Bloody job hunt continue The huge invitation and turnout of applicants in the various centers was without a doubt an indication of disaster on this sad event. Any large number of people or crowds at such inadequate venues would certainly endanger people’s lives and the possibility of a stampede is largely imminent. And the designs of our stadiums where entrance and exit points are limited in order to protect the people in the stadium worked in a negative way. It was so bad at the time of the incident that most of the stadiums had few exit points and fences to protect the people inside. That is what adds so much to the tragedy. And the tragic truth is, that something which was done to protect the people in the stadium, played a large part in why so many of our own perished. Confining an over crowded people in difficult and desperate circumstances, and in a unpredictable environment is always a disaster waiting to happen, and on that fateful day, it did. While I believe that what happened on that fateful day was a very grave and expensive mistake. Because, in no way, could I imagine in my wildest dreams that tragedy that happened to the organizers carefully orchestrated the job applicants. It was negligent, insensitive and a mistake. And a mistake is a mistake; It would be hard to believe for a moment that the authorities intentionally planned for this catastrophe to happen. Thus while I don’t think the authorities purposely sabotaged the applicants, there is no doubt that what happened during the immigration recruitment exercise was indeed an expose of the government’s ineptitude, lackadaisical attitude, improper coordination and the absence of tact in carrying out functions and activities. Indeed, the Nigeria Immigration Service is a very prominent governmental agency responsible for ensuring that non-citizens coming into the country are without any blemishes and have no ulterior motives for coming into the country. One would expect that such an establishment saddled with such a sensitive role would show adequate concern and responsibility in terms of how it recruits new intakes into its ranks. And if it didn’t in the past, may this incident provide a lesson from which all agencies may learn today. In a non-encouraging manner, the interior minister, Abba Moro, stated that the applicants’ impatience should be blamed for the stampede that resulted in some of the deaths, and that the applicants refused to abide by the instruction handed to them by the recruiters. This statement by the minister sounds like an attempt at shifting the blame from his office and the Immigration Service to the applicants. Have I missed something here? Did the Minister not get the memo that young men and women actually died during the exercise and families lost their loved ones. Does he not think it’s a tad bit insensitive to make such inconsiderate statements at this very time? Noteworthy, however, is that, during registration for the recruitment exams, the Immigration Service authorities barefacedly and insensitively demanded a fee of N1, 000 from each intending applicant. This is certainly in defiance of various directives from the House of Representatives that the executive/government agencies should stop asking or extorting money in the form of fees from unemployed citizens seeking jobs. All in all, at N1, 000 per candidate, the Immigration Service would have made a profit of N6 billion (i.e. from 6 million applicants, shortlisted for interview or not). It’s only in a country like Nigeria that jobseekers and the unemployed are made to pay for unavailable jobs. It is indeed unbecoming of such a significant agency of government, as the Immigration Service would be found culpable in trying to extort money from teeming unemployed youths. And, who knows, the 4, 000 or so vacancies may have been filled by the candidates of ministers, lawmakers, governors, directors and Permanent Secretaries. Why asking those without godfathers to apply? “…I’m just saying!” It is also alleged that the chaotic arrangements for the recruitment exercise that eventually turned bloody was merely a justification for the money paid by the applicants. Curiously, though, since the Immigration Service authorities and the Ministry of Interior had the data of applicants, especially with regards to the Abuja center, why wasn’t the exercise decentralized in order to accommodate the huge population? On this issue alone, an inquiry should be launched with immediate effect.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 10:21:06 +0000