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Tag: Expatriate

  • Right expatriate levy

    Right expatriate levy

    • But the Federal Government must monitor its progress to avoid official overreach

    It is regarded in some circles as draconian and even counterproductive. But the Federal Government considers it a right tonic in a country hemorrhaging talent and jobs, and therefore losing vital revenue for its citizens and development of the country.

    The Tinubu administration has set March 15 to start the Expatriates Employment Levy, also known as EEL, and the purpose, according to the government, is to free jobs for Nigerians instead of allowing foreigners to corral them.

    It is a philosophically sound idea. It is also patriotic and makes economic sense. Most nations, especially those that attract volumes of foreign investments, watch out for their citizens’ side of job parity, and make policies to protect sharks of employees from colonising the job market.

    Most critics accept this side of the government position. What has rankled some critics is the levy imposed on foreign workers. The new policy will ask employers to pay between $10,000 and $15,000 for each of such employees.

    The impression needs to be clarified that this does not pertain to all foreign workers. It only concerns such workers that take jobs for which Nigerians have been trained and have the same expertise.

    The objections are quite potent. One, they want to know how it will impede foreign direct investments. Two, they believe that this is not the right time for such a policy because it can discourage investors, since we have great need of them in a depressed economy. Three, it is not clear if the foreigners will pay in dollars or in naira equivalent. Four, they also fear diplomatic reprisals in a time when quite a good number of Nigerians take jobs in the different parts of the world, especially in Europe and North America.

    The doubt of investment sometimes implies the policy has no exemptions. This is a simplistic view of the matter. The policy, which was made in the dying days of the Buhari administration, was reacting to some foreign countries that have started to see Nigeria as a dumping ground for all kinds of staff, and some of them come with skills not necessarily on a par with Nigerians, and they take the real superior positions and hire Nigerians to do the real jobs at ridiculous salaries.

    This policy should also go through the rigour of supervision so that fake workers do not take over real jobs. Some foreigners may want to circumvent the law.

    Some also argue that it has to go through the National Assembly. A law already exists. For instance, section 112(1) of the Immigration Act 2015 provides, inter alia, that “the minister may make regulations as in his opinion that are necessary or expedient for giving full effect to the provisions of this Act and Administration therefore. 112(2) states ‘without limiting the generality of the provision of sub-section (1) of the section, the regulation may be made for all or any of the following purposes (a) for the control of immigrants in Nigeria’… (d) for any other matter covered by the provisions of this Act”.

    Obviously there is no impunity in the decision.

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    “I consider it a game changer. It is important to know that EEL is a contribution recently approved by the government, which will impose effective timeline on expatriates working in this country to be able to train and develop Nigerians,” President Bola Tinubu said.

    The president is right in the context of the ‘japa’ syndrome where many of our skilled men and women are seeking jobs abroad.

    The only caution is that there is no official overreach, whereby those who should be exempt suffer penalty, and those who pay go scot-free. The government should monitor its implementation so that a good idea does not stifle investment owing to poor implementation.

  • Workers seek expatriate quota policy implementation

    Private Telecommunication and Communications Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PTECSSAN) has called for the implementation of the President’s Executive Order.

    Its President, Comrade Oladapo Moses, said four months after the executive order was signed by President Muhammadu Buhari, no blue print has been available on its implementation.

    Buhari signed the executive order on Feb. 2 to improve local content in science, engineering and technology components.

    The order, among others, prohibits the Ministry of Interior from giving visas to foreign workers whose skills are readily available in Nigeria.

    He said since the order was signed, the number of expatriate has increased and they do jobs that required no expertise.

    He said if this was allowed to continue, it would kill the plans of Buhari to fulfill his promise of creating 740,000 (20,000 per state including FCT) within the first year.

    He said: ‘’The rate at which Ministry Departments and Agencies (MDAs) grant expatriate quotas to foreign workers is worrisome.”

     

  • Expatriate quota: Labour queries govt

    The Federal Government has been criticised by the organised labour for failing to checkmate expatriate quota abuse by multinationals.

