Posted by By Charles Ozoemena on
ABUJA - IN fulfillment of its promise to recruit the youths of the Niger Delta into the Nigerian Army and the Nigeria Police Force respectively.....
ABUJA - IN fulfillment of its promise to recruit the youths of the Niger Delta into the Nigerian Army and the Nigeria Police Force respectively, both the Chief of Defense Staff, General Martin Agwai and the Inspector General of Police, Sunday Ehindaro Tuesday gave progress reports on the recruitment, saying that although lots of the youths have been recruited from the area there were shortfalls of those qualified for recruitment.
Presenting the account of the Niger Delta recruitment in the Nigerian Military at the Niger Delta Stakeholders meeting, held at the State House Abuja, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Martin Luther Agwai, revealed that 50 indigenes have been recruited from Ondo State, 100 from Delta, 100 from Bayelsa, 50 from Cross River, 100 from Rivers and 50 each from Edo and Akwa Ibom States.
As for the Navy, he said that 30 have been recruited from Ondo State, 50 from Delta and Rivers, 46 from Bayelsa, 20 from Cross Rivers and Edo and 30 from Akwa Ibom.
On the Air Force, 89 he accounted have been selected from Akwa Ibom out of which 30 would be recruited, 80 from Bayelsa out of which 50 would be recruited, 95 from Cross Rivers out of which 20 would be selected, 101 in Delta out of which 50 would be the lucky ones, 65 from Ondo, out of which 30 would be recruited and 83 from Rivers out of which 50 would be recruited.
The Inspector-General of Police, Sunday Ehindero, in his presentation explained that in keeping with the directive of President Obasanjo that 10,000 indigenes of the coastal states be employed in the Nigeria Police between June 2006 and December 2008, 1,500 have applied in Bayelsa, Rivers and Delta, 1,000 from Cross River and Edo and 500 in Imo. He added that there is however, a shortfall in Abia State that has been allocated 400 slots but only 164 passed the exams.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Mrs. Amina Ibrahim, gave account of the development situation in the region as well as plans for the area noted that although electricity is central to the improvement of socio-economic development, 'only about 40 per cent of Nigerians have access to grid-based electricity".
'Less than 20 per cent of rural communities are connected to the national grid and over 60 per cent of the rural settlements in the region are rural which has serious implications on poverty", she said
The Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Engineer Funso Kupolokun, revealed that 100,000 people have so far applied for 1,000 vacancies in the corporation out of which 200 would be picked from the Niger Delta in addition to a fair share in the remaining 800 vacancies. The first set of employees who are being selected with the help of consultants, he continued are expected to be ready by the end of September.
The Minister of Health, Professor Eyitayo Lambo, while making his own presentation, disclosed that at least one HIV/AIDS treatment centre has been established in every state in the Niger Delta.