The Federal Government has expressed worry over the lingering abuse of the expatriate quota policy by local and foreign companies, saying stiffer punishment would be meted out on violators.
Expatriate quota is an approval granted to companies by the government to allow them to engage foreigners with technical competence in areas that may not be readily available in the country for a given period.
The Chairman, Taskforce on Expatriate Quota Administration in Nigeria under the Ministry of Interior, Hon. Bola Ilori said this to newsmen after he led a delegation on an inspection of some companies in Rivers State on Wednesday.
The companies visited are Daewoo Engineering and Construction in Onne, Eleme local government area, Ports and Terminal Operators Limited in Port Harcourt and Sudelettra Nigeria Limited, all in the state.
Ilori said the idea of the policy was to ensure that Nigerians were not shot-changed, pointing out that the country must benefit from the activities of the expatriates that come here.
He stated, “The exercise is not to witch-hunt any company in particular. It is to ensure that they comply with what they promised to do.
“And in the spirit of expatriate quota administration to ensure that Nigerians are employed. What informed the federal government is that what they (companies) are applying for is for people who have special skills that are not available in Nigeria.
“So, if we now give them that quota to bring in people, they must be seen to be doing what they have applied to do. For some, they are doing well, for some they are not. They don’t comply, some even engage in racketeering of the expatriate quota.
“Like this company now, Sudelettra, they got a quota, but nobody is working. That means it is either they are racketeering in the quota they got or something else is happening that we will still know. We have requested that they should bring forth all their documents.”
Continuing, Olori said, “If we realize that they are not using the application, we delist them. So rather than just compiling an empty quota for people that can even turn out to become security for Nigeria.”
While noting that qualified Nigerian graduates that are supposed to be employed as youths are not being employed, he said “For every expatriate that comes into the country, two Nigerians must be employed to understudy them.
“The idea is for Nigerians to gain the knowledge and prepare to take over because these expatriates will not be here forever.”
The taskforce chairman said both the Ministry of Interior and the government as a whole must ensure that racketeering is reduced if not totally eliminated, saying, “The Government needs to certify those who come to present these papers to Nigeria.
“If you go to embassies it is done everywhere. The new administration coming in Nigeria will have a whole lot to learn from the report we are putting together for the sanitisation of the quota system in Nigeria.
“They must employ qualified Nigerians to understudy those people to take over from them. So, the fact that they are not now using it means that they are short-changing Nigerians. So many unemployed in Nigeria are roaming the streets without jobs.
A representative of Sudelettra Nigeria Limited, Desmond Oluwasegun, promised to forward all documents requested by the taskforce, saying, “This Company suffered so much during the Covid-19.”
On his part, the General Manager, Administration, Daewoo E&C, Ikenna Nweze said the company was complying with the expatriate quota policy, saying “A number of Nigerians have been employed to understudy expatriates attached to the company.”
