The Western Zone of Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), comprising Edo, Delta and Ondo States, has pledged to begin examining oil companies operating in the zone to ascertain their corporate social responsibilities to their host communities.
Omaghomi Olu-Derimon, the newly elected secretary of the zone, who spoke to journalists in Benin City, the Edo state capital, alleged that many oil companies do different things from what they declare on paper in the various host communities.
According to him, “It is part of our mandate to scrutinize the operations of the oil companies on their corporate social responsibility to their immediate environment and how they have impacted on their communities; we are going to be evaluating their operations, and we are going to do that as a pressure group to promote the Ijaw people, and that is one of our mandates.
“It is good that the oil companies get this information so that when we are coming they will understand and it will not be strange to them because most times, they come to the media to say they have done this and that for the community but what is in the papers are different from what is on the ground.
“One of our mandates is to carry out this scrutiny of IOCs operating in Ijaw communities in the three states under our jurisdiction. IYC is ready to partner with the government of the day for the development of Ijaw land”, he said.
Speaking on the creation of a substantive board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the secretary noted that the appointment of a board is long overdue while urging President Muhammadu Buhari to do the needful.
“The appointment of a substantive board for the NDDC is long overdue, and I think we don’t want to make any fight, but we want to inform PMB that he should do the needful for the good of the Niger Delta.
“We are not giving any ultimatum for now but for the good of the Niger Delta people, give us a substantive board but because in recent time, it is appalling that anything that has to do with the Niger Delta has been on interim leadership, the presidential amnesty programme is being headed by an interim administrator, NDDC is the same thing.
“For crying out loud, we cannot continue in that light. He should appoint a substantive board,” Olu-Derimon added.
