After that, Ojo went in search of
opportunities like every other young Nigerian.
He had always wanted to work in the Nigerian
military or with a para-military organisation. Now 28, he first learned of an
opening for employment at the Nigerian Federal Road Safety Corps – the
government Agency with statutory responsibilities for road safety
administration – on a whatsApp group. His application came with a price,
literally.
“I paid 300,000 thousand Naira so I could get
that job” he said, shaking his head in disbelieve. “I needed to confirm the
whatsApp broadcast so I approached a Road Safety officer who confirmed it”.
His 55-year old mum, Mrs Funke Ojo, who raised
all her 3 kids by herself, continued to support him when he came back to their
home in the satellite area of Mararaba, approximately about 70 kilometers to
Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory.
Ashamed, he began fighting hard to get a job
at all costs. Like every other Nigerian graduate fresh from school, it is
almost traditional to give back to parents after being trained to the
university level, so he had hoped to be able to take care of his mum. He still
hasn’t.
There are others in the same predicament.
According to National Bureau of Statistics published by Trading Economics, unemployment rate in Nigeria
increased to 14.2 percent in the last quarter of 2016 from 10.4 percent same
quarter in 2015. It is the highest unemployment rate since 2009 as the number
of unemployed went up by 3.5 million to 11.549 million while employment rose at
a slower 680.800 to 69.6 million.
And desperation is leading them to pay to get
in line for the available jobs. “Most young graduates pay hundreds of the
Nigerian naira bribing agency heads in a bid to secure jobs”, affirms Lawrence
Idoko, (real name withheld) a retired senior director with the nation’s federal
civil Service.
“FRSC alone is only one sector in the
country’s job bribing scandal, an atomization of how corrupt the Nigerian
system has been”, he reiterates. “National Assembly members (the lawmakers)
have had to instruct agency on preferred candidates they want employed. It has
opened doors for agency heads too to demand bribe from job seekers”.
An overwhelming percentage of Nigerians will
accept a bribe when offered or pay a bribe when demanded, reveals the Nigerian Corruption Survey 2017 published
by the National Bureau for Statistics (NBS). The Nigerian Corruption Survey,
which revealed how different forms of corruption affect daily life of the
average Nigerian citizen, is being published for the first time.
Mr Ojo, said he was asked to pay the amount by
a senior director in the FRSC whom he didn’t want to mention his name for fear
of being hounded. He looks helpless as he explains the trauma he put his
widowed mum through.
“This country will break any strong man – I
feel helpless”, Ojo confesses. “My mum sold her plot of land because she wanted
me to get that job. after the money was paid I couldn’t get the job – I was
threatened never to talk about it”, .
He has seen people who pay as much as 500,000
naira ($1,500) to get into the Nigerian customs, the police and other agencies
in Nigeria. “Bribing for a job is normal, you have to survive”. He maintained.
“I paid N120,000 to get my job” – a police
Constable also in the Federal Capital Abuja mentioned. “Please don’t quote me.
It is a normal thing.”
The middle-aged constable was shocked during
his dialogue with this reporter that the issue of bribes for jobs was shocking.
He said it has become a norm and it was introduced by the Ministers, Governors,
Presidents and mostly influential elites who started by bribing their kids into
the “Juicy” ministries, parastatals and government agencies to gain employment.
“The agency heads also did not want to be left
behind, they also joined in the trade”. The constable added. “When you
graduate, you bribe before you gain employment”.
While Ojo goes around with his resume, hoping
his prayers for a job will be answered someday, he regrets failing his widowed
mum who survives from the brisk business she does along Mararaba highway to
survive.
While the poor pay, the rich benefit through
job racketeering.
Job racketeering is almost an everyday scandal
in Nigeria even after two years of the Muhammadu Buhari presidency which rode
to power promising to stamp out endemic corruption; agencies like the Central
Bank of Nigeria, Immigration Service, Police, and the NNPC have all at one
point or the other been involved.
From roadside allies to officials within the
agencies, most organizations on a regular send out advertorials denying claims
of having openings.
In 2016, 91 people tied to influential and
highly placed Nigerians were offered juicy appointments by the Central Bank of
Nigeria (CBN) in a hiring process that was highly secretive. The list of
beneficiaries of the CBN’s job largesse included a daughter of former Vice
President Abubakar Atiku, a son of Mamman Daura, a nephew of President Muhammadu
Buhari and one of the closest members of the president’s inner circle, a son of
the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, a
daughter of former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ghali Na’aba, also
daughter of the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, with a son of the
Minister of Internal Affairs, Abdurahman Danbazzau and at least 86 others.
The CBN’s Director of Human Resources, Chizoba
Mojekwu, was reportedly redeployed as the bank’s Director of Capacity Development
and IT after CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, accused her of being behind the
leaking of the list – until date no one was prosecuted as a result.
During the last administration, former
Minister of Interior, Abba Moro was also involved in job racketeering.
During the ongoing trial, a prosecution witness, Bilkisu Mohammed
revealed how funds accrued from the ill-fated recruitment exercise conducted by
the Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS, on March 17, 2013 was spent by Drexel
Tech Nigeria Limited, the company contracted to provide online enlistment and
e-recruitment services by the Interior Ministry.
Former Minister Moro and 3 others are being
tried by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, before
Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of the Federal High Court, Maitama, Abuja.
The exercise was carried out in a negligent
manner leading to the death of several applicants in various recruitment
centres across the country.
The EFCC is prosecuting Mr. Moro alongside a
former permanent secretary in the ministry, Anastasia Daniel-Nwobia; a deputy
director in the ministry, F. O Alayebami; one Mahmood Ahmadu (at large), and
Drexel Tech Nigeria Limited on an 11-count charge bordering on procurement
fraud and money laundering.
As the case continues in court, Nigerian
universities are preparing for another round of convocation activities, which
will release a further 500,000 estimated
graduates, swelling the labour market. The cycle of poverty continues.
Mercy
Abang is a Freelance Journalist, focusing her work on development
Journalism, under-reported or never reported stories mostly ignored by
mainstream media organisations – She doubles as an International media fixer–
She tweets at @abangmercy.. Mercy is the 2017 United Nations Journalism Fellow
and budgIT Media fellow for 2017.
This
article was written as part of the 2017 BudgIT Media Fellowship but BudgIT had
no editorial influence or control over the story.
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