Youth leaders from Ogoniland have issued a seven-day ultimatum to the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Ltd. (NNPCL), threatening to occupy and shut down the company’s offices in Port Harcourt and Abuja if funds for the Federal University of Environment and Technology, Ogoniland (FUET) are not released promptly.
At a media briefing in Port Harcourt, the Ogoni Youths Development Initiative (OYDI) demanded that the oil firm honour earlier agreements to fund the university’s development and ensure the payment of contractors working on its infrastructure. The group’s president, Imeabe Saviour, said the institution has struggled with abandoned projects, including incomplete hostels and classrooms, due to lack of funding from the NNPCL.
Saviour noted that the university, established as part of confidence-building measures tied to the planned resumption of oil exploration in Ogoniland, has not received the support it was promised, putting its smooth take-off at risk. He expressed “deep sadness” that other federal institutions established around the same time have received funding while FUET has been left behind.
The youths said they had written to the NNPCL’s Group Chief Executive and the Office of the National Security Adviser to raise their concerns, but were dissatisfied with the response. As a result, they warned that if the company does not release the required funds within seven days, members would occupy NNPCL facilities and disrupt operations to press their demands.
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