Last week Wednesday, President Goodluck Jonathan directed that three employment slots be reserved for the families of those who died during the stampede that occurred during the recruitment exercise conducted by the Nigerian Immigration Service on March 15 nationwide. It was one of the decisions arrived at during the Federal Executive Council meeting.
The president said one of the three beneficiaries must be a lady and directed that all those who sustained injuries and are currently hospitalised be given automatic employment in the service.
While ordering that the ill-fated exercise be cancelled, Jonathan also set up a committee led by the Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission to conduct a fresh exercise.
Some aggrieved applicants have launched a mega lawsuit against the federal government, the Minister of Interior, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Nigerian Immigration Service and its Comptroller-General, before a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, seeking an order declaring the conduct or the execution of the recruitment exercise illegal, unwarranted and a violation of the applicants’ fundamental rights to life.
There were 522,675 applicants, out of which over 15 lost their lives. The applicants want the court to order the federal government to pay each surviving applicant N1 million and families of deceased ones N50 million each as general damages.
It was unfortunate that the tragedy was coming six years after similar incident occurred in 2008 when some applicants died in a physical fitness exercise conducted by NIS nationwide. One thought that the service would have learnt its lessons by sticking to the recommendations of the committee that investigated the incident and conduct a hitch free exercise, but the reverse happened to be the case.
Nigerians have condemned the tragic exercise and called for the resignation of the minister and the NIS DG to allow for a thorough investigation into the incidence.
Perhaps, this national criticism has further prompted the House of Representatives to mandate its committees on Interior, Justice, Labour and Productivity and Public Service Matters to investigate what led to the death of these applicants. The resolution followed a motion on matters of urgent public importance moved by Rep Karimi Sunday (PDP, Kogi).
In his motion titled, ‘Tragedy at 2014 Immigration Recruitment Exercise in Nigeria as One Million Nigerian Youths Scramble for 4, 500 Job Placements’, Sunday queried why the service did not conduct an internet-based recruitment tests after realising about N1billion from the sale of the application forms. He said in view of the tragedy, the minister of interior and the immigration boss should appear before the House to explain the unwieldy recruitment exercise.
The lawmaker maintained that if the test had been conducted in conducive environment and in batches, the tragedy would have been averted. He expressed worry that the rate of unemployment in Nigeria had been on the increase, pointing out that the recruitment exercise had lend credence to the unemployment challenge in the country. Sunday lamented that a situation whereby a paramilitary outfit could not conduct a recruitment exercise was indeed shameful.
According to him, “in Lagos alone, about 70, 000 youths showed up at the stadium for the test. In Ibadan, the Liberty Stadium played host to about 20, 000 Nigerian youths.
“In Abuja, the 60,000 capacity National Stadium was overcrowded with over 70, 000 youths. In Ilorin, 25,000 candidates showed up like a sea of heads at the llorin Stadium.
“At the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, 26,000 Nigerian youths trooped in all in a bid to write the aptitude test. The Sani Abacha Stadium in Kano played host to 15,800 youths, “In Benue State 17,800 youths took part in the exercise and in Port Harcourt, about 23,000 candidates enrolled for the recruitment exercise.
“Despite the crises and insecurity in the North-East, Gombe and Borno states played host to about 5000 applicants each, while in Sokoto state, 10,000 applicants participated in the recruitment exercise.
“This was the same trend in other state capitals on the said date. Despite the fact that the applicants were requested to come to the test centres in their sport outfit, no physical test was conducted and only about 20 per cent of the candidates were able to participate in recruitment process as a result of its poor organisation.”
In her reaction, Rep Nkoyo Toyo said the recruitment tragedy was as a result of structural problem. She expressed dissatisfaction on the explanation earlier offered by the minister as unacceptable, adding that it was a pity that immigration, as a paramilitary outfit, could not manage the applicants they had invited for the test.
The deputy majority leader, Leo Ogor, advocated the devolution of power so as to give the state and local governments more responsibilities. Ogor stressed that the hour had come for them to look inward and start doing what was right.
Bitrus kaze described the tragedy as unfortunate, saying it was one that could have been avoided. He informed the lawmakers that a newspaper report alleged that members of the National Assembly were given slots out of the 4, 500 vacancies.
Other lawmakers, who spoke, alluded to the fact that there was no concrete policy on ground towards addressing the unemployment problem in the country and called for the sack of the minister and other top NIS officials, emphasising that there were no proper crowd control measures in place at the various venues the exercise took place.
Meanwhile, the Board of the Immigration Service, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence, Prisons and the Fire Service Board has indicted the Minister of Interior, Comrade Abba Moro, over the botched recruitment exercise into the NIS.
The board said it was sidelined in the whole exercise. A commissioner in the board, Mr S.D. Tapgun disclosed this when he appeared before the House Committee on Public Accounts, PAC along with other board members and Heads of agencies. Tapgun said that there was no board approval for the failed exercise.
Therefore, it should be emphasised that a situation whereby family members are offered jobs when they have already lost their dear ones is unacceptable. Such a recruitment exercise should henceforth be contracted to credible and reliable firms and not to cronies and friends of the minister or heads of the agencies.
Nevertheless, it is the responsibility of the federal government to provide a conducive environment for job creation. The rising rate of unemployment is certainly worrisome. The immigration tragedy clearly mirrors the true reflection of unemployment in the country and how desperate people could go to secure a government paid job. The earlier government starts addressing the mirage of unemployment, insecurity and other youth-based violence, the better.
As expected, a panel has been setup to investigate the incident. It should not be like any other panel; all those found culpable should be prosecuted to serve as deterrent to others. The recommendations from the panel should be used as blueprint for conducting subsequent exercises, especially in the para-military. For the fact that some expectant mothers died in the aborted exercise, with several others reportedly injured, is enough reason why the organisers should not escape appropriate sanctions.
Moreover, the country’s educational system should be designed to drive industrial development and thus produce resourceful, self-employed folks, who can create opportunities, rather than depend on government paid job. A situation whereby thousands of graduates are being churned out yearly by higher institutions without job offers for them is indeed a sad development.
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