A JOB TO DIE FOR

Driving towards the Abuja National Stadium on Saturday, March 15, the crowd I witnessed there was unprecedented. Not even the last time a Grade ‘A’ football match was held at the stadium did we host such a mammoth crowd; nor even the recent celebration of Nigeria’s centenary for that matter!  Who was this crowd puller, especially in these times of austerity? Upon enquiry, I was shocked to discover that the hosts were the Ministry of Interior and the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS). The event: a recruitment exercise for four thousand jobs. It was unbelievable!

There were over 80,000 applicants at the Abuja stadium alone and this was duplicated in other cities around the country. 4000 jobs only! And our “Oga at the top” decided that for this multitude of unemployed Nigerians to get a chance at a job interview in their esteemed government department, each applicant had to pay N1000. This was just getting worse and worse. They confirmed to us all that the “Oga at the top” saga was real and perpetuated at the highest levels of government. The government-sponsored scams continue with impunity.

Nigerian youth, who are crazy about football, would not pay N1000 to watch the Super Eagles versus Brazil! But such is their desperation that they were willing to pay to get a job! Even in this desperation, the government must fleece us, must take advantage.  The idea of government as a servant just does not exist here. The National Bureau of Statistics is at liberty to reel out any understated unemployment figures it cares to feed us with, but we know that over two million young Nigerians applied for 4,000 NIS jobs. Out of that number, NIS shortlisted 526,650 candidates for recruitment tests nationwide. Injuries and/or deaths were recorded in the FCT, as well as Rivers, Kwara, Osun, Oyo, Niger, Kano and Edo states. In all, 23 died and over a hundred were injured.

This is unacceptable. We must see heads roll. Nothing has happened. The government is telling us that our lives are worthless. Who is responsible for the extortion? Who is responsible for the innocent lives lost? The minister blames the crowd. “They were too impatient” He should be sacked. Nobody has been arrested and the government does not think an enquiry should be held to find out how the tragedy at the stadium occurred so that there is not a repeat.

Is it fair for a government establishment to sell forms to millions of applicants when it is only going to employ fewer than 5,000? There are legal and moral sides to this tragedy. Government misses the point completely. It is not the job of government to provide jobs. Government should attract employment by creating enabling environments for businesses to flourish. It is these businesses that provide jobs. The government’s failure to grasp this has left the responsibility of private sector-driven job creation unattainable.  

We toy with the energy of millions of unbridled youth. We play with fire by not keeping them engaged. Their frustration will at a point spill over into anger and will not be cowed forever. Venezuela serves as a reminder that our youth will turn against the state if the state turns its back on them.  

Central government has failed in handling our resources. That is why in the midst of plenty we fail to create big society. We should hand back the resources of each state to its residents to manage. Governors and council chairmen are closer to their constituencies, thus we know where to look when searching for answers. The centre is far, too remote and removed from the people to make a positive difference to our lives.

With the core of our problems directly or indirectly related to resource control, delegates at the National Conference have their jobs cut out – resource control should be the priority issue on the agenda. If Mr. President wants us to vote in a referendum on whether to adopt a decentralized fiscal federacy, we should. The current situation where a few continuously get the lion’s share of our national resources only because they are close or connected to the seat of power shows a distinct lack of social conscience.

This is not fair at all. We have blood on our hands. What will we say when our children ask, “What did you do?”  My blood boils as I hope does yours. Please sign up to this petition and demand the Minister’s resignation and an answer as to who pays for the deaths. Where is the compensation? We demand a declaration of all money collected and a refund to all applicants. And finally, please put your hands together in prayer for all those young lost souls who did not make it back home from the botched exercise.