Opinion
Enough Of This Rip Off
Daily, Nigerian newspapers are awash with employment or recruitment advertisements.
Ordinarily, such adverts should call for celebration as hiring new hands is an indication that the economy is looking up, in spite of the comatose vital manufacturing sector. But it is bewildering to observe that many paid adverts for recruitment require applicants to purchase scratch cards of two thousand naira (N2,000,00) and above for application forms that are usually accessed online. Ever since, some government departments and agencies including the Police pioneered it,demanding payments from job applicants has become the rule rather than the exception. While I cogitated on reasons government departments and agencies will resort to ripping off poor applicants when money may have been provided in their budgets for recruitment, I could not but be disconcerted at the insensitivity of some of our policy makers.
Like everything Nigerian, the concept has caught on. Many a smart Alec now sees it as a route to easy money; far easier than Yahoo Yahoo and without the perpetrators having to look behind their shoulders, at least at the moment, for agents of EFCC.
It is as easy as ABC. Arrange an organization. Talk with scratch card producers.
Prepare adverts with well-laid out graphics featuring well-fed faces. Place the advert in the print and electronic media. Sit back and watch the millions roll in.
This is absurdly ridiculous. No where in the world are applicants for jobs fleeced this way. Indeed, the reverse is the case. In organized societies, applicants who have been screened, shortlisted and invited for interview are paid to cover hotelexpenses and fare to and from the location of interview. That has been the practice even in this country. Government agencies and reputable companies pay applicants short-listed and invited for interview. The EU/Ministry of Health job interviews of April 2004 is an example in this regard.
More worrisome is the demand for money from potential recruits into the Nigerian Navy and Air Force. Where does the money go? Is there no budget to cover the cost of recruitment? Why fleece someone who has decided to make a career in the armed forces, someone who could lay down his life for the country at any moment? In the developed world, there are incentives for joining the Army. At the height of the Iraq war, such incentives were made even more enticing.
It is disquieting and certainly disheartening to observe that even nonprofit organizations and voluntary agencies have joined in the mad rush to further impoverish the unemployed amongst us. Page 76 of The Guardian of Tuesday August 5,2008, carried two nausea-inducing adverts. One of the adverts was placed by Accident Victims Rescue & Information Services of Nigeria (AVRIS) and the other by AFRIDEV (whatever that means) that claims to be a member of International Volunteer Programme.
Both are supposedly non-profit organizations. While Accident Victims Rescue and Information Services of Nigeria is asking each applicant to part with two thousand and five hundred naira, AFRIDEV is demanding Two Thousand Naira per prospective volunteer. Most recently, the Imo State Government advertised 10, 000 vacant positions that required the unemployed to part with two thousand naira.
The last recruitment exercise of the Immigration Service for about 7000 positions attracted well over 300,000 applicants. Assuming the same number of applicants responds to each of the adverts for non-existent vacancies or volunteer positions, AFRIDEV and AVRIS will rake in six hundred and fifty million naira (N650,000,000.00) and Seven Hundred and Fifty Million Naira (N750,000,000.00) respectively. And AVRIS was recruiting the second batch! It is most absurd and indeed absolutely ethically wrong for job applicants to be made to pay for application forms. It is tales of the unexpected made manifest. Nigerians need be wary of organisations requesting fees from job or volunteer applicants.
It is an apparent red flag. The argument that the application fee is demanded to cover the cost of recruitment and to reduce the volume of respondents is as hollow as it is implausible.
In its advert calling for volunteers to be sent oversees, AFRIDEV claims that volunteers will “assist various organizations abroad in community development projects/humanitarian work on going in various countries such as Spain, USA, Portugal, Denmark, Switzerland, UK, Canada, Macedonia, Brazil, Poland, Europe (sic),South America (sic) etc”. Continuing, the advert claims that “volunteers are paid attractive monthly allowances”. Like American visa lottery that attracts hundreds of thousands of entries from Nigeria, this one is sure going to be a hit. When young Nigerians risk life and limb to try to get to Europe through the Sahara and many die in the process in the desert or by drowning in canoe wrecks, this option will be considered a safer bet to try.
Other than brief visits, I have not lived in Europe so I am not in a position to assess their needs for foreign volunteers and from Nigeria for that matter, with our reputation. But I can emphatically assert America does not need foreign volunteers. At all times, they have more than enough volunteers for community service.
Following the regrettable events of September II, 2001 in America, as the Executive Director of a Nigerian non-profit organisation that catered to victims of disasters – natural or man-made, I wrote to the then American Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Edward Jeter informing him of my organisation’s resolve to send in volunteers to assist in the aftermath of the collapse of the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York. He wrote to thank me profusely for identifying with America in such trying times but diplomatically turned down our offer, saying that the disaster galvanised Americans as never before who volunteered in droves to assist the victims.
