In addition, in most cases, the job seekers who are not computer nards or literate would have to engage the services of 'computer experts' available from crammed shack-like internet Cafes that can only be found in towns and cities. These commercial computer operators charge fees in order to open an e-mail address/account, download forms, complete and print and/or e-mail completed application forms and/or view result of a test or an interview on behalf of the prospective job applicant.
Some years back, the process and procedure of applying for any public or private sector job was simple: it requires just obtaining free hardcopy application forms to be completed by the applicant and returned to the appropriate office where it is filed and processed accordingly. In most cases, then, a simple hand-written application letter on ordinary paper suffices. However, with the introduction of e-government and e-commerce by the Nigerian Government and many private organizations respectively, all manners of scams are also being introduced with the new e-system of doing many things in both the public and private sectors respectively. For instance, I consider asking young unemployed Nigerians to part away with an average of N3,000 any time elusive public and/private sector job opportunities are advertised as morally indefensible blood-sucking scam to say the least.
It is a shame that this practice is happening in oil-rich Nigeria! All thanks to the Obasanjo's eras' presidential economic management gurus, who were best known for privatizing or commercializing every conceivable public service freely available to Nigerians; including public service recruitment etc. The latest agency that joined the club of government agencies in commercializing recruitment into the Federal Pubic Service is the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA). For instance, some few days ago, NDLEA advertised in some major daily newspapers its e-recruitment exercise for certain categories of its staff.
Prospects are to obtain NDLEA e-recruitment access code for N1, 500 per head from a number of listed designated commercial bank. All applicants must apply on-line! Can you imagine how much money will be sucked from the huge army of wretched job-thirsty unemployed Nigerians into the purse of the agency? Remember that some years ago, a serving Inspector-General of Police (IGP) but now retired, pioneered this e-recruitment scam at the imposing Louis Edet House, Abuja. It was reported by the press that the IGP made a record-breaking jack-pot of over N2.6 billion from armies of job-thirsty unemployed Nigerians. No wonder therefore that some people call the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) an elephant-sized blood-sucking anima! What smart and innovative strategy for internally generated revenue (IGR)!!
Alas, the sad news was that 60% of that blood soaked IGR garnered through the blood-sucking scam went directly into the bank account of a Brief-Case carrying consultant contracted to design and manage the e-recruitment portal for and on behalf of the bosses at the Louis Edet House, Abuja. And, your guess is as good as mine, as to where the other 40% was kept or utilized. But the good news is that the current leadership at the NPF has put an end to this dubious practice and now makes the recruitment exercise Forms "FREE OF CHARGE"!!!
This easy money-minting e-recruitment scam is profitable because for instance, declared vacancies of say, 50 openings, usually attracts not less than 10, 000 jobless applicants in Nigeria today. For example, not long ago, over 100, 000 thousand job-seekers nationwide (including genuine PhD holders) applied for a few thousand entry-level declared vacancies by the Nigerian Civil Defence and Security Corps (NCDSC).
This shows that there is real and clear desperation by teaming Nigerian jobless youths yearning for any type of employment opportunity and at any cost (with many taking the deadly Sahara Desert routes to Europe; all in search for the elusive greener pastures). No wonder therefore, many Government agencies and private sector organizations are using this strategy to exploit job-thirsty desperate Nigerians in order to make huge financial gains with impunity.
There are also other avenues that are daily being used by public and private agencies to exploit desperate Nigerians. These include but not limited to charging Nigerian students for viewing and/or obtaining their examination results on-line by the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB), the West African Examination Council (WAEC) and the National Examination Council (NECO). Others in this bizarre commercial business arena are the Nigerian Universities and other tertiary educational institutions that charge students all sorts of ridiculous fees; from lecture Notes/Hand-Outs to post-JAMB-UME university entrance examination fees that costs between N1, 000 and N5, 000 per head as the case may be (i.e., not counting the costs of transportation, accommodation and feeding to and from home to the various university campuses and the risks involved while travelling on very dangerous Nigerian roads that are also infested with kidnappers).
These worrying situations can best be described as 'bitter' dividends of democracy at best. If this sad trend is not halted, Nigerians will soon be asked to start buying smart cards to access other social services under the cover of e-governance and in the interest of national security and Vision: 20:20-20. Is Nigeria that bad at imitating international best practices? I think we can do better.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Abubakar Nuhu Koko
Quelle/Source: Business Day, 27.08.2010
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