Wike to multinationals: Encourage host communities with key appointments

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has declared that part of the crisis bedeviling the Niger Delta region is the refusal by multi-national companies to encourage their host communities with key appointments.

Speaking during a visit by the leadership of the Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC), Governor Wike said local content participation was key to industrial harmony and sustained development.

He said: “I urge the multi-nationals and the NBC to encourage people of Rivers State through local content participation.

“Part of the crisis in the Niger Delta region today is that some companies operating in the region have relegated the people of the area in the allocation of management positions.”

The governor, however, said the situation should be checked to prevent avoidable conflicts in the relationship between Shell Oil and some of the host communities, even as he expressed delight that the NBC was expanding its operational base in the state.
This expansion, Wike insisted, would create more employment and internally generated revenue, saying “this state is peaceful for investments.”

This was as the governor promised that the documents for the land acquired by NBC for their expansion would be granted by his administration.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of Board of Directors of the Nigerian Bottling Company, Ambassador Segun Apata noted that the company was working towards building a mega plant in Port Harcourt.

He, therefore, said that the new plant would be a hub for the zone with new jobs across the board, adding that the new plant will cover 28,000 square metres of land.

The NBC Chairman appealed to Governor Wike to approve the Governor’s Consent for the acquired land when the company presents its application, saying: “We want to double our production to 75 million unit cases.”