PORT HARCOURT: The Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) has warned that youths from communities hosting Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) in Niger Delta may resort to violence, if CNL persists in its discriminatory employment policy against host communities.
IYC’s factional President Eric Omare spoke at a news conference yesterday in Warri, Delta State.
He urged the governments of Delta, Bayelsa, Ondo and the Federal Government to prevail on Chevron to desist from discriminating against these communities.
Efforts to get a response from the oil giant were unsuccessful.
Its General Manager, Policy, Government and Public Affai, Esimaje Brikinn could not be reached.
Omare, who was with some members of his team, accused the oil company of operating double standards in its employment policy.
He said: “Chevron adopts two sets of employment policies for their workers in operation. While one is for the host communities and another for those from outside the host communities and family members of top management staff of Chevron.
“Those from host communities are employed as technicians, whereas those from outside the host communities are employed as engineers. Only last year, an aptitude test was done for those from outside the host communities in Abuja, where several engineers were employed, but host communities were left out.
“The implication of this discriminatory employment policy is that though the community technicians are the ones doing the actual works on the field with requisite qualification, they cannot grow or be promoted on the employment to the level of the engineers employed from outside the host communities.
“The IYC, therefore, calls on the Delta, Ondo, Bayelsa states and the federal governments to act now before it is too late. Chevron should be directed to, as a matter of urgency, employ all the Ijaw, Itsekiri and Ilaje community indigenes who went through the Chevron VTP 5 and 6 without delay”, he said.
In an earlier response, the company said it only provided the trainings as part of its corporate social responsibility to host communities.
“Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) is an equal opportunities employer and does not discriminate against anyone based on race, gender, religion, color, age, ethnicity, disability or any other basis. Employment into the company is dependent on organisational needs and business requirements.
(THE NATION)
