FG frowns at foreigners taking over menial jobs in Nigeria

*Says Asians now hawk vegetables in Nigeria

Ukpono Ukpong, Abuja

Unhappy at what it described as economic sabotage, the Federal Government has moved to stop foreigners from taking over jobs meant for Nigerians.

The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, disclosed this during a stakeholders’ meeting on Expatriate Quota Administration held in Abuja.

Delivering a speech titled “Easing foreign direct investment without jeopardising local content considerations,” the minister said it was pertinent for government to address the alarming abuse of Business Permit and Expatriate quota by foreigners.

He said that the situation has gotten to a state that some Asians now hawk vegetables on Nigerian streets: “Some of the abuses we have discovered are egregious.

We have seen cases of expatriates fraudulently coming in to work as bricklayers, painters and even high-end consorts. Some also circumvent the rules by dubiously acquiring Nigerian citizenship through scam marriages.

The funny but tragic case of some Asians hawking vegetables went viral. These are clear economic sabotage acts that should be detected, stopped and sanctioned.”

Noting that the meeting has been long overdue, he expressed optimism that the outcome will tie up a lot of loose ends in the obsolete handbook last reviewed in 2004, which has been in use as a guide to granting approvals to requests for various types of expatriate quota made to the Ministry of Interior.

He said that where nations are careless or unmindful, it leads to untoward consequences of lopsided and imbalanced relationship, foreign domination and stunted development of the host country’s personnel and economy and ultimately creates a dependency syndrome.

Aregbesola said that annually, an average of 30,000 expatriate quotas are being issued and given to about 4,000 companies, explaining that with strict compliance with local content regulation and national interest, no fewer than 60,000 middle level employment opportunities are expected annually through the compulsory understudy programme for knowledge and skill transfer.

“I am happy to say that today brings about the realisation of that dream. Let it be known that it is only when we all agree to get things done properly that we can begin the process of restructuring the administration of expatriate quotas.

This is a message that we have to pass on to Nigerians and foreigners alike, and which we have to effectively implement, for the economic development we all desire to come to fruition.

“It is therefore my hope that at the end of this very important stakeholders’ meeting: that a brand new, well-articulated handbook on Expatriate Quota Administration would be produced.

“That we would have a fair and reasonable sanction that will be effective enough to curb abuses of Business Permit & Expatriate Quota;

“That the benefits and revenues accruable to the country would now begin to pour in and the teeming unemployed youth in Nigeria would have increased opportunities for employment through the understudy programme stipulated in the Expatriate Quota guideline;

“Companies and Organizations that are clients of the Ministry’s Citizenship and Business department would have a clear understanding of the guidelines and issues surrounding the administration of Business Permit and Expatriate Quota.

They would understand what it takes to cooperate with the Ministry in its bid to provide effective and efficient services to the nation.

“That effective implementation of the rules will lead to rapid industrialization, economic growth & social development in Nigeria.”

It could be recalled that on December 1, 2020, the minister inaugurated a nine-man Special Task Force on Business Permit and Expatriate Quota Administration, with the mandate to investigate, inspect, penalize and enforce sanctions on organizations confirmed to have abused the utilization of expatriate quotas in Nigeria, whether they are indigenous, joint ventures or wholly foreign.