इल्लीगल RECRUITMENT

ILLEGAL RECRUITMENT

Recently the Chairman of the Federal Character Commission, Professor Shuaibu Oba Abdulraheem, disclosed that there have been illegal recruitments into the Federal Civil Service. According to Abdulraheem, these recruitments took place in some choice agencies and parastatals such as the Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigeria Customs Service, Federal Inland Revenue Service; Securities and Exchange Commission, Nigeria Immigration Service among others. Government must take immediate punitive action on this illegality especially when we recalled that tens of Nigerians died few weeks back during a recruitment exercise by the Immigration and Prisons services.

This recruitment contradicts the federal government posturing on transparency and anti corruption war. Illegal recruitment is corruption, simple. And those involved in it should be punished to deter future occurrences. The commission warning the heads of the heads of these institutions without official sanction is unfair and not enough; and shows that some officers are untouchables. The heads of these federal institutions might just have been used by some powerful Nigerians within and outside the political system to give jobs to their wards and maybe in the process the heads slotted in one or two of their candidates. If these recruits were ordinary Nigerians they would have been sacked. The commission should publish their identities, because tomorrow the same illegal recruits would be getting accelerated promotions above their seniors and more competent colleagues. And this may not augur well for the service and the country.

Bribery is a crime in Nigeria and some of these illegal recruits might have bribed themselves into these jobs, therefore both the giver and taker must be punished through sanction. A police constable, trying to justify why he collects bribe, once told me that he paid bribe to join the force and must collect same to recoup his investment. Most of those recruited illegally might have paid huge amount of money to get in and they would continue to collect money, aid and abet illegal recruitment into the system. If there is no sanction, getting into the service through the back-door would continued and would even be a “standard” and “acceptable” means of recruiting people into public service.

It is this skewed and discriminatory method of recruitment that has created a situation where some public institutions are dominated by people from a particular state or ethnic group. And in the name of federal character some cleaners, drivers and clerk would be employed while a particular state or ethnic group provides all the senior staff. Can one compare the influence of 1000 drivers to that of a single federal permanent secretary? Using the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, as an example; until recently there was no Ogoni man as a senior staff of the commission, until the Juju Ambassador, Sam Edem came into office and employed one Ogoni man as a staff of the Corporate Affairs department of the organization. All the Ogoni people working in the commission were drivers, clerks and other categories of junior staff yet the Ogonis are at the forefront of the agitation for a better deal for the oil bearing communities.

All those recruited illegally should be sent packing and those who recruited them should be sanction. These recruitments did not follow due process and therefore should not be allowed to stand. To allow these illegal recruits to stay is to justify a public opinion in Nigeria that one can commit a crime and get away with it, even when caught. The Bible says that when a thief is caught he should be made to pay sevenfold of what he stole. And also Bible says he that does not enter a house through the door is a thief. So all those who joined the federal, state, and local government services through the backdoor are thieves and should be treated as such. To allow them to stay would create a dangerous precedent as other officials may soon follow suit. Please let maintain the standard. Allowing these recruits to stay would justify the Machiavellian theory that the end justifies the means. Also these recruits may be seen by other unemployed Nigerians as “smart” or “sharp” guys and they may extend their smartness and sharpness to our national treasury. We should not celebrate criminals. If these recruits and those who recruited them are not sanction, government now and in future has no moral right to sanction anybody who joined the service through the back door or recruit people illegally into the system.

Is Abdulraheem insinuating that the Immigration had already carried out it recruitment before the public show where Nigerians died? And in a bid to fulfill all righteousness, the organization asked thousands of Nigerians to come out for non existing vacancies where tens died for nothing. These Nigerians should not be allowed to die for nothing. Their blood and families cry for justice. So Nigerians should do everything to show that these candidates are also important to the country. The only fault of those dead candidates was that they were Nigerians who came form the wrong wombs. For the sake of the deceased let every illegal recruit be shown the way out or in alternative federal government should compensate families of those who died handsomely. Some of those who died might have been the only graduate from their respective homes and some treasured family possessions might have been mortgaged or sold to finance their education. And every investment deserves a reward but they died.

If nothing is done the message is that next time is that when government institutions advertise vacancies, the ordinary Nigerians need not apply as these phantom vacancies have already been filled. Also the message is that if you want a federal job you either get a godfather or look for money to bribe your way in, if you can afford the price tag. We complain of militants, prostitutes, area boys and other social deviants; these were not born to be so. But some of them after looking for jobs and out of frustration and stark reality that they can’t get a job on their own merits despite their certificates turned against a society that discriminates against them.

Let the commission publish the names of the beneficiaries of these illegal recruitments and where they come from: state, local government and all. Then draw up a strategy to take care of areas that were neglected. The present dominance of the military, federal civil service and some part of the nation economy is a product of past illegal recruitments. And once they are there they will continue to bring their kiths and kins while those who do not have godfathers and relatives in the system shall remain perpetually unemployed. The commission should wake up to its constitutional responsibility and look at the lopsidedness in public service at federal, state and local government levels, in terms of quality and quantity of staff. A well publicized standards and qualifications for public service recruitment should be made available. The public sector must adopt best practices, due process, transparency and federal character during recruitment exercises.