How expatriate quota abuse worsened unemployment

THE efforts of the Federal Government to tackle unemployment stand the risk of failing unless a major step is taken to resolve the issue of expatriate quota in the nation's economy.Despite its good intention, the expatriate quota system is now taking its toll on the nation's youths, as foreigners remain the preferred applicants in the Labour market.The abuse of the expatriate quota is mostly noticeable in the manufacturing and commerce sectors where the firms that pride themselves as indigenous are not what they claim. In the telecommunications sector, for example, a company has a Nigerian as the chairman, but the people who wield the real power are expatriates.The same scenario plays itself out in the maritime and automotive sectors where even cooks on board vessels are expatriates.Some of the foreigners take advantage of the Nigeria's porous borders to make their way into the country, while others use official entry points under the guise of being expatriates with skills not available in Nigeria.The 1963 enabling Act of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) made provision for the employment of foreigners in areas where Nigerians are lacking the required skills.The NIS is empowered to issue business permit and expatriate quota and to monitor the quota granted in order to ensure effective transfer of technology to Nigerians and eventually indigenise the position occupied by the expatriates.But since 1963 when the law was made, there has been no monitoring and there has been no technology transferred to Nigerians in whatever form.In fact, the law has been abused as foreigners can now be seen at construction sites, factories, autosale outlets, telecommunications and maritime companies doing semi-skilled and even menial jobs that should have been reserved for Nigerians in order to reduce unemployment in the country.The NIS feels hamstrung in arresting the situation, saying that enforcing the law was difficult because foreigners who set up firms have a right to hire their kinsmen to protect their interest.The Indians and Asians are more in this category of foreigners with questionable entry into the country and in abuse of the expatriate quota regime as many can be found in sale outlets as attendants.The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has expressed concern over the influx of expatriates into the country.According to the Director-General of LCCI, Mr. Muda Yusuf, the abuse is worse in Lagos State where foreigners had taken over jobs where Nigerians had competencies. He asked the government to check the trend, saying many of them lacked qualifications to work in the country.The LCCI boss said that government efforts at creating jobs would be in vain if the trend was not corrected.
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