Numerous young people from the Onne village in the Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State on Tuesday gathered at the entrance of the oil giant, Chevron Nigeria Limited, to protest what they claimed was a planned departure of the firm.
Over 60 teenagers claimed that if the company left, it would have an impact on the region’s social and economic well-being and result in job losses.
The demonstrators insisted that the community was not antagonistic to Chevron or other businesses in Onne as they sung songs of solidarity and danced around the company’s perimeter fencing while holding placards with several slogans.
Some of the writings on their placards read ‘Onne youths have never been hostile to Chevron’, ‘Onne youths say no to Chevron’s plan to relocate’, ‘Onne is peaceful for business and investors’, ‘Our people will lose jobs’, etc.
Other inscriptions read ‘Chevron has contributed immensely to Onne economic and social development’, ‘Chevron is community friendly’, and so on.
Tobiah Tete, the President of the Onne Youths, told reporters that the demonstration was a passionate plea for Chevron to stay in the neighborhood and emphasized that the information they had been given was incorrect.
Tete, however, asserted that since the current youth executive under his leadership joined the company, problems with disturbances in the neighborhood have been a thing of the past. He also promised that they would work with the necessary parties to ensure the company can operate there without interference.
He said, “We are here today on a passionate appeal to Chevron Nigeria Limited who has been in Onne for three decades now, based on the information we gathered that Chevron is relocating from Onne.
“We learnt that maybe the Onne people are hostile to companies. But it is a wrong notion about the community. Onne people are peaceful, accommodating and open to investors.
“We needed to do this to clear the air and let the world know and for Chevron to understand that we are not against their operation, and that we have not done anything to make them uncomfortable.”
He claimed that because they are one of the top businesses in the region, moving would be bad for both them and the host communities who depend on them.
“You can imagine the level of hardship even with Chevron in our community, much less when they leave. We cannot count the number of people that would be affected.
“Our people have been benefitting since the company came here. Aside from engaging our youths, they have carried out various projects and programs, including the Agbeta town hall, scholarships for Onne students.
“A major project that was to be cited outside, was attracted to Onne through some interventions. So if Chevron leaves, directly or indirectly people will lose jobs. Clients that are supposed to benefit would also lose their jobs.
“The host communities that depend on them will lose jobs and other benefits that come to them,” the youth president stated.
Continuing, he said, “In the areas of scholarships and skills acquisition where they assist us, we will lose out automatically if Chevron relocates and it will be a major setback to the community in terms of development.
“We also heard that the tariffs in the Port are also affecting them. So we are using this medium to call on the federal, state and local government as well as the authority of the oil and gas zone to subsidize the levies on them in order not to scare away Chevron and other companies from the communities.
“The issue of insecurity in Onne is a thing of the past since the present youth leadership came on board. There has been peace within our outside the ports complex.
“Since we assumed office, nobody has come to block the gate of Chevron or any other company because we direct our complaints and grievances through the appropriate channels, including the security outfits.”
Tete reiterated their request for the firm to stay and expressed gratitude that the Chevron Facility Security Officer had spoken to them during the demonstration and promised to deliver their message to higher authorities.
“We made our presentations to him before the security agencies and thereafter we handed him a letter. He promised to follow due process in forwarding the letter to the management and get back to us.
“As peace loving people we are happy and hopeful because we believe that dialogue is a process to achieve positive results,” he said.
