The Federal Government has promised to give stiffer sanctions to any company that fails to comply with the extant laws on expatriate quota, especially the area that stipulates the employment of qualified Nigerians to understudy the expatriates. The government stated this through the Special Ministerial Task Force on Monitoring and Enforcement of Nigerian Expatriate Business Permit and Expatriate Quota Administration.
In order to ensure compliance with the expatriate quota rules, the task force has directed companies in the country to submit the tax identification number, national identification number and telephone number and email address of every Nigerian understudying expatriates on managerial levels in their firms. This will enable it verify the sincerity or otherwise of the firms to the quota policy. After the verification, all erring firms will be given stiffer sanctions. This was part of the decision at a recent meeting of the task force with representatives of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), other professional bodies and officials of Ministry of Interior.
This is a bold step to protect the economy from dubious foreign firms, often acting in league with unpatriotic Nigerians to violate the expatriate quota. Through expatriate quota, companies and registered firms are permitted to employ the services of expatriates with relevant competences. It also allows foreign companies operating in Nigeria, Nigerian owned company or a Nigerian company in partnership with a foreign company to engage employees with exceptional knowledge and skills which may not be found in the country. To hire such foreigners, the companies must have the appropriate expatriate quota approvals. The principle behind the issuance of expatriate quotas is to facilitate the training of Nigerians and transfer the requisite skills to them during the period of employment. Apart from the benefit of transfer of technology, the exercise aims to prepare Nigerians for management positions. By that, local content is infused into the operations of the affected companies.
Unfortunately, some of the companies have not been sincere with the implantation of expatriate quota. They rather keep renewing the permits of their expatriates at the detriment of Nigerians. Some are either not employing Nigerians at all or using Nigerians of low academic qualifications to be understudying expatriates, knowing full well that when it is due for the expatriates to exit, the companies would plead that those understudying the expatriates do not have the requisite capacity to become managers. With that, Nigerians will not attain such positions and the foreigners will be there as long as they desire. Nigerians are in some cases, given menial jobs or subordinate positions that will not see them rise to strategic positions in the firms.
We commend the government for addressing the abuse of expatriate quota by some companies. We urge the government to fish out the erring firms and give them adequate punishment to prevent such abuse in future. We demand that qualified Nigerians must be put into relevant positions and exposed to appropriate mentorship in these companies.
While the sanctions may go a long way to compel the firms to do the needful, relevant sections of the Constitution guiding the local content laws should be activated and made available to foreign entrepreneurs in the country. The Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission, the Nigerian Immigration Service, the Nigerian Local Content Board and other agencies charged with the task of overseeing the Expatriate Quota regime and its issuance should ensure that the extant rules are not abused.
The violation of the expatriate quota is an economic crime and an affront on Nigeria’s sovereignty. Expatriate firms which flouted the expatriate quota rules must be adequately sanctioned. Also, Nigerians found complicit in the malfeasance must be given condign punishment. Government should henceforth ensure strict enforcement of rules guiding expatriate quota permits. It must do everything, legally permissible, to ensure that qualified Nigerians are not denied the opportunity to work in these companies by dubious foreigners and their local collaborators.