The death at the weekend of Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) job seekers has provoked outrage in the country.
Former Abia State Governor of Orji Uzor Kalu described the accident as sad.
Kalu, in a statement yesterday, said it was unfortunate that an exercise that was intended for the recruitment of the youths resulted in their death.
He said while the recruitment was a blessing to Nigeria and Nigerians, the death has not only cast a pall on it but has brought exceeding sadness to the country.
In a statement by his Special Adviser, Oyekunle Oyewumi, Kalu was quoted as having said: “This is a blessing of sadness.
“It is sad learning about the seven applicants that lost their lives at the Abuja centre, the three who died in Port Harcourt in Rivers State and the two reported dead in Minna, Niger State.
“This is why we must collectively build Nigeria, which I am finding ways of doing on daily basis.
“My heart is broken.
“My heart goes out to the families of the deceased and I pray for the repose of their souls.”
Speaker, Osun State House of Assembly, Najeem Salaam, in a statement by his Press Secretary, Goke Butika, said the “drama of death for job in Abuja and Port Harcourt” had revealed to the ruling class at all levels of government that the country is facing a ticking time bomb, ready to explode anytime.
Salaam said: “The death of the young men and women at the overcrowded stadia for job test is regrettable for those innocent graduates committed no crime than searching for better life with a view to becoming responsible citizens. In the 21st century, our younger generation is still being subjected to overcrowded venue for job test that could be settled by technology. It is quite unfortunate, and all men of power must take responsibility for the avoidable death.
“We seem to be toying with the rage of the youth in this nation, we appear to be pretending too much about youth unemployment, but history had shown that the critical segment of the population must not be taken for granted. I therefore implore all of us who hold lever of power to begin to think on how state of emergency must be declared on unemployment in this country before it is too late.”
Former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Abia State, Chief Onyema Ugochukwu, described the statement credited to the Minister of Interior Abba Moro that the applicants were unruly as unacceptable.
His statement reads: “I bluntly consider as unacceptable, the excuse of Abba Moro (Minister of Interior on the cause of death of Immigration applicants.
“When I saw the crowd gathered at Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium Enugu on Saturday for this exercise, I was frightened and knew we must hear stories of people’s death, following such arrangement.
“I am very very bitter with the non-challancy and indifferent attitudes of some people who are privileged to be in position of authorithy in this country.
“How can any sensible person or persons not know that gathering 520,000people for a recruitment exercise of ‘employment’ NOT ‘merriment’ in a day is a risky exercise?
“In other words, in each 36 states of our federation, an average of 14,444 applicants (persons / human beings) were gathered at each staduim by the immigration office for this ‘obnoxious’ exercise. My God! what level of security and logistics did they deploy to each staduim to carry 14,444 persons in an exercise in a day.
“It is only madness and absolute imbecility, if not corruption, that can inform this kind of arrangement.
“We all know the consequences of such an act, so I was not surprised when the news is reporting tragic incidences across the country concerning this exercise.
“We all heard similar stories when (I think) the Prison officials recruitment occurred; when the Road safety Officials, and INEC Staff recruitments occurred.
“For God’s sake, why should the organisers of this interview gather all these people in one day and at a place? Why didn’t the organisers arrange this interview in batches? Why didn’t the organisers spread the interview across many days? Why didn’t the organisers conduct this interview in smaller groups and in different locations like LGAs? Why didn’t they deploy the use of internet to screen down the number of illegible candidates? Can they effectively conduct the interview in their environment they created for such? Can they interview 14,444persons in a day? Did they deliberately create a market for themselves, for economic gains at the expense of the applicants and our nation?
“Why must they gather thousands of people together in a day to kill them in the name of interview? We know that they can never effectively interview those people they gathered at the stadium to die, that is why I call it ‘obnoxious interview’.
“I believe there must be some latent and surreptitious economic gains they are targeting, for all these blunders to be committed by the officials and organisers of this exercise.
“Indeed, there is no sense in their arrangement, and I know, they all know, but they wouldn’t tell themselves the truth.
“I urge the President and C-in-C to take exeptional interest in this matter and investigate, why reasonable people should be behaving in an unreasonable manner, as to cause the death of our citizens simply because they are applicants and jobseekers.
“As far as I’m concerned, the organisers of such interview must be questioned to determine their culpability.
“Personally, I will like the investigation to extend to the root of how the applicants procured the uniform (White T-Shirt, white short, white socks and white canvass) they were wearing on the date of the obnoxious interview. We should not allow peoples’ economic interest to jeopardise the life of our citizens. Officials of government do as they like in this country because nobody cares to investigate their conduct.
“Surely, this incident is bound to repeat itself, if the root cause is not identified and nipped.
“Personally, I lost no relative and I am not an applicant; but I am optimistic that it is not meddlesome interloping, that I show sincere concern in an ill-conduct that brings pains to our fellow citizens. I wish we have had enough of this I-don’t-care attitude.”
The Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) mourned the tragedy. In a statement issued by the national publicity secretary, Osita Okechukwu, it condemned the incident “which claimed scores of lives of innocent youths that went out in search of Nigeria Immigration Service vacant placement.”
It states: “CNPP condoles the families of the victims, prays to God for the repose of their souls and groans that these ambitious youths and pregnant mothers of our ancestry, died hungry, poor and in a state of agony in the midst of plenty.
“It is our candid view that the Tragedy of Unemployment is the outcome of Federal Government of Nigeria’s nebulous and inchoate economic policy; which regrettably posits that government has no business in business and the monumental corruption, which governs the reproachable economic policy.
“Otherwise, if the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led federal government had in the past 15 years invested our unprecedented Oil and Gas revenue to critical infrastructures like refineries, modern railways, power supply; there is no way over 4,00,000 youths will pay N1, 000 to chase less than 3,000 jobs in a single department of the state across the country.
“CNPP still maintains that heavy investment in critical infrastructure is the only solution to durable employment; how long do we wait for the Chinese, Dangote or Julius Berger?”
The National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) yesterday urged the Federal Government to provide adequate compensation for families of the victims.
The NYCN President, Yakubu Shendam, who spoke with The Nation, also condemned the call for the sack of the Minister of Interior, Abba Moro and the Comptroller-General of Immigration, David Shikfu Parradang.
Shendam said the stampede at the various venues on Saturday was
not as a result of lapses from the ministry nor from the Immigration, but as a result of natural causes.
“It was unfortunate that the stampede happened; it was really a bitter experience, it shows the level of desperation by Nigerian youths to get employed. The Federal Government should urgently investigate the matter so as to avoid future occurrence.
“Calling for the sack of the Minister of Interior and the NIS Boss is a way out of the situation but for those involved in the recruitment exercise to devise better ways of conducting the exercise in the future.
“Nigerian youths should get the matter properly before rushing to take decision; it is a natural occurence that can happen anywhere if there is no patient, lack of patients by the youths led to the stampede.”
Another Youth leader, Adewale Ajani James, who also spoke on the incident, urged President Goodluck Jonathan to investigate” the callous and inhuman treatment meted on Nigerian Youths”.
He also called for a full compensation to the families of the dead job seekers.
“The government should also take responsibility of the medical bills of all those recuperating in hospitals,” he added
