By Uzair Adam Imam
Jobseekers in Nigeria have narrated harrowing tales of how job offer sale decimates their chances of securing jobs in a country where the national economy has remained increasingly stagnant.
According to a recent report by Bloomberg, unemployment in Nigeria has surged to the second-highest on the global list, jumping to 33.3%.
Graduates, who took to social media to condemn the menace, decried how bribery, corruption and politics militate against the growth of institutions in the country.
They argued that buying and selling of job offers are affecting almost all the institutions in the country, as it will be at the expanse of merit and skills
Fraud in employment is believed to be the reason the standard of education in the country continues to witness a fatal decline, and unemployment rises at child’s Christmas wishes.
Graduates narrate harrowing experiences
Every year Nigerian institutions produce thousands of graduates who come out to compete for the few available job opportunities.
A graduate, Usman Bello Balarabe, said that he was once asked to pay N1.2 million for a lecturing job offer.
Immediately he returned to Nigeria from India after bagging his Master’s degree. He was greeted with an outrageous N1.2 million job offer to teach at a Federal University in northern Nigeria.
Balarabe, who was initially over-excited, said his hope was dashed upon learning that it was a give-and-take offer, as he had to break the bank if he indeed wanted to land the job.
He said, “I was all smiling when I was told, until when I heard him saying that I have to pay N1.2 million to get that offer. The amount shocked me to the marrow”.
Auwal Mukhtar Usman, a university lecturer, said recently someone shopped her job offer for N3.5 million.
He said, “A lady recently confided in me that she bought her offer for about N3.5 million to teach in one federal government agency. It’s equally disheartening how these politicians connive with the university administrators by allocating slots for them. In the end, it is the University that suffers.”
A.S Mohammed also shared his experience, saying that a lecturing offer was advertised to him for N1.5 million in June last year.
He added, “I was asked to bring a potential buyer for a lecturing job offer at the Federal University, Dutsen-Ma, for N1.5 million; no discount whatsoever.
“And it didn’t matter what course the buyer studied or what class of degree he graduated with. That incident stroke me dumb with surprises and left me paralyzed. It took me almost a month to recover from that shock.”
Pay, get promoted
From job offer sale things are worsening to ‘promotion’ for sale, as workers at various institutions in the country pay to get promoted.
Sa’idu Mustapha Buhari argued that it is not only job offer that is sold, but also promotions are purchased.
He said, “It is not only job offers that are sold. Promotion, advancement, transfer, release for training, among others, have their prices in some sectors.
“Though fixing Nigeria must be a collective effort, people as individuals must change.
“The bitter part of the story is that: everyone works for himself, not for the people. The sense of nationalism is totally absent among us. That’s why I support the mantra: CHANGE BEGINS WITH ME…If any Nigerian applies this, Nigeria will be fixed,” he added.
Also commenting, a media consultant, Yahya Abdurrahman, stated that the fraud is not only rocking not only the education sector.
He said, “The deeper you dig, the more worrisome information you would come across. Unfortunately, the rot is also prevalent in the Nigerian Police, Customs Service and other Security affiliated Agencies.”