Victor Dagogo Ibaningo, is the Chairman of Concerned Citizens of Bonny, a member of the Bonny Kingdom Employment Monitoring Committee, a Niger Delta activist and a stakeholder in the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC).
His antecedents in activism is legendary given his involvement in several social issues affecting his people. The most recent being the disenfranchisement of Bonny people, especially, the youths from accessing employment opportunities due the menace of job racketeering plaguing the employment management system in Bonny Island.
In this interview with Kristina Reports Emily Igoerechinma, the Ijaw activist disclosed the roles of the Employment Monitoring Team, Bonny Integrated Recruitment Centre, amongst other stakeholders in the job racketeering saga. He also had some advice for the youths of Bonny LGA and others affected by the saga. Enjoy the read!
Kristina Reports: There has been this trending issue about selling of job chances and denying Bonny indigenes and residents of employment chances. What is the position of the monitoring team on this?
Victor Ibaningo: Well, firstly, I must say the Monitoring Team is not in charge of employment. So far, so good, this is my 11th month in office, and I can tell you categorically that the BIRC has not given the Monitoring Team any chances; like for me, I’ve not employed anybody given to me by BIRC. So, the Employment Bureau has been the sole organisation employing people, as such, if anything should arise as a matter of selling chances I think the Bureau chairman needs to come and give account of their 11 months in office. The Monitoring Team should be excluded. In fact, we have been saddled with the burden of clearing the debt of the bureau having been that countless times they keep giving clearance and that leads to backlogs. As such they should be called to order and not the monitoring team.
As per the Monitoring Team. Let’s look at the process of employment. Now, maybe requisitions come from the company and then these requisitions are forwarded to the chieftaincy houses by the BIRC, and then names are nominated or on the other hand maybe balloting is done and people pick the ballots, whichever way, when the names now come in, they now forward to the company and the company will now send for the nominated persons for medicals and all the other processes involved with the induction. Now, from the point where the requisitions come in, the Monitoring Team becomes…
(Cuts in) No, our job, specifically, is to monitor the company’s quota and the community’s quota if it’s equates, if it aligns with the laid down arrangement. Who is being shortlisted is more or less not our concern as long as it is coming from the community’s quota. If it is 60:40 for semi-skilled, if its 80:20 for skilled, 100% for helpers, we will look at all those things. But, funny enough, like on Thursday when we went for induction, there’s someone that came from Lagos, one Effiong Etim, an Akwa Ibomite and a lifeguard; that was the first time he was coming into Bonny. I asked him who shortlisted him, he said one Victoria shortlisted him.
So, you see someone coming into Bonny for the first time directly into induction. I looked at it, it was the community quota. So, who is being shortlisted in the community quota is more or less not our concern. Our concern is if the community’s quota is balanced with the company’s quota. So, it’s left for the BIRC to ensure that Bonny youths are being shortlisted and also indigenes that pay rent here are been shortlisted. So, you see the idea of shortlistment or who gets a job or not is solely the responsibility of the BIRC members and the chairman and the secretary. They are the people in charge.
Are you saying that your job is only to be sure that your community quota complies with the company’s quota?
Exactly, we go for assessment. In fact, I keep telling people that the Bonny Employment Monitoring Team, they are actually the heartbeat of employment because it’s not only about shortlisting, we go for all these assessments and ensure that the people shortlisted, especially, from the community pass or will tally with those people that know 80 or 50 should be taken. So, it’s not just about shortlistment.
But selling of the job chances start immediately people are shortlisted, if I’m shortlisted, once I get the pass or whatever, that’s when I now go looking for somebody to buy that chance…
…that’s why I’m saying that the Bonny Employment Monitoring Team, we don’t get the chances. I’m telling you that I for one that since I…
(Cuts in) but you are normally at the induction centre?
Yes, just to balance the community and the company’s quota.
Do you try to verify that the name on the list, because at the point of induction, the human beings behind the names are also present?
Yes, they are present.
Do you try to tally the names and the people bearing the names; I mean the Bonny names are actually Bonny People?