    National Union of Food Beverage and Tobacco Employees (NUFBTE) President  Lateef Oyelekan, who spoke at the inuaguration of the Kwara/Kogi/Niger branch secretariat of the union in Ilorin, said the government’s failure to act decisively has further compounded unemployment in the country.

    “Our government should take this issue of expatraite quota abuse seriously and take a decision that will be beneficial to the country just as the government of Ghana has done,” he said.

    The law of the country, he noted, only allows expatriates on technical ground, but the multinationals, he lamented, no longer respect the law.

    According to him, they now bring in expatriate as line managers, accountants, sale and marketing managers, including other jobs that Nigerians are more qualified to do.

    He said: “Government should ensure that no expatriate comes in for the jobs that Nigerians can do, especially in marketing and sales. When you make a foreigner a marketing director, what does the person know about our terrain and market?

    “Most of our jobs have been taken over by the expatriates and we continue to complain of rising unemployment in the country.”

    Oyelekan said labour would no longer tolerate Nigerians being made second class citizens in their country.

    He recalled that workers in the aviation sector under National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers ( NAAPE ) umbrella recently shut down the operations of the Bristow and Caverton Helicopters nationwide, alleging  expatriate quota abuse and gross violation of workers’ rights.

    The NUFBTE President said all efforts at creating more employment should be encouraged, adding that the union through its entrepreneurial venture has over 200 employees.

    “Our goal is give all our state branches building of their own and empower them to go into business through that more jobs will be created. This we are doing in our little efforts to support the government,” he said.

    He said the inuagurated secretariat’s foundation was laid in 1993, but his leadership as part of the commitment to position the union as self sustaining with little reliance on the employers, undertook several ventures and completed many of such projects.

    Michael Imoudu Labour Institute (MINILS) Director-General, Alhaji Saliu Alabi, who represented the Minister of Labour, Senator Chris Ngige, at the event commended the union for its foresight to remain financially relevant  in spite of the dwindling check off dues.

    Nigeria Breweries Employee Relations Manager, Mr. Niyi Alabi, equally described the new building as a national pride, built in spite of the recession. He urged the union to extend the goodwill to other councils.

  • Two policemen killed as expatriate is kidnapped

    Two policemen, an inspector and sergeant were reportedly killed yesterday by hoodlums on Monday evening on Obajana-Oshokoshoko road, Lokoja Local Government Area of Kogi State.

    The assailants also kidnapped an expatriate.

    It was gathered that the policemen were guarding the expatriate worker at a road construction site.

    They were said to have laid ambush for the expatriate, identified as Jose Mechada, a Portuguese.

    Sources said the police sergeant, Gini John, was reportedly shot dead on the spot, while Inspector Ezekiel Negedu died at the hospital.

    Kogi State Police Command spokesman Williams Ayah said the hoodlums were 15.

    He said the commissioner of Police has directed deputy commissioner of Police (DCP) in charge of Operations to mobilise operatives from the Special Anti-Robbery Squads (SARS), Police Mobile Force (PMF) and Counter Terrorism Unit, for a rescue operation.

    Ayah, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), said the commissioner visited the scene of the incident and met with management of the company, promising the are expatriate will be rescued.

  • Union urges Buhari to halt expatriate quota abuse

    Union urges Buhari to halt expatriate quota abuse

    •’Nigerians’ jobs threatened

    President Muhammadu Buhari has been asked to end expatriate quota abuse by foreign construction companies in the country.

    Workers claimed that the practice is taking a toll on the welfare of the few Nigerians in the industry.

    Construction and Civil Engineering Senior Staff Association (CCESSA) President, Comrade Isaac Egbugara, said at the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Owerri, the Imo State capital, that the jobs of Nigerians in the industry were now threatened.

    He called on the regulatory authorities to monitor, enforce and sanction erring construction companies.

    Egbugara said: “The NEC-in-session observed with dismay that numerous construction companies operating in the country deliberately flout the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, especially as it concerns expatriate quota. While seriously frowning at this, we call on the Federal Government and the National Assembly to revisit the ‘Local Content Bill for the construction industry’, which has dragged-on for longer than necessary.”

