• As labour ministry promises normalcy
Private Employment Agencies (PEAs) have lamented the suspension of their operations for five years, stating that their licenses have remained active five years after.
In 2018, the Federal Government suspended international recruitment in Nigeria, following altercations between the Federal Ministry of Labour and the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and Other Related Matters (NAPTIP) over the issuance of licenses to PEAs.
The Guardian gathered that although the matter had since been resolved in favour of the ministry, the suspension of international recruitment in Nigeria has not been lifted.
The agencies lamented that the PEAs that had paid for licences since 2018 are now restless as their licences have remained dormant for five years after.
At a stakeholders’ meeting on international recruitment of workers in Nigeria, held in Abuja, the President of the Human Capital Provider Association of Nigeria (HuCaPAN), Dr. Olufemi Ogunlowo, said the group was worried that despite the signing of the Standard Operational Procedure (SOP) guidelines and frameworks, there has not been improvement in international recruitment system in Nigeria.
This, according to him, is allowing quacks in the industry to operate almost unchecked, saying, “Since emigration is a right that cannot be stopped, if official routes are closed, people will take to illegal routes which are detrimental to national growth and our industry.”
Indeed, HuCaPAN has in recent years been advocating for the standardisation of recruitment practices in Nigeria through the effective implementation of the Code of Conduct for PEAs.
It also stated that there should be a guideline for international recruitment in Nigeria. On his part, the Executive Secretary of the association, Olajide Afolabi, further revealed that the PEAs facilitate about five million jobs domestically that attract more than N1.4 trillion in wages and salaries.
Head of the International Labour Migration Desk (ILMD) in the Ministry of Labour, Dr. Sunday Onazi, revealed that the Minister of Labour and Employment had written severally to the government on the need for the resumption of international recruitment in Nigeria.
He hinted that the desperation of Nigerians to go out of the country and the greed of illegal employment agencies are the major pull factors driving irregular migration in Nigeria.
Onazi warned: “People that are giving you people problems are there and will continue to be there. Nigerians are very smart people. So, people devise various ways to get out of the country. Some people sneak out on religious grounds both Christians and Moslems. When they finish their religious obligations will simply disappear into other countries or simply remain in those countries to continue their lives. Also, there are many Nigerians that travel under the pretense of going to school abroad. They get relevant papers in Nigeria but upon reaching their destinations, they simply abandon school and begin to work. All these people are irregular labour migrants.
“These people do not also have valid papers and cannot be defended by the Nigerian High Commissions around the world. Some of them also fall into sex slavery or servitude abroad because they have no protection.”
Rex Jacob, a member of HuCaPAN, said close to one year after the development and signing of the SOP by the stakeholders, operations have not started.
“The SOP has been signed close to one year but operations have not started. So, what exactly does the government want? So, now that the SOP has been launched, when do we start recruitment? We have held several meetings with the International Office on Migration (IOM) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on how we can resolve the logjam but those engagements have not yielded any fruits. Whether we like it or not, whether the ban was placed on international recruiters or not, I can tell you categorically that people are leaving this country irregularly,” he stated.
Cecilia William of the Department of Employment and Wages in the Ministry of Labour and Employment explained that the government is working on restoring international recruitment in Nigeria.
She also hinted that the delay in the issuance of licenses to PEAs, is caused by the profiling process undertaken by the Department of State Service (DSS).
“The proposal on how to turn things around is on my director’s table. The ministry is not happy with the way things are in this regard. We do our bit by assessing applications that meet the statutory requirement. After, there is character profiling by the Department of State Service (DSS) and that is where delay occurs,” she said.
