They come in different forms. Recruitment centres, online marketing, talent hunts, and their like. The jobs they offer vary, and are dependent on what they want to term them. Job scam is a worldwide problem but Nigeria’s peculiar way of using chalk on walls along the street, black and white posters on poles, walls and trees, meeting passerby on the streets, using online platforms to get the victims’ personal information and inviting them for interviews is better imagined.

A lot of unemployed youths are victims of fake job advertisements and are brainwashed into drug marketing. It’s either the perpetrators meet you or you meet them. You could meet them by calling numbers written on a wall, poles, flyers or they meet you on the road introducing themselves as workers in a lucrative company, international agency or any other company they think will interest you.

And one company that seems to be frustrating the lives of job seekers is ‘Neolife International’: A popular company known for producing “herbal drugs and supplements that could cure certain ailments.”

Neolife International is a firm that sells products related to health and well-being. Originally based in Fremont, California, the company has expanded to operate in over 50 countries since its founding in 1954.

According to available information, Neolife is one of the top multi-level marketing (MLM) businesses making it hard for people to understand if they are really legit or not. In Nigeria, the way the company gets its marketers has been a cause of concern among citizens.

A BRIGHT Friday afternoon. There were so many applicants at the building. The atmosphere was tensed as a lot of young men and women swarmed in the place hoping to get a job.

Victor Asani, a young graduate, was among the graduates who were looking for job. He was working as a sales boy in a mini supermarket until he was approached by a customer who introduced him to a telecommunication job, promising that it would change his life forever.

“I think that was the mistake I made. Poverty was written all over that guy like he was trying to appear rich but when you are poor, you are poor. I don’t know why I even believed this guy. He invited me for an interview at Dopemu and I sat down through hours of motivational speeches. Finally, these people collected N60,000 from me after deceiving me into buying their Neolife herbal drugs. I started going from market to market to sell their drugs because what I gave them was all my savings. I had to recover it,” he told The Guardian.

Asani never recovered the money from them but was helped by his brother to start a new life. “Because I was desperate to sell out and recover my money, I lost more money trying to market these drugs. With God’s help, my brother started prospering financially and helped me get back on my feet. He practically sat me down and told me to forget that money and those people or I would never move forward in life. It was slavery for me, a pyramid scheme that frustrated me.”

Joy Ose, another fresh graduate, fell into the scheme.

“Before I went for my youth service, I wanted to get a job to make me stable financially but everything went wrong when a friend introduced me to a scheme under the name, ‘Neolife’. I attended their meeting and was bombarded with motivational speeches and them giving success stories. What annoyed me was that I have to buy their products with the small money I have and get someone into the network. After they brainwashed us into believing that practicing other professions is slavery, and that their business is the only way to financial freedom, I knew I had to escape somehow,” Ose said.

Ose added that her old friend still persuaded her to try it and buy some products while telling her to bring more people in. “I foolishly gave those people N80,000 to register and collect the product. It still hurts to remember that experience. Those people should be dealt with; they are everywhere and have been operating for a long time. I still bump into some of their marketers often and abuse them when given the opportunity…”

A victim, who preferred to be called Seun, said the same ‘Neolife’ scammers made him wear his best suit in preparation for a supposed interview, which later turned out to be a seminar on how to get rich. “It was God that made me not to beat the woman that was giving that motivational speech and the way others were looking with rapt attention was making me go wild. Like, were they listening to the rubbish these people were saying? The way I left the hall, nobody even dared to stop me.”

Responding to the question of how he met the fraudsters, Seun replied that he applied for a job online and was invited for an interview. “The caller gave me the venue and told me to dress corporately with my CV at hand. I ended up in a hall with somebody giving me motivational speeches.”

Virginia Rebo, a young girl, also fell into the scam few months after graduation. “The one I attended was telling me about Mark Zuckerberg and this guy’s sandal was not even polished. I was better before I met them, I don’t know if they brainwash but they achieve their purpose. It takes determination and will to come out of their shackles because the drug products they give you to sell is very expensive and for me, not effective, so, it’s hard to sell. Then, you are left with the option of bringing more people into the scheme just to increase your rank and get money.”

Rebo said that she had travelled from Delta State where she was based to attend the interview. “I used to sell snacks then in Delta before I got a text message and was invited for an interview in Lagos. I had called a number written in a black and white poster on a pole, which read, ‘Sales Girl Needed and N50,000 per month as remuneration. Everything started crumbling when I got to Lagos to meet these people.”

Paul Shein, once a victim, said that the marketers take advantage of the precarious situation of lack of jobs in Nigeria and prey on the psyche of their victims. “There is this innate desire of greed and desire of wealth in people that it’s so easy to manipulate them into selling expensive herbal drugs but I thank God I’m smarter now. If you are a job seeker in Nigeria, and you haven’t met these people, you haven’t started. I was really depressed with what I saw then. People are really in bondage.”

Tolu Adio said she was invited for a photoshoot by a passerby who met her at Iyana Ipaja. The passerby had introduced himself as a photographer and wanted her to come for a photoshoot for a product. “Those people are experts in brainwashing. I saw it with my eyes, the way people looked into the eyes of the man talking, and they were so absorbed. If not that I constantly distracted myself looking for at least a camera for the alleged photoshoot, I think I would have been zoned too. In my heart, I knew I had to run and I did.”

Adio also stated that the Neolife company is legit but the sinister way of selling their products and recruiting marketers is a cause for worry. “They literally don’t care about how your life is ruined through their recruiting method, they just want to sell their products and the unfortunate marketers bring in more marketers deceptively just to recover their money back.”

