IMMIGRATION RECRUITMENT SCAM. LEARNING FROM THE BEST

IMMIGRATION RECRUITMENT SCAM. LEARNING FROM THE BEST.... by Tijjani Muhammad Musa 

The youths of Nigeria are indeed a sorryful lot. Not only is their future almost completely destroyed, but they have now become the target of exploitations and extortions of the meager resources they have manage to collect or beg off their parents, relatives, friends, loved ones, kind souls walking the streets or stole, duped, defraud, prostitute off someone, through the now institutionalized national fraud. 

This burning, developing and current issue about applicants numbering over 700,000 paying N1000 each as part of the criteria for eligibility to vie for about 4000, yes just less than 4500 job slots in the Nigerian Immigration Service is nothing new in Nigeria. In fact, I would say the Interior Minister and his hired consultant, who executed the project on behalf of our Immigration Service have learnt the process from the best, Nigerian Universities. 

Each year through Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), post-primary school students and other applicants, about a million plus in number from all over the country are made to apply for admission into Nigerian universities, polytechnics and colleges of education by buying JAMB Forms now at the rate of a non-refundable N4000 through some designated banks. 

Knowing fully that the number of openings in these institutions collectively are limited and so most of those who apply would not get placements. Yet applicants are encouraged to apply and sit for the exams. Where most of them end up being dropped for one reason or another. This is of course apart from those who are naturally weak academically and so bound to fail scoring the required cut-off marks, which are also different for each institution and their faculties and departments. 

Then again there is the post-University Matriculation Examinations (pUME), which is another designed exploitation mechanism deviced by these tertiary institutions to further exploit the students that managed to scale the JAMB hurdle. The successful secondary school graduands or past students who can show a minimum of 5 credits, which must include English and Mathematics in their Secondary School Certificate Examinations (SSCE) i.e. West African Examination Council (WAEC) or National Examination Council (NECO) would again purchase these pUME Forms of the post-Secondary colleges of their interest at the rate of a minimum of N2000 each and once again sit for their examinations. Another minimum cut-off marks are set, upon which out of several 100 thousands, less than 5 to 10, 000 candidates in total are offered the available space to pursue various academic programmes across human endeavors. 

Whatever happens to all the moneies generated from the yearly institutional event? Whatever happens to the candidates who have the qualifications to pursue their higher education, but are denied. And some, not because they are not able to meet all the basic requirements or criteria. Some are dropped for the simply fact that their names appear at the line below which the number of students wanted for a particular year, a particular course, in a particular department is met, even if they have fully passed. Some, who have scaled all the tests and met all conditions are further refused admission because the quota allocated to their region, state, local governments, tribe, religion etc has been met. 

And when rejected, no explanations are tendered to comfort these "failures". They can only re-apply the next time the whole 419 scam has commenced all over again. Thus you can meet an applicant who has gone through this very deceitful process more than 7 times or more. What harm does that do to his or her psyche, academic career, confidence, character and personality etc? This is the only country I know where a person is fully qualified, willing and able to pay and seek for further education, who then takes all the trouble to pursue it and yet, he or she is frustrated out of it, to the point of eventually giving up on the dream. 

And if he finally succeeds in gaining admission into a university, polytechnic and a college of education of his choice or not, to study a course of his choice or one forced upon him, because the course he wants to read is not available for him due to the school's short-coming, upon graduation, he ends up sitting at home with a degree qualification that becomes a burden. After the demoralizing situation has taken its toll upon him and he sees a job offer being advertized, he ends up meeting the likes of the ethic-less "I won't resign!" Interior Minister Abba Moro, his "smart" consultants Rexel Technical Global Nigeria limited who designed the scam, the "Don't blame us NIS" and the non-chalant government that takes the value of life of its citizens as nothing. 

Now, the question to ask here is; is this case a rare, isolated occurence or the recruitment norm with all our government agencies, ministries and parastatals? What kind of merciless system would demand payment from someone who is unemployed and so not suppose to have a source of funding in the first instance? Who could be so heartless to place a levy for a job offer that clearly has no guarantee, even for the qualified? Besides, knowing the way the cookie crumbles in Nigeria, the jobs advertisement is just a smoke-screen to recruit the sons, daughters and relatives of some selected few in the society. 

These unemployed Nigerians that paid their way in cash into this fraudulent NIS recruitment scam are all suppose to be given 'dole' i.e. unemployment benefits on a monthly basis, just like their counterparts in other parts of the world. But instead, what they end up with are injuries on their minds, bodies and souls and ultimately death for some 23 or is it 26 of them. With this unfortunate happening, it will be amazing if anything would be done to indict the culprits who commissioned, designed and executed this crime against the people of Nigeria. 

The blame game has already began. NIS is already exonerating itself and blaming the Minister Abba Moro for doing this all alone. If this incidence has come and gone without any mishaps, casualties or deaths, it would have been taken as normal and those who gained would simply smile to the banks and those who were scammed would have considered themselves another set of unlucky Nigerians, who never get to succeed in anything they tried their hands on. Sadly, some would have been so demoralized as to contemplate committing suicide or finally find their "elusive luck" to achieve that. 

How many other cases like this would have to happen before something serious is done to checkmate corrupt practices like this? What would the parents and relatives of the victims do about this misfortune that has befallen their possible source of income? Would the matter be swept under the carpet and business as usual continue, with another monumental crisis befalling Nigeria to make this one quickly forgotten like many others? Will the people who carried out this crime, if established beyond reasonable doubt be made to pay the price? So many questions, only time can provide answers to. We can only wait and see. But surely, this is another tragic, most unfortunate chapter in the history of our nation. 

Tijjani M. M. is a Blogger and public commentator. 

mmtijjani@gmail.com