The Majority leader in the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has said the proposed amendment to the Immigration Act is one every Nigerian should support.
The lawmaker said the bill would address unemployment and its attendant social consequences, as issues concerning employment of foreign workers were taken care of.
According to him, the bill was neither discriminatory, isolationist nor inclined to boomerang against Nigerians in the diaspora, free trade and Foreign Direct investment (FDI).
In a statement yesterday, the Majority leader allayed fears that the bill, if passed into law, might not be implementable, saying the implementation was covered by the constitution, in addition to oversight functions of the National Assembly.
It reads: “That the Bill is discriminatory and isolationist and our citizens abroad may suffer retaliatory laws based on reciprocity.
“I do not see this as discriminatory or isolationist. Rather for me it is protectionist. There is no responsible government that will sit with arms akimbo and watch foreign nationals come in and exploit its hospitality by taking away jobs that should ordinarily be available to the locals and citizens. It is the job of any government to protect its workforce.
“This situation is so extensive in Nigeria that it cuts across all categories of workers from skilled to unskilled. From Phillipino nannies, artisans and tillers to pilots and mariners, to bank MDs and oil workers. Most of our top hotels in Nigeria are managed by foreigners, yet we have Nigerians who are professionally qualified to do same.
“It is not unusual and is even normal to see Chinese labourers on construction sites. Many have even said(though I find it difficult to believe) that prisoners are brought from other countries to come and work in Nigeria.
“On the doctrine of reciprocity and fate of Nigerians working abroad, these fears are misplaced. My proposed law obtains in most countries and diligent research into the labour laws of other countries will evidence this. Indeed if there is any retaliatory law it is this Bill that seeks to do that by aligning with international best practices. Same policy obtains in the United States and others. I have provided a comment from a Nigerian in the United Kingdom, Mina Jumbo.
“This is a brilliant proposal and long overdue. I worked as a Development Geoscientist in the UK, for my company to successfully get my work permit, they had to prove to the UK government that I possessed skills & the diverse set of experience that couldn’t be found in the UK.
“They had to show proof that they had interviewed several British citizens to no avail. Proof that the role had been properly advertised in reputable job sites & newspapers. These and many more were required before my permit was granted.
“I don’t see why the rules should be different here. Best of luck with the proposal, and I hope when approved, there will be 100 per cent compliance and stringent penalties for defaulters.”
“That there are other laws that already deal with this, such as expatriate quota provisions of our Immigration Law and our Local Content Law
“Again, this is a misread of our laws. Firstly, expatriate quota does not address the issue of foreigners coming to pick up local jobs. All expatriate quota does is register foreign workers for business organisations based on a quota system which can be increased at any time.
“It does not restrict what and where they can or cannot work. For instance, an expatriate can get an expatriate quota to come in and work on an agricultural farm breeding poultry.
“What this Bill seeks to do is to give two conditions before you can obtain the expatriate quota in the first place. 1. There must be no Nigerian qualified in the field or 2. If there is any, he or she must be unwilling or unavailable to do the job. In other words, even if you have graduates and professionals in the area of agriculture and poultry farming but you do not find one who is interested in doing the particular job, then the employee can give the job to a foreigner.
“A qualified Nigerian should always get the first dip or right of refusal. It’s that simple. On the issue of the Local Content Law. It may be similar but not quite the same.”
