A 34-year-old graduate, Mr. Oyeghe Bineabi Miederi, has embarked on an indefinite hunger strike to express his frustration for being unemployed six years after graduation, allegedly due to hearing impairment.
Oyeghe, who hails from Foropa community in Southern Ijaw local government area of Bayelsa State, told reporters on Thursday in Yenagoa that he was tired of living without a job six years after graduation.
He said, “The state government should give me an unconditional employment as a citizen of this state. Why should they continue to deny me job because of my hearing impairment. I will remain on hunger strike if nothing is done,” he said.
Oyeghe, who holds a B.A and Master’s degrees in Literature from the Niger Delta University and Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria respectively, said that he was born with the defect, but added that it had never hindered his human capability.
He said he had attended numerous job interviews, both in government and private establishments, stressing, “But at the end they will deny me the job because I have hearing defect. It is really frustrating and I am tired.”
“Only recently, I attended an interview during a government recruitment; after the exercise, people with third-class were offered employment, but I was denied an opportunity even with my second-class honours, just because I have a natural impairment in hearing.”
He called on the Bayelsa State government to give him a job, or better still, offer him scholarship to go for a doctorate degree programme, stressing that he may have to remain on hunger till the end.
“In a state like this, if you want to get a job, you either have a permanent secretary or know a politician. But fortunately, with my education, I am roaming about like a tout because of social injustice in the system,” he lamented.
Oyeghe, a father of one, called on the state government to do something urgently, adding that he had written over two literature books which had remained in manuscripts due to lack of funds.