    He regretted the mass retrenchment of construction workers across the country, blaming it on the poor funding of projects, especially those belonging to the government.

    While urging the government to, as a matter of urgency,  pay the debts owed construction companies, especially for completed projects, Egbugara urged the government to adequately fund ongoing projects in order to reduce the high level of job loss in the industry.

    The union, he said, also advocated a bailout for the industry as was done to the state governments, urging the government to declare a state of emergency in the industry as one of the major employers of labour to avoid a total collapse of an industry that employs more workers outside the civil service.

    Concerning the improvement in the nation’s security, most especially the significant progress recorded in the fight against insurgency in the Northeastern part of Nigeria, the construction workers said it was commendable as it would be in the best interest of the construction industry and favour even infrastructural development of the country.

    Also commended was the government’s resilience and doggedness  in fighting corruption and its resolve to save the nation from the serious rot and decay that has almost brought the country to its knees, especially the ongoing drive to recover looted public funds.

  • ‘Address abuse of expatriate quota’

    Worried by the high rate of unemployment in the country, the Organised Labour has urged the Federal Government to protect Nigerian youths through the re-appraisal of the existing law guiding expatriate quota. The workers under the aegis of the National Union of Civil Engineering Construction Furniture and Wood Workers (NUCECFWW) lamented the flagrant abuse of expatriate quota by foreign firms operating in the country.

    The union, in a communique jointly signed by the President General, Comrade Amechi Asugwuni and the General Secretary, Comrade Babatunde Liadi, noted that many foreigners, especially Asians and Chinese are in Nigeria on the excuse of being experts on the jobs that can be performed by Nigerians. They argued that this is against the Nigerian Content Development (NCD) Act.

    “Therefore the National Executive Council (NEC-in-session) call on the necessary organ of government to review the process of granting expatriate permit through proper synchronization as well as ensuring that expatriate quota are not abused”, the statement read. The union’s NEC demanded for a properly reconstituted inter-ministerial department and agency committee that will co-opt labour unions in recommending and approving expatriate registration.

    The Union re-affirmed workers inalienable rights to belong to the union of their choice in accordance with the laws of the land and ILO Conventions, which had already been domesticated in Nigeria. As such it charged the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity  not to allow employers to scuttle processes and ensure prompt implementation of award against the employers.

    The statement commended the alertness of the Union in monitoring of employers’ compliance with best industrial relations practices in the industry, noting that it has helped to reduce friction between the union and employers, put management on their toes, facilitate alertness and make both the Government and employers to appreciate the need to be proactive in nipping issues in the bud.

    The Union, which condemned the state of casualisation and contract staffing in the country, also resolved that any employment model or policy that is found to be deceptively exploitative with the tendency to degrade jobs or weaken the union will be strongly resisted.

  • Unions to tackle airlines over expatriate quota

    The National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers, (NAAPE), the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) and the Air Transport Services Senior Staff of Nigeria, (ATSSSAN) are ready to partner to tackle some operators over abuse of expatriate quota.

    They have also threatened to deal with indigenous airlines that disallowed their members from unionising, adding that such tactics was a ploy to enslave their workers.

    Speaking at the 13th National Delegates Conference and Symposium in Abuja with the theme, Safety and the balance sheet – Striking a balance,’ the President of NAAPE, Mr Isaac Balami, decried the situation where the sector had been taken over by foreigners, while its members remain jobless.

    Balami observed that the use of expatriates had drained the resources of the sector while foreign maintenance organisations are gradually taking a centre stage in the industry even when the country has local capacity.

    He said jets and helicopters are being flown and maintained up to C-check and D-check by Nigerian pilots and engineers in Aero, Bristow and Caverton Helicopters among others.

    He said: “What is more, we observe a large resort to the use of expensive expatriates and foreign maintenance organisations. That is why there is no basis whatsoever for investors to use Nigeria’s money to support the economics of other countries through bogey expatriate deals.

