Former Comptroller-General, Nigeria Immigration Service, Mrs. Rose Uzoma

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he same people who share meat with their teeth from our common pot have sacked the Controller General of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) for doing what they do regularly and shamelessly. The Controller General of the Nigerian Immigration Service Mrs. Uzoma was an obedient servant who did what was expected of her by allotting hundreds of position slots to the powers that be and her bosses in the recruitment exercise in her department. She offered 250 job slots to the presidency, 100 slots to Jonathan's wife, 100 slots to her boss the Interior Minister Mr. Abba Moro, 250 slots to the Federal Character Commission, 30 slots each to two commissioners of the Immigration Board, and even 40 slots to Jonathan's mother. The press got wind of the fraudulent and sleazy slot allocation and the same people who have happily accepted their allocations and even sent the lists of their candidates suddenly backed off and chose instead to make her take the fall. Uzoka became the scapegoat of a conscience lacking government. The recruitment exercise was to beef up the staffing in various units of the NIS. 4560 new employees were to be employed and the Controller General of the Nigerian Immigration Service confirmed that she had already obtained approval from the Head of Service of the Federation to go ahead and recruit. The recruitment process commenced several weeks ago and by December 2012 she had received lists of names from those who were allocated slots, but suddenly the story became public knowledge and that marked the beginning of her troubles, and eventual sack.

Things got so bad that while the Minister of Interior Mr. Moro, the boss of the Controller General of the Nigerian Immigration Service told the media that the on-going recruitment process should stop, which indicated that the process was already taking place, Mrs. Uzoma, the Controller General of the Nigerian Immigration Service told newsmen at a forum in Abuja the following day that there was no recruitment exercise currently taking place, indicating that her department "has not issued any employment letter to any Nigerian this season," but that was not true, but rather a face-saving effort. The contradictions went on and on; the truth became very elusive as it is with everything about this government. You never know who is speaking the truth; forthrightness and uprightness are strange to Jonathan and his sidekicks, playing lip service to the claim that they are Christians while doing things that those who do not believe in God will not contemplate.

Appointments to government positions and offices are done in secret and merit is never a criteria, in the very same way Jonathan's wife was appointed a permanent secretary in Bayelsa State. To date, the permanent secretary has not worked one day in Bayelsa despite drawing salaries and allowances from the state. Corruption cannot be bigger than that and abuse of office glaringly a way of life for the Jonathans, which is why Mrs. Jonathan is once again away in Germany for treatment at taxpayers expense.

The Controller General of the Nigerian Immigration Service offered hundreds of slots to her bosses including the president, his wife and his mother. There was no indication anywhere that they rejected the slots offered to them and Mrs. Uzoma confirmed her department secured the approval of the Federal Character Commission. It was not just clear whether the approval from the Federal Character Commission came after Mrs. Uzoma had delivered 250 slots to the Commission. It will be useful to find out if the now sacked Mrs. Uzoma can provide the list of candidates sent to her by Mr. Jonathan, his mother and wife, and the other beneficiaries of the allocation of job positions. We wonder why anyone should get a single slot in a recruitment exercise that has less than 5,000 positions to be filled in a society with more than 5 million unemployed youths. The abuse of recruitment into government positions and the general misuse of the hiring process in government have been going on for decades. Employment lists and letters are often already prepared and signed long before tests and interviews are administered. The problem has only assumed an alarming proportion under the current government. If Jonathan's wife can take a position she's least qualified for and she is getting paid for not even doing the job, then you know that the rot is right from the top and there is no hope of change until this group of people who share meat with their teeth are gotten rid of. If the simple process of recruiting people into government positions is so hugely abused and misused in a nation with serious unemployment problems the nation and its people are obviously getting a raw deal from a selfish cabal who cared little about the people. The recruitment into the Nigeria Police and many other government departments have been so unfair that applicants have been asked to buy scratch cards that cost anywhere from N1,00 to N5, 000. I wonder where they want an unemployed young man or woman to find the money. Should they ask their already stressed parents and guardians or should they take it from the unemployment stipend they are receiving from the government, but which does not exist?

A section of the Nigerian press did their job and did it very well to expose the recruitment scandal and abuse at the Nigerian Immigration Service. Letters of appointment and job positions would have been offered to family members, relatives and friends of the Jonathans and others who received allocations without the timely exposure of the unfair and criminal allocations. The consequence of this kind of abuse is that those who really and desperately needed the jobs don't get it while those who are least interested are offered job positions they really don't want or need. A level playing ground should mean that the job positions are advertised in major national newspapers, government websites, and in local newspapers to ensure that everyone hears about it and knows about it. No fees or charges should be imposed on applicants who are looking for jobs. Government job positions should never be for sale and should never require applicants to pay anything in order to apply and seek employment opportunity in the civil service. It is in the best interest of the government to attract the best and brightest who are also willing and able to do the job. On the other hand, it is criminal to favour a few people or to allocate job slots to the very same people who constitute stumbling blocks to the development of the nation.