By Rita Enemuru, Reporting
RESIDENTS of Ugborodo community in Delta State have decried an alleged systemic nepotism and neglect in the area of infrastructure by Chevron Nigeria Limited.
This came on Tuesday which marked the second day of the occupation of the company’s giant farm tank facility in a peaceful protest at Ugborodo.
The protesters, singing and chanting in their local dialect with inscripted cardboard papers, demanded immediate action on employment, contracts, and basic amenities, vowing not to leave until senior management addressed them directly.
To drive home their grievances, the services of a disc jockey were hired to give vibes to the peaceful protest, just as the community leaders expressed profound anger over decades of perceived exploitation and neglect.
The Secretary General of the Itsekiri National Youth Council, Raymond Pira while speaking to journalists, alleged that vacant positions are routinely filled by individuals brought in from across Nigeria, while qualified host community members are systematically overlooked in favour of the personal connections of senior staff.
He claimed that the local people, who bear the environmental and social cost of oil extraction, are unjustly excluded from its economic benefits.
Pira declared an end to this situation, demanding that Chevron fulfil its obligations by providing substantial employment opportunities and awarding contracts to capable businesses within Ugborodo.
Furthermore, he challenged Chevron’s adherence to national legislation, specifically the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) for the Ikpere field.
He expressed frustration at the company’s refusal to implement the Act and its concurrent violation of local content laws, which mandate specific quotas for host community participation and empowerment.
In addition to employment issues, he lamented the complete absence of fundamental infrastructure. Despite promises from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), the community lacks electricity, clean water, healthcare facilities, and other essential services.
He highlighted the profound injustice of this neglect, given the Ugborodo’s crucial role in national prosperity.
He said: “There’s a whole lot that is going on particularly the systemic nepotism that is in this yard, that is being perpetrated by Chevron’s top managerial staff.
“For example, if they’re vacancies in the company, they will fly people in from all over the country to take over those positions but the community people are not contacted nor employed.
“They will neglect the host community and employ their family members and friends instead. Meanwhile, we the people who are laying the golden egg, we can’t even eat from the egg.
“Enough is enough. Chevron will have to do the needful. We want Chevron to employ us, a good employment. We need contract for people that have capacity in our community.
“We are calling on the management of Chevron because we don’t know the game they are trying to play on the issue of the petroleum Industry Act.
“Chevron has refused to implement the PIA of that of Ikpere and we don’t know why. We are saying that enough is enough.
“The PIA is not in place and they are contravening the local content law that guarantee us some certain percentage of employment and empowerment.
“We are saying that this has to stop and until they come to us and discuss with us, we are not going to leave here.
“Also, NNPC promised us light but as I’m talking to you, this community has no light, water, hospital and other basic amenities.
“Itsekiri is the highest producer of crude which is the main stream of the economy, we are feeding Nigeria and Delta State so how can we now be in poverty?
“We are open for negotiation and until Chevron come and discuss with us, we won’t leave here.”
Also speaking, the National Vice Chairman of Ugborodo Community, Victor Laju Ogbeju, described Chevron’s neglect as an insult and repugnant behaviour.
He detailed the disruption caused by the company’s operations:
“It is repugnant to natural justice for Chevron to be carrying our operation here without considering the people of the host community.
“As we speak, there is a project that is going on. The project started recently and over 10,000 people have been mobilized into this community without the consent of the community.
“It is an insult on the part of the community. It is a repugnant behaviour from the part of Chevron and we are badly angry. We came here to negotiate with them, to know the details of this project.
“If you look around, you will see heavy duty vessels and these vessels have plight the river, they halt all our shore lives.
“They came into the community, they destroyed the community and Chevron has remained nonchalant towards looking at the community and this is our pain and it needs to be addressed.
“We are calling on the nation and all top ranking Chevron personnel so that we can resolve this issue once and for all.
A protester
“We have made all our demands and anger know to them for over five months now. We have put our demands in pen and paper. We need light, empowerment, water and job opportunities for the people.
“These vessels have plagued the river, they halt all our shore lives,” he said.
Ogbeju stressed that the community would only negotiate on-site with senior staff insisting that the protest will continue until their demands are met.
“The only person that can talk to us is a top managerial staff that have the capacity to resolve our grievances,” he insisted. We are not leaving this vicinity,” he added.
In his remarks, the National Youth Chairman of Ugborodo Community, Wilson Ejeh, stated that since Chevron assumed control of operations, conditions have severely deteriorated for residents.
He explained that previously accessible benefits like reliable electricity, water, and daily employment have vanished, leaving the community in a constant struggle.
Despite repeatedly bringing these issues to Chevron through peaceful protests, he noted that the company has offered no response, an indifference the chairman attributes to the community’s deliberate non-violence.
He emphasised that the community’s disciplined protests have never involved destruction of property, yet this principled stance seems to have led Chevron to take their grievances lightly.
Given this ongoing impasse, the chairman formally appealed to the Federal Government for urgent intervention.
He stressed that the community’s peaceful approach must not be mistaken for weakness or satisfaction, and that external aid is now necessary to compel Chevron to address their legitimate needs and restore the benefits that have been lost.
As of the time our reporter was leaving the Chevron facilities on Tuesday evening the day-two protest was still ongoing while the oil multinational’s management had yet to address the protesters.
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