The point is, that’s where I’m actually telling you that, maybe now they give 20 requisitions and let’s just say, 12 is for the company, 8 is for the community, and maybe you are being given the opportunity, maybe one of the bureau people say maybe bring one name, who you shortlist doesn’t matter. The point is as far as it is from the company slot, if it equates the 12:8, shey you see. So, it’s left for the BIRC now to shortlist indigenes of Bonny or non-indigenes that reside in Bonny, not like that Effiong Etim that came from Lagos to come and work as lifeguard in charge, how? That was his first time in Bonny and he came with his luggage. So, you see the Bonny Employment Monitoring Team has nothing to do with employment. We are only there to make sure that we balance individual quota for work quota. Let it be that it is balanced, we go for assessment and ensure that our community people pass the test, even if they don’t pass, they go and learn on the job, or if there’s crisis in the site, we go and ensure that everything is fine, everywhere is calm. But the issue of shortlistment is strictly for bureau and I am surprised when people don’t know the difference between employment team and BIRC. We are two different bodies with two different chairmen. I’m telling you categorically that I don’t even know what shortlistment looks like; eleven months in office, the bureau has not given me one chance. I’ve not shortlisted one person, you can verify from the chairman.
From your name naturally your job description flows; employment monitoring team, and we know employment is a process. It starts from somewhere and ends somewhere. So, if your priority is just to make sure that the 60% that is supposed to come to the community is complied with, beyond that point, what if the employment bureau or maybe titled citizens, maybe chiefs, maybe anybody decides to shortlist maybe 10 non-indigenes and give them Bonny names? And eventually those non-indigenes get the opportunity to work at the site at the expense of Bonny people, wouldn’t that be a downside to what your monitoring team is supposed to be doing?
You know, they said Rome wasn’t built in one day and it’s a process. Yes, that’s also an issue, but I think it has eaten deep in the sense that people no longer look. This is my first time serving Bonny Kingdom, people no longer look if you are answering Bonny name or not, as long as you are in Nigeria, you get, we accept you. But the major thing is let it be that the company and the community’s quota is balanced. So, you see, that’s why people must channel their energy to the BIRC. The Bonny youths should call its chairman and members, let them come and give account.
Why is it that the names being sent as community quota are not from Bonny? Why is it that the non-indigenes being sent here don’t reside in Bonny? These are questions Bonny youths need to ask the BIRC and its members. We, our job is just to monitor and ensure that it is balanced. And I can tell you categorically that since we came into office, 4th of July till now, the community and the company’s quota is always balanced. You can make your findings we ensure that the community people there always pass whether you know it or not, go and learn on the job. So, that is it.
Lastly, before we let you go, does the issue of selling of job chances disturb the monitoring committee and if it does, what have you done or what are you doing to stop this menace?
Well, the issue of selling of chances disturbs our committee. Yes, because whether we like it or not, if we are a separate body, it’s only people that are grounded in Bonny that knows that we are a separate body, else they will see it like we are members of (employment) bureau. The issue of selling of chances like I told you, I stopped someone that came for induction but when I find out. He said that his sister, Victoria gave him the job and no one accepts that they sell chances but we all know that. How can someone come from Lagos; this is your first time in Bonny and you are getting employment when we haven’t? You want to tell me that the whole of Bonny, over ten thousand people, there’s no lifeguard here?
So, it’s worrisome because we are all together. But we also want to distant ourselves because we will not do our job and also do their own. That is why we are coming out openly, to tell the public that the Bonny Employment Monitoring Team has nothing to do with shortlistment. The BIRC should be called, let them come and do account of their eleven months’ stewardship in office because I’m telling you that at induction, hundreds of people enter the site every day we go for induction and more or less non-indigenes. I’m not angry about the non-indigenes but majority of them are not residents of Bonny here. So, I think we, monitoring team now going into their own affairs is like trespassing. We are now making sure that we take our own job seriously. So, it’s left for the youths of Bonny to call for accountability from the BIRC. So, that is just it.
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