Corruption and Political Patronage Trail NDE Regsitration

Nigerians have reacted divergently over the just concluded registration exercise of unemployed citizens by the National Directorate of Employment(NDE) across the nation, days to the expiration of the life span of the present administration.

Indeed, the exercise was characterized by allegations of corruption, favoritism, influence peddling and political patronage. A cross section of unemployed Nigerians alleged that some unscrupulous staff of the directorate took advantage of the exercise to enrich themselves. They also alleged that those who were fortunate to be registered were supporters of politically exposed people, while stressing that the registration was not for full-time paid employment, but rather were registered for training programs for the unskilled. Sadly, the beneficiaries are insignificant compared to the millions of jobless Nigerians. Nigerians express disappointment over the negotiations by some staff members of the government agency with politicians, while lamenting that the exercise was limited to those who benefitted from such negotiations. Indeed, the exercise may not have successfully captured genuine unemployed Nigerians. Over the years, politicians have consistently influenced the recruitment process for the civil and public services. This has resulted in the sacrificing of merit for other considerations. In her reaction, the Oyo state Coordinator of the NDE, Mrs. Olaymei described the allegations as malicious and unfounded, adding,''it has nothing to do with my staff members except you have documentary evidence. No kobo was taken from anybody. The exercise was absolutely free. It has nothing to do with my office. Let them mention the name of one of my members of staff. I can vouch for my staff members, nobody will risk that. As far as I know, nobody has come to complain to me. We registered 8,000 people from the 33 local governments in Oyo state. In his view, a cleric, Pastor Opeyemi Ajayi lamented that the low quality of workforce in most sectors of the economy has almost brought Nigeria to its knees. ''When you sacrifice merit for ethnic, religious and other factors in the employment process, what you will get is unqualified employees. Look at the civil and public services. It is in a state of rot and this has affected the economy negatively. Redundancy is the order of the day in Ministries, Departments and Agencies. For the chairman, Non-Acamdic Staff Union and Associated Institutions(NASU) University College Hospital(UCH) Ibadan, Nigeria, Comrade Kehinde Abiona, the major challenge is not redundancy, but shortage of staff. ''When we are talking about understaff, you are talking about redundancy. Workers should be diligent in their duties. This is why it is only a diligent worker that is relevant,'' Comrade Abiona stated. However, a former chairman of the Oyo state council of the Trade Union Congress(TUC) Comrade Andrew Emelieze believes that the exercise has only succeeded in ridiculing frustrated and impoverished Nigerians. ''The exercise coming less than 25 days to the end of this administration, serves to only ridicule frustrated and hungry Nigerians, most of whom are housewives, okada riders, petty traders and artisans. Look at them on the queue. This is unfortunate.'' Comrade Emelieze concluded.