The Ijaw Youth Council
(IYC) on Wednesday decried alleged non-compliance with the Nigerian Local
Content Law by indigenous oil firms in the Niger Delta.
The IYC said in
Yenagoa that the non- compliance had impoverished the people.
In an open letter to
President Muhammadu Buhari, the President and Spokesman of IYC, Messrs Eric
Omare and Henry Iyalla, respectively, noted that the law was binding on all
operators in the oil and gas industry.
According to the
group, the indigenous oil field operators have relegated the Niger Delta
communities, entrepreneurs and contractors to the background.
The group claimed that
since the beginning of the implementation of the law of 2010, the
situation in the Niger Delta had not improved significantly.
It said that the
poverty rate in the oil and gas communities had increased.
“The Nigerian owners
of the divested assets, apart from acquiring the oil fields, have incorporated
multitude of companies with which they execute nearly all contracts in the
value chain of their operations.
“This is to the
detriment of the local Niger Delta contractors.
“Apart from the fact
that most of their jobs are awarded to companies in which they have interest,
even where a few Niger Delta contractors are engaged, they deliberately refuse
to pay them sometimes for up to two years.
“Just as they give
contracts that ought to be done by the local contractors to their relatives and
suffocate companies, they also give available employment opportunities that
ought to be given to indigenes of the host communities to their relatives to
the detriment of the people of the host communities,”IYC said.
It called on the
Federal Government to prevail on the indigenous oil field operators to ensure
compliance with the Local Content Law, pay contractors and employ graduates and
youths from the region.
It also said that the
government, through the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, should
investigate the activities of the indigenous oil field owners
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