Youths from Alesa and Alode communities in Eleme, the host area of the Port Harcourt Refinery, have staged a protest, effectively shutting down activities at the refinery. This demonstration, which took place on Tuesday and Wednesday, saw hundreds of youths barricading the main entrance to the refinery complex, demanding employment as the refinery undergoes rehabilitation.
Protesters carried placards with inscriptions such as “PHRC where did you keep our slots” and “PHRC obey Nigerian Content Act.” The leader of the protest, Hon. Johnson Nwogu, expressed the community's shock that out of 165 employment slots filled by the refinery management, only 13 were allocated to the entire Eleme community, with less than five given to Alesa, the host community.
Engr. Eric Chujor, President of the Eleme Graduates Forum, voiced his frustration over the perceived marginalization by multinational companies, international oil companies (IOCs), and indigenous firms operating in Eleme. He stated, "It saddens me to imagine how we are marginalized by multinationals, IOCs, and indigenous companies doing business within the confines of Eleme land. Our employment quota and contract chances have been compromised for far too long as against the Nigeria Content Act."
Chujor emphasized the detrimental impact of this marginalization on the community: "The behavior of those managing these firms and our representatives in the over 300 companies doing business in Eleme has impoverished our people. Hence, we must rise to the task of fighting against the injustice meted out to us by these groups of people."
He continued, "It is heart-wrenching to see that the unemployment rate is on the rise in Eleme, whereas we have people coming into our space to earn massive profits every day. Contract opportunities now belong to a few individuals from the community as against running an open-door policy to all qualified contractors."
Chujor also highlighted the presence of qualified graduates and professionals within Eleme who are overlooked for managerial and other positions in favor of outsiders. He criticized the representatives for failing to advocate for local workers: "To prevent these unwanted developments, I request the support of Eleme stakeholders and meaningful people of the soil to rise and put a stop to these menaces for the future growth and development of Eleme land."
He concluded with a call to action: "For how long should we remain in silence, fold our hands, and watch all these levels of injustice unleashed on our people? They sack our youths but retain strangers, employ the strangers as direct staff, but our people as support staff. Take, for instance, Tecnimont has less than six Eleme graduates as their direct staff as against the hundreds of staff engaged. This is a violation of the Nigeria Local Content Act."
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Currently, a group of individuals is obstructing the entrance to the Port Harcourt refinery. They are celebrating with makeshift shelters and have slaughtered a cow for the occasion. They have also made a commitment that the refineries will not be functional. pic.twitter.com/FvpNZyBM0w
— Imran Muhammad (@Imranmuhdz) July 17, 2024
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