Bayelsa Communities Engage Advocacy Centre, Demand More Inclusion in Alternative Livelihood Advocacy, Opportunities
Ikibiri and Ondewari communities in Southern Ijaw LGA of Bayelsa State on Sunday, May 23, 2021 engaged Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC), demanding for more inclusion in alternative livelihood advocacy and opportunities for artisanal crude oil refiners and people of the area.
The engagement which held on invitation by Ondewari community in partnership with Ikibiri in the Bayelsa Central Senatorial District held at Ondewari community and was hosted by His Royal Highness, Chief Simon Robert Ikisa with members of his Council of Chiefs, Elders, CDC, women, youth leaders and some other members of the community present.
The community tabled before Advocacy Centre’s Executive Director, Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface who is also the Regional Facilitator of Platform for the Coordination of Niger Delta Artisanal Refiners for Modular Refineries, issues around the need for the people’s adequate inclusion and involvement in the Modular Refineries’ movement as alternative livelihood opportunities for the youths and Artisanal Refiners to achieve environmental sustainability in the area among others. In both communities, we were shown and promised thousands of hectares of land for consideration and use as project sites.
This is the first of many such scheduled consultative engagements with traditional rulers, community leaders, etc. across the Niger Delta in our new advocacy and consultative series for land acquisition for Modular Refineries ahead of/after the coming of our Foreign Technical Partner for Modular Refineries Investors Workshop and Co-funder in June 2021. The Executive Director of YEAC was accompanied on the visit by the Bayelsa State Advocacy Officer of Advocacy Centre; Philip Godfrey Shalom; President of Bayelsa Central Modular Refinery Multi-Purpose Co-operative Society Ltd, Philomina Kinere Lafieghe and Southern Ijaw Coordinator, Bruce Michael among others.