    “Abuse in expatriate quota regime means that there are Nigerian pilots and engineers roaming the streets because foreigners have taken the jobs they are qualified to do. There are huge disparities between salaries paid to Nigerians and that paid to foreigners, which makes Nigerian pilots and engineers second class in their own country,” he said.

    The NAAPE boss further hinted that the unions were already perfecting plans to picket airlines that prevented their workers from joining union activities, saying that there was no going back on this.

    Minister of Aviation, Mrs Stella Oduah, noted that the aviation industry is witnessing robust and momentous transformation not only in the renewal of infrastructure and facilities, but also in the area of safety, service delivery and passenger comfort and satisfaction.

  • Construction workers lament abuse of expatriate quota

    Construction workers have called for the government’s intervention in the alleged abuse of the expatriate quota by employers in the country.

    Rising from their Fourth Quadrennial Delegates Conference in Owerri, the Imo State capital, the workers under the aegis of the National Union of Civil Engineering, Construction, Furniture and Wood Workers (NUCECFWW) condemned the abuse by employers in the industry. They said the implementation of the quota is not in tandem with the Nigerian Content Development Act, which states that Nigerians should be considered first in any employment before foreigners or expatriates.

    In the communiqué issued at the conference attended by 445 delegates, and signed by the President of the union, Oba Samuel Adeoye and General Secretary, Comrade Babatunde Liadi, they urged the Nigeria Immigration Service and the Ministry of Labour and Productivity to ensure that there is need for expatriates in any company before granting work permit to any foreigner. They added that the government should step up efforts to check the influx of expatriates into the country.

    The conference also demanded that the Understudy Clause in the Nigeria Expatriate Quota law be respected, while many of the companies should comply with the provisions of the Nigerian Content Development Act.

    On employment generation, the union noted that unemployment is one of the greatest problems facing the country and commended the efforts of the Federal Government, through the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment to encourage local and foreign private investors on job creation.

    It, however, called for “more concession to be granted on essential imported raw materials that cannot be locally sourced by manufacturing companies to jumpstart the economy as this will enable them generate more jobs in the country.”

    The conference-in-session also demands that the government needs to be more practical in her focus on the agricultural sector, to enhance employment and job creation, stimulate food security and alleviate poverty as well as reduce crimes.

    Issue of unemployed youths came to the fore, and the conference recommended that the government should evolve a social security package for them as it is being done in other countries.

    Income tax system in the country was adjudged inadequate. The conference-in-session demands that the “income tax laws be realistically reviewed with the focus on the relief system to be in correlation with the current economic realities in the country.”

    It noted the adverse effects of the recent action by some local and states government to impose taxes on member-firms, especially quarry companies.

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Local content: biometric registration for expatriate workers

    The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has directed that expatriates working in the Nigerian oil and gas industry would, henceforth, undertake biometric registration as part of conditions they must fulfil before their organisations can secure expatriate quota approvals from the Board.

    The exercise, according to the board, will capture details of all foreigners working for operating and service companies in Nigeria on the electronic platform – Nigerian Content Joint Qualification System, (NOJICJQS) being operated by the Board.

    NCDMB Executive Secretary, Ernest Nwapa stated this in Lagos at the Addax Executive Business Seminar on Nigerian Content. He said the exercise will start in the first quarter of 2013.

    The registration, he noted, will help the board evaluate the skills of the expatriates and confirm that such skills are not available locally in the industry. It will also assist the board to electronically track the numbers of expatriates in the industry, their length of stay, compliance with provided succession plans and expected date of exit.

    He said at the completion of the biometric registration, each expatriate will get a unique card, which he or she will produce whenever the monitoring team from the board comes around for periodic verification.

    Nwapa added that Section 33 of the NOGICD Act mandates operators to apply and receive the approval of the Board before making any application for expatriate quota to the Ministry of Internal Affairs or any other agency of the Federal Government.

    Among other conditions, the Board requires companies seeking to get expatriate quota approvals for their operations in the oil and gas industry to first advertise the positions to Nigerians through national and international media outfits.