Besides while in the US, I was involved with a humanitarian organisation in management position that requires working directly with volunteers. In my almost two and a half years in the position I did not see or hear of foreign volunteers no even at the height of Hurricane Katrina with the massive and extensive damage that it visited on New Orleans, Alabama and Mississippi. Additionally, volunteers are not paid attractive monthly allowances; they receive daily subsistence allowances (DSA), according to UN Agencies recommendations. The Encarta World English Dictionary defines subsistence as the condition of being or managing to stay alive, especially when there is barely enough food or money for survival.
This advert is preying on the poverty and gullibility of Nigerians who daily throng the foreign embassies of the above listed countries in attempts to secure visas to escape the unemployment that is prevalent here. When genuine visitors, businessmen and even government sponsored teams like sportsmen and women are occasionally refused visas because of the fear of absconding and becoming illegal immigrants, someone is advertising that they will secure visas for volunteers who could stay up to one month, six months and 2 years.
Which countries are in dire need of volunteers? Is it the developed countries or the developing ones? Additionally, who is the person that volunteers? Is it not someone who is gainfully employed or a retiree that gives some of his/her time to do community work? Who is that Nigerian employer that will allow his employee to leave his duty station for overseas volunteer assignment for 6 months or 2 years? With the benefit of experience, many volunteers in Nigeria are not gainfully employed.
As the Executive Director of Doctors For All Nations, I led volunteers from Lagos, Warri and Port Harcourt to Jesse oil fire disaster of October 1998. Volunteers who were employed returned to their jobs after three days on the ground. The unemployed volunteers remained with us for upwards of 4 weeks. And why oversees volunteering? “Charity”, they say “begins at home”. Have we finished clearing all the drains that are clogged with unsightly pure water sachets and other refuse that cause floods each time it rains in Lagos, for example?
What of the mountains of refuse that block roads and breed rodents and other forms of life that are enemies of man? Taking undue advantage of the high level of unemployment and unwariness in the country to fleece unsuspecting members of the public who are already disadvantaged is nothing but callousness. Calling a spade by its name, it is obtaining money by false pretense.
Let us assume that there are 10500 genuine vacancies that an organization wants to fill and 300,000 applicants responded and paid the prescribed fee, the organization would have swindled 289,500 applicants of their money for whom no service was provided. Our ‘human rights activists’ who are quick to match in the streets of Abuja do not see anything wrong in swindling applicants and further impoverishing them.
This obnoxious and patently fraudulent practice has, for too long, been allowed unfettered space. The Consumer Protection Council, SSS, Police and EFCC, amongst other law enforcement agencies, should do the needful: stop this rip off. It gladdens my heart to observe that JAMB that hitherto charged students to check their results online, has as a result of public outcry, stopped this bad practice. Kudos to JAMB.
Dr. Ahworegba is of the Biographies Development Centre, Lagos.
Prosper Ufuoma Ahworegba
In the ongoing search for viable tools of national development, Nigeria has often overlooked one of its most potent, indigenous resources: Nigerian English (NE). At the intersection of our multilingual heritage and postcolonial reality lies a unique variety of English shaped by the tongues, textures, and tensions of our society. Far from being bad English or a mere deviation from British and or American standards, Nigerian English already recognised by Oxford English Dictionary is a legitimate, living linguistic identity colourfully crafted by our culture, history, and communicative needs. It is a vibrant testament to our collective identity, far more than just a dialect. It is a language woven into the fabric of our daily lives, reflecting our unique history, diverse culture, life style and shared experiences. From the rhythmic cadence of our spoken word to the expressive idioms and proverbs that salt and spice our daily conversations. Indeed, Nigerian English embodies our distinct ways of seeing and interacting with the world at large. It is the language of our markets, our music, our literature and our homes, a powerful and unifying force that proudly declares who we are as Nigerians.
As both a scholar of World Englishes and a keen observer of Nigeria’s socio-political landscape, I contend that Nigerian English properly recognised, adopted , adapted, standardised, and strategically deployed holds immense promise for solving the nation’s challenges in education, economic growth, national unity, and all round inclusive development.
It is time to legitimise Nigerian English, not merely as a medium of instruction but as a strategic tool for reimagining our collective progress.
Education: Bridging Access and Relevance.
Nigeria’s educational system continues to suffer from a fundamental disconnect between curriculum content and learners’ every day experiences. Much of this disconnect stems from the rigid, often artificial imposition of ‘standard’ British English norms in classrooms that are otherwise deeply Nigerian in cultural and linguistic texture. The result? Students are forced to think, read, and write in a language that is alien to their sociocultural context. Many perform poorly not due to a lack of intelligence or potential, but because their cognitive environments are estranged from the medium of instruction. Nigerian English, with its lexical innovations (e.g., “go-slow,” “flash,” “gist”), semantic shifts, and pragmatic norms, offers a more intuitive, accessible bridge to learning example in foundational literacy, civic education, and community-based pedagogy. A deliberate incorporation of Nigerian English in