SPATIAL DISPARITY IN EMPLOYEE COMPOSITION IN THE OIL INDUSTRY IN NIGERIA AND THE IMPLICATION OF THE FEDERAL CHARACTER POLICY
Akintoye, Oluyemi A.; Utang, Pius B.

Abstract
The major causes of discord and conflict in the Nigeria, have most often included inequitable distribution of employment in government owned establishment. This is aggravated by sections for maximum representation, such as the Niger Delta states for benefits in petroleum exploration/exploitation companies/establishments for indigenes as the region mostly bear the major brunt of the immediate environmental, health and socio-economic consequences. Over the decade the Nigerian National Petroleum corporation (NNPC), has emerged as a major oil industry regulatory and policy formulation institution of Nigeria. The personnel composition of such a vital federal institution becomes of great concern, given the fact that the institution should lead in the local content of employment opportunities. However, the Federal Character Policy and Quota System, aimed at equitable representation, seems not to be fashioned towards this direction, but to reflect equity in national benefits, as against the degree of negative consequences experienced by host communities, within the Niger Delta area.. Employment quota in NNPC as observed from the paper shows that employment rates vary widely at a sub-regional level, including geopolitical variations, at and within states, in the geopolitical zones. Various model specifications including different explanatory variables were considered and the most plausible are education, proximity to facilities and the insider factor.

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