PTI: Host Community Protests Lopsidedness in Employment

While students of the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI) were busy preparing for their upcoming examination which is just  two weeks away, they woke up to the sound of loud music coming from the school’s gate with giant speakers mounted around and chanting of solidarity songs. Soon the environs of the institution turned into a protest centre.

This protest came as a result of the recruitment exercise organised by the PTI in conjunction with the Federal Character Commission to employ new lecturers into the institution with 80 percent of Northerners getting the job while the remaining 20 percent was shared by the other ethnic groups.

Speaking with one of the angry Uviwe graduate, he said: “Why can’t we ever get it right for once. If only, they have considered the host community in the first place. Not that the host community can’t provide qualified applicants but they (FG) choose to go this way. It’s a pity and this marginalisation has to stop now. It’s should be fight until we get the much needed result”.

Debunking reasons for the protest, PTI Assistant Director, Mr. Aliyu Yama, disclosed that prior to the allegation that 80 percent of the employment went to the northerners, he said: “It’s all cock and bull stories; the Urhobo community actually had about 47 slots and even the Hausas they claimed to have all the slots got less than 20 percent. The Uviwe community which is a part of Uhrobo are detaching themselves from them so as to have fresh slots allotted to them which is not possible as the Federal Government is in-charge of the employment. The registrar and principal of the institution are Deltans“.