The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, has lamented the widespread commercialization of federal civil service employment slots by key officials in government and officials of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
HURIWA suggested that this could be the reason for the spike in kidnappings for ransom all over the country.
The Rights group suggested the constitution of an independent judicial commission of inquiry on the large scale employment scams involving key government officials.
The Rights body claimed that the National Assembly, the Nigerian Police Force, Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN; Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and some presidency officials “have at one time or the other been accused of engaging in this heinous act but these accusations have been swept under the carpet of impunity.”
HURIWA said if this menace was not tackled headlong it could constitute a grave threat to Nigeria’s national security.
“There is therefore the imperative need that the ‘umbilical cord’ of employment racketeering buried deep inside the inner sanctum of federal Government’s POWERFUL and influential officials is excavated and dealt with.
“The enemies of transparent and merit based employments into the national agencies and institutions are very powerful men and women who are in the corridors of power. Any cosmetic measure to end the menace has failed ab initio,” it said.
The group said these vital security and political institutions including majority of the cabinet level appointees have soiled their hands in this rapidly expanding federal jobs racketeering scheme “which has become a multinlbillion industry and so cannot be trusted to thoroughly, comprehensively, honestly and professionally embark on a proper, forensic and result oriented investigation into this disturbing social evil in Nigeria.”
“From 2015 on inception, this administration has been dogged with widespread allegations of jobs fixing, jobs racketeering and the selective and illegal employment of unfit Nigerians only because they are children of the political, military or governmental elite just as the Central Bank of Nigeria; Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC); Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA); Petroleum Equalization Fund; Petroleum Education Trust Fund; Federal Inland Revenue Services and the Nigerian Police Force; EFCC; are some of the many government institutions that are now viewed as cesspools of corrupt practices in the area of employment of young Nigerians.
“It is possible that desperation for jobs may have motivated some youths to embark on kidnappings to raise cash to buy up the secretly auctioned federal employment slots.
“Millions of university graduates are roaming major streets of Nigerian cities in search of white collar jobs because the federal and state governments have failed to put the enabling environment to train the youths to become entrepreneurs and creators of jobs and wealth.