    Other new initiatives of the Board endorsed by its Governing Council chaired by Mrs. Deziani Alison-Madueke, include the planned establishment of industrial parks in each oil producing state in partnership with the state governments. This will stimulate the participation of the communities in the local supply chain and provide a direct platform for collaboration with original equipment manufacturers that are now required to manufacture a minimum proportion of components in Nigeria.

    He said the Board will collaborate with major operators, service companies and the relevant state governments to build industrial parks, which will support operations of the industry and help achieve service efficiency through shared services.

    Other benefits of the industrial park concept include the reduction of start-up investment cost for new business, stakeholders’ collaboration and industry commitment to utilise manufactured products from industrial parks.

    The parks will host manufacturing activities driven by the oil and gas industry demand but will certainly service other sectors of the economy as they grow organically into integrated industrial zones. The start-up product slate will include steel pipes and allied fittings, switch gears , panels, skids, pipe racks and brackets, environmental protection equipment and chemicals. It will also include industrial gases, computers, telecom and other ICT equipment components, furniture, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders, bolts and nuts, and drilling fluids.

    Nwapa said that the strategy has been successfully deployed to stimulate small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) focused on the oil and gas technology into sustainable engines for technological growth and employment at the grass root level.

    He noted that the major operators will benefit from increased entrepreneurial activities in their host communities, adding that the Board has reached out to the state governments to participate in an SME fair to enable it identify companies with potentials to incubate and grow.

    In this way, over 100,000 productive jobs will be created across the communities for skills ranging from professional to artisanal and deemphasize the social employment prevalent in the communities.

    “The fair will identify SMEs with capacity, which will be supported and accommodated in the new industrial parks to manufacture goods used in industry with the active involvement of the traditional OEMs,” he added.

    He said the Board would activate the provisions of the Act to provide specific incentives for OEMs that participate in the initiative such as locking in orders for equipment or components manufactured/assembled in these parks for extended period. He added that Nigerian companies had committed to invest over $600 million in the manufacture and assembly of various equipments and components.

  • Activist threatens to sue expatriate for racial abuse

    A woman activist, Ms Abigail Kakyes, has threatened to sue an expatriate firm, Bollore Africa Nigeria Limited, over what she described as ‘unlawful termination of appointment’ and ‘violation of her rights’.

    Kakyes, who was the former Assistant Manager, Customer Service of the company in Lagos, is demanding for an apology and a sum of N100 million as damages for the ‘wrongful termination’ of her appointment.

    In a letter written to the Group’s President and Chief Executive Officer of the expatriate firm through her solicitors, Akinremi A. Fabunmi & Co., and made available to THE NATION in Jos, Kakayes alleged that she was harassed, racially abused, victimised and sacked for ‘no just cause’ by the firm.

    “Our client whilst in this employment, at a certain period knew no rest, to the extent that she would be addressed in negative terms as ‘Black Monkey, moron and so on. After sometime, advances were made at our client by her former boss in Kano of which she declined and was termed ‘Miss High quality’ and thereafter victimised all with the aim to force her into leaving the firm, “ the letter alleged.

    According to her, while on leave in July this year, she carried out some philanthropic activities at Dogo Nahawa village in Jos, where over 300 people were allegedly massacred in March 2010, by donating to the victims.

    But that when she notified the expatriate firm of the gesture, she was instead queried and suspended for six weeks against the firm’s rules of two weeks.

    Kakyes, who is the Chairperson, Project-Do-It-Yourself, a non-governmental organization, claimed that on completing the suspension, her appointment was subsequently terminated even when she thought the gesture offered at Dogo Nahawa was to portray the company as being caring and putting back into the Nigerian community after 13 years of the company’s operations in Nigeria.

    Contacted, the Managing Director, Bollore Africa Nigeria Limited, Mr Tranchenpain Jean-Christophe, declined comments, but directed our correspondent to the company’s lawyer, one Mrs. A. Adebanke, who also declined to speak, saying “the issue is in court.”