Rivers: Obio/Akpor LG To Organise Summit On Economy, Employment

The Obio/Akpor local government area of Rivers State is set to organise an economic summit aimed at boosting the economy of the area and creating employment opportunities for the people of the area.

The chairman of council, Dr Gift Worlu, disclosed this yesterday at the LGA headquarters, Rumuodomanya, during a courtesy call on him by the officials of the Rivers State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).

Worlu regretted that despite the presence of several higher institutions of learning and multinational oil companies in the LGA, the people of the area are suffering from abject poverty and unemployment.

He stated that while the people of the area suffer from industrial wastes discharged by companies operating in the area, people from outside the LGA are those benefitting from contracts and supplies.

“Consciously, where do we stay to discuss how we can make people to be more economically viable? No where. In Obio/Akpor now for example, there are many institutions of learning. We have so many companies; multi-billion Naira companies operating in Obio/Akpor.

“Why should we still have poor people; people who don’t have employment and means of livelihood in Obio/Akpor local government area? If it is other places where these things don’t exist, maybe, we will understand. Not here.

“We have sons and daughters of Obio/Akpor and other residents who are supposed to have employment. Why should our people not have employment. Which people are doing the contracts in those companies? Which people are doing the supplies in those companies?

“So, we are here and the companies are here with us. If it is an oil company, when they discharge their waste materials, we are the ones that suffer it. When they want something supplied, the supplier will be from another place. They will supply it here and take the money away. It doesn’t make sense. Even little contracts like consumables, they don’t still give it to our people.

“Our people are just there, turning to beggars, turning to Agberos and all that. So that meeting is for all of us; the media, the lecturer, the security man, the company executive.

“All of us need to sit down there and begin to address our issues. Obio/Akpor is a cosmopolitan town. But do we have a proper fire service here? The answer is no. Do we have a proper sanitation system? The answer is no,” the Obio/Akpor chairman said.

Earlier in his remarks, NUJ chairman in the state, Comrade Paul Bazia, commended Worlu for embarking on programmes and policies that have direct impact on the people of the Obio/Akpor LGA.