Expatriate Policy: Employ Nigerian graduates or face sanctions, FG charges companies

The Federal Government has mandated companies in Nigeria to employ qualified graduates understudying for expatriates else they would be sanctioned.

This was disclosed in a statement issued by the Chairman, The Special Ministerial Task Force on Monitoring and Enforcement of Nigerian Expatriate Business Permit and Expatriate Quota Administration, Mr Bola Ilori in Osogbo, Osun State, after its meeting with representatives of the Nigerian Immigration Service, Nigeria Labour Congress; Nigerian Bar Association; Nigerian Society of Engineers; other professional bodies and officials of Ministry of Interior.

He added the task force, In order to ensure compliance with the rules, has directed companies in the country to submit the Tax Identification Number, National Identification Numbers, Phone Number and Email Address of Nigerians understudying expatriates in their firms.

Ilori added that at the end of the meeting that companies must submit the details of Nigerians understudying expatriates to verify their sincerity or otherwise to the policy or face heavy sanctions from the Federal Government.

He said, ” Every company must submit the details of Nigerians understudying expatriates in their organisations. They must submit the Tax Identification Number, National Identity Number of each Nigerian understudying expatriates in their companies.

“We have discovered that some of the companies are not sincere, they just want to keep renewing the permits of their expatriates at the detriment of Nigerians. We want to know whether they are circumventing the policy or they adhere to it.

“The problem is that some of these companies are either not employing Nigerians at all or using school certificate holders to be understudying expatriates who are managers. How can a school certificate holders understudy a manager?

“What they are aiming at is that when the times comes for the expatriates to exit, the companies will say those understudying the expatriates do not have the capacity to become managers and you will agree with them. What that means is that Nigerians will not get to such positions and the expatriates will be there forever.

“When the exit time comes, they will say Nigerians understudying the expatriates do not have the capacity to step into such positions.

“How can a school cert holders succeed a manager when we have millions of Bsc holders and Master’s degree holders. But they do that deliberately to defeat the purpose of the policy of the Federal Government.”

Ilori maintained that the task force would do everything to ensure that Nigerians were no longer denied the opportunities to work in companies in the country by foreigners and their collaborators.