By Citizen Reporter, Abuja
It is becoming a pattern for the Nigerian National Petroleum corporation and her sister corporation, the Department of Petroleum Resources to start up a nationwide recruitment that is duly published in the national dailies for qualified Nigerians in different fields of studies, and later abandon the process unattended. This unacceptable trend has elicited so much condemnation among the Nigerian populace as it poses a threat of serious malfunction in the public service system.
There is no doubt that, the NNPC has one of the best recruitment process in Nigeria owing to the standard applicants go through during recruitment process stages. This best recruitment process will have no difference with a waste in the bin if after spending tax payers money to hire one of the best recruitment consultants through which qualified Nigerians for the job are selected, it then ends it with a perpetual silence as was the case of NNPC, 2008 nationwide recruitment.
In March, 2010 the Department of Petroleum Resources called on qualified Nigeria graduates (University and Polytechnics) for various positions in the establishment through the national dailies through Eraproserve, a consulting firm. Qualified graduates applied and were invited for aptitude test across the nation. Those who made the aptitude test were subsequently invited for oral interview; but to our greatest dismay nothing has been heard from the DPR concerning the release of appointment letters to the successful candidates even after the list of the short-listed candidates has sailed through Federal Character Commission(FCC).
Also, in the last quarter of 2010, the hope of many graduate Nigerians was heightened with the release of the recruitment campaign by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC in November. This was a period when political campaigns were at the centre stage for 2011 elections. The job advert was made public with a large number of applications in four categories namely: Graduate Trainee, Trainee Operators, Experience Hire and Contractors; as applications were made till the advert expired December 31, 2010.
The corporation in conjunction with Phillips consulting limited invited thousands of pre-qualified candidates to an aptitude/skills test which was held on Saturday, March 26, 2011 at various centres across the country. Many of these graduates took the risk with the hope of contributing their worth to the national development and took part in the aptitude test.
Subsequent to the release of the result for the aptitude test, candidates were invited for oral interview as usual at the NNPC towers, Abuja between July and August, 2011 to end the interview process of over four thousand persons that made it to the interview stage. However, till this moment, the NNPC and DPR have not published the names of the successful candidates according to the Federal Character commission act. Neither have they reimbursed these candidates who threw caution to the winds to make the interview at the period when the security situation was very sensitive.
The Nigerian 2010/2011 NNPC/DPR recruitment online Movement reminds his Excellency, president Jonathan of his promise to fully implement the job creation committee’s recommendations. According to the president at the first ever presidential summit on job creation, he said and I quote “This government will seize the opportunities that abound in the agricultural and downstream petroleum sectors of the economy to engage the country’s youths productively so they don’t become prey for mischievous elements”.
Nigerian will be as productive as the government under which they support. In February 2012, many organisations and MDA’s came defending their 2012 annual budget of which the Minister of petroleum resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison Madueke also came highlighting the cause of high cost of 2012 budget comprising N51,324,227,840.00 for recurrent expenditure while N8,340,300.00 is for completion of ongoing capital projects. She could be right to say that, the intending recruitment was responsible for it; hence it is amazing to know that this NNPC/ DPR recruitment has spanned for twenty seven months and nineteen months respectively. Thus, this memo is hinged on the disheartening situation of the 2008 recruitment which did not see the light of the day after undergoing the same recruitment processes, even to medical level.
All relevant bodies ARE CALLED UPON, agencies and government; the National Assembly, the Federal Characters Commission, NNPC and DPR board , National Human Rights Commission, the Nigeria Labour Congress and the presidency to inquire into this ugly pattern being set by the NNPC and DPR in this recruitment saga, to urgently come to the aid of these Nigerian youths who holds the peace & unity, growth & development of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to a very high esteem and have made it on the final list on merit, in view to resolving the perpetual delay of the recruitment exercise ,as well as to eschew any potential protest by concerned Nigeria youths which may misconstrue the highly rated Good luck Jonathan’s Administration as not adhering and supportive of programs geared towards the empowerment of the Nigerian youth.
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