OF ARBITRARINESS AND EXPATRIATE QUOTA  

The authorities should check the abuse of expatriate quota by companies

One of the issues thrown up by the internal problems within Seplat Energy Plc is the abuse of expatriate quota by many companies, especially in the oil and gas sector. Although the federal government has discontinued the suit filed against Seplat Energy Plc and its former Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Roger Brown for allegedly breaching the extant provisions of the Immigration Act, 2015, the withdrawal of residency status itself is rather telling. Despite the local capacities that exist in this sector which hold prospective job opportunities for thousands of Nigerians, most jobs are arbitrarily and unlawfully filled up with expatriates by some firms in the oil and gas sector.  

Today, the misapplication of expatriate quota is the norm in almost all sectors of the Nigerian economy by many foreign companies operating on our shores. There are repeatedly reported cases of companies in the food and beverages industries engaging technicians and paying them as engineers. This is in addition to placing them over their professional superiors as supervisors and bosses, simply because the latter are Nigerians. The concern is not just that Nigerians are denied the available opportunities in these areas, but that many companies exceed their legitimate quota. From the deployment of unqualified personnel to the re-designation of individuals in a manner not consistent with their training and skills to giving them undeserved positions, expatriate quota has become a serious issue of concern.  

Instructively, former Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige once announced after a meeting with the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria as well as some contractors in the oil and gas sector that the federal government would “check the abuse of the nation’s immigration/labour laws.” While we do not know how much the Muhammadu Buhari achieved in that direction, it is important for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to pay more attention, especially with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) now in place.  

 Much more ramparts are cases of foreign firms that bring in all category of personnel, from cleaners, drivers to specialised skills personnel, all in the name of using the expatriate quota. Meanwhile, the provision is for such skills and capacities as may be difficult to source locally, or which may not be available in the country. The labour and trade unions that should pay attention to this problem are busy fighting government policies.  

 The relationship between unemployment, crime, social tension, and national development is such that anything that detracts from the ability of the nation to keep the citizens gainfully employed should be treated as economic sabotage. In this regard, the subsisting abuse of expatriate quota should be viewed as a serious economic crime and treated as such by the relevant authorities. What critical stakeholders must not forget is that the nation faces a frightening youth bulge now. This is in addition to graduate unemployment and a prevailing national economic downturn. These are not the times for abuses that impact directly and visibly on the nation’s ability to deal with routine matters of human capital deployment for national development. This is unacceptable even in the best of times but moreso at such a period as this in the life of our nation.  

While the federal government must go beyond the oil and gas sector in dealing with this issue, we urge further that the authorities also make public details of what categories of skills are not covered by the expatriate quota, what constitutes abuse of such expatriate quota and what long- and short-term penalties may apply in cases of default. These measures will spread awareness about the abuse and help in curbing it.

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The relationship between unemployment, crime, social tension, and national development is such that anything that detracts from the ability of the nation to keep the citizens gainfully employed should be treated as economic sabotage