A sad experience recounted by Yemi shed more light on the miserable lives of the marketers themselves. “They told me that if I want to live the life I desire, they can help me. That was when I called one of the job adverts on the walls. I was desperate for a job and when I look back, I realized I was stupid. I was into this thing for years and I brought in gullible people too. I tried all the tricks just to get people into the scheme. In fact, I have written on walls with chalk too, invited young girls for modeling jobs, and invited people for interview. I sold almost all I had to register and to try to get my money back but I became poorer. Nobody buys their products so the only option is to bring more people in.”

Leo Savio said that the company employs deceptive strategies to make people work for them. He said that the company should come out and say that they are into multi-level marketing and not deceive people to come for interviews or photoshoots.

“This Neolife is a pure scam and a waste of time and resources. I spent N50,000 to register and get one of their product packages. For those that didn’t have, they were told to make a commitment of at least N20,000 upon the fact that we were looking for a job and they collected the little money we had. Those people are heartless. I know people that have in one way or the other fallen for the scam, sold their properties or borrow money and end up in debt,” Savio said.

Slim and tall lady, Audrey Mensah, was approached by her gender at Ilekpo market. Trying to get her attention, she complimented Mensah on her stature and beauty saying she would be perfect for modeling. “I have always thought of modeling if given the opportunity. So, seeing somebody saying that she’s got a modeling job for me seemed like manna from heaven until I found myself under the sun in Command at an uncompleted building receiving lectures on what a particular drug works for and telling us to pay a certain amount of money while getting more individuals into the scheme so that our paid money can grow before we collect them. When I realized this, I told them I wanted to use the toilet. When I got to the main road, I entered a vehicle and tried to find my way home.”

Mensah said that many people have fallen into the scam by investing in the product and that they later become desperate to sell out and recover their money. “It’s not bad to be involved in network marketing, don’t just involve people deceptively and put us in a desperate situation.”

A store owner in Agege who is surrounded by these fraudulent job adverts expressed his rage and how he has saved some desperate job seekers. “Ha, their poster is everywhere o… Factory worker needed here, hotel job, work in wine company, work in milk company, ushers needed, all those people do anything just to invite people for one fake interview. This one in front of my shop has been here for almost 11 years now. If I see anybody trying to call the number and the person looks approachable, I educate the person. Nigeria is hard, trust me and people would do anything for a job that looks promising.”

Stephen Ogwobor who had once been a victim and an observer said that the more the marketers are able to sell the products, the more your point value increases. “These people need downlines that will join their business. These downlines register under them to increase their status. I was a victim 7 years ago and it’s a pity that they are still operating, nobody has done anything. Now that Nigeria is hard, they are more desperate than ever that they even employ violence of some sort by threatening victims to buy the product. They make sure you don’t leave the venue without dropping some money.”

To investigate the fraudulent activities, this reporter had called a number written with white chalk on a wall. It read ‘Experienced Stylist Needed’ with a phone number for contact. A female voice answered the phone and promised to call her with another number.

After contacting her with different numbers and a series of questions which followed, the lady sent her a text to meet her at Kola and the name of the modeling company is ‘Ankara Fashion Wears’. Replying positively to the invite, the reporter went to Victory Event Centre at Kola, Lagos and was ushered into a hall of hundreds of young girls and boys who were being brainwashed through motivational speeches of how to be rich without being a slave to anyone, teaching the young ones certain laws of poverty and riches. After the long motivational speeches, the motivator spoke about how she has her own millions and would want all of them to make millions which meant buying their products and introducing more people under the guise of making others rich.

This reporter registered, wrote the number of the person who introduced her and signed upside down. After the registration, a young man met her and wrote her name while giving her a seat in a midst of young girls and boys who were listening to a young lady speak. There were three groups in that hall and someone sat in front motivating the young boys and girls who focused with rapt attention.

It wasn’t hard to decipher that this marketing company deceitfully turn citizens into agents by motivating them with false promises of wealth and freedom. Later, they give the brainwashed victims, expensive herbal drugs to sell and because it is hard to sell, they resort to bringing in more people into the scheme through dubious means.

This reporter feigned annoyance and messaged the number who invited her, “Why did you lie to me? It wasn’t a photoshoot.” The marketer who was also a victim replied that, “If I had told you what it really was, you wouldn’t have come. That’s why I lied to you that it was a modeling job.”

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) forbids any job seeker from giving up money in the course of looking for work and Nigeria is a signatory to this convention.

According to ILO, because Nigeria is a large country, its residents are vulnerable to scammers. The ILO sets criteria, and recruiters are expected to follow and apply them. The Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment in Nigeria might enforce these requirements. In a ratified convention with ILO, Nigeria in convention No. 181 “has a two-fold objective: it provides for the establishment of a comprehensive framework for the registration, licensing, and effective regulation of private employment agencies as well as for the protection of all workers that use their services, including workers employed by temporary employment agencies for the purpose of making them available to a “user enterprise”.

The Convention recognises the important role that private employment agencies can play in helping employers find workers with the right skills facilitating access to the labour market, especially for jobseekers in most disadvantaged situations, including people with disabilities, young jobseekers, older workers and migrant workers.”

Employers Association for Private Employment Agencies in Nigeria (EAPEAN), formerly known as Human Capital Providers Association (HuCaPAN) in Nigeria, is an umbrella for licensed Private Employment Agencies also known as recruiters in Nigeria.

CEO of Wiston Worldwide Heritage Limited and member of EAPEAN, Ahmed Kehinde, had said in an interview in 2020 that members of HuCaPAN go through due process in labour recruitment in Nigeria. “Although there are some illegal recruiters who operate without government approval to perpetrate the evil act of recruitment through fake job advertisements, they are not members of HuCaPAN as the association does not accommodate unlicensed recruiters.”

It is left to know what government will do to organisations as Neolife and others who take advantage of the high rate of unemployment to lure young girls and boys into product marketing, non-existent and sham jobs.