Chairman, House of Representative Committee on Diaspora, Hon. Tolulope Akande-Sadipe has decried the incompetence and complicity within the Ministry of Labour and Productivity, which has worsened the trafficking and dehumanizing conditions of Nigerians abroad.
She said this recently during the Committee’s meeting, noting that the Minister for Labour and Productivity, Dr. Chris Ngige has turned down the Committee’s invite for the umpteenth time.
The release signed by her Special Assistant on Media, Olamilekan Olusada read that, “It appears that there is a clear incompetence or complicity within the ministry that has led to this compromise in the trafficking and abuse of Nigerian citizens”.
“We have invited the Hon. Minister five (5) times and he has chosen to be represented by a Permanent Secretary, who claims he is new and does not understand the workings and what transpired prior to his engagement, in spite of having signed a recruiters licence earlier this year, at a time when a 2017 placed on such licenses, was still in existence”, the Statement read.
Revealing further in the release made available to Journalists, the Committee has invited Ngige five times consecutively, Akande-Sadipe added that “the House Committee on Diaspora in a bid to find workable solutions to tackle the menace of trafficking and the dehumanizing condition of Nigerians abroad by some local and international syndicates have been holding series of interagency meetings with stakeholders, but regrettably the Minister of Labour whose portfolio is at the centre of the whole controversy has refused to honour the committees invitation for five consecutive meetings”.
The release further asserted that investigation shows that licences were issued by the Ministry of Labour after the moratorium, that has allowed agents to traffic girls out of Nigeria, adding that Agents were allowed by the Labour ministry to take Nigerians to Lebanon, a country that does not have a labour pact with Nigeria.
He further stated that Licences were issued to companies who have not complied with CAC / FIRS /NSITF requirements, and noted that citizens were allowed to be taken out by Agents without the mandatory counselling/orientation.
Whilst these Agents were also allowed to operate without complying with the annual reporting requirement on data submission on the domestic staff sent abroad.
To date the Ministry of Labour has refused to submit several documentations requested by the Committee in spite of several official requests to the Ministry. However, where documentation was provided by the Labour Ministry, investigations revealed that there were inconsistencies in the submission from Labour in comparison with submissions from FIRS, CAC, NAPTIP, Ministry of Justice and NSITF.
The Committee had earlier requested for Ministry of Labour’s criteria for prequalification of International Recruiters and evidence of compliance with the Ministry’s pre-qualification criteria which must include copies of National Identification Number or Voter’s Card and data page of International Passport.
Akande-Sadipe led Committee had also requested for the number of licence awards for International Recruiters from 2014 to 2020 and the number of renewals for each licence since the same period; evidence of each company’s compliance with statutory registration for doing business with the government of Nigeria, proof of Form C02, C07, Copies of Memorandum of Understanding and Articles of Association of licenced international recruiters from 2014 to 2020; copies of Memorandum of Understanding and Articles of Association of licenced International recruiters from 2014 -2020 and other relevant documentations not listed.
Akande-Sadipe led Committee is saddened that Nigeria has to witness such a great disregard for the life of Nigerian citizens by a Ministry, Department, and Agency (MDA) of the Nigerian Government through their actions – which encourages human trafficking”.
The committee has threatened to escalate the matter and bring it up at the Plenary, noting that the disdain for the lives of Nigerians in very dire circumstances abroad must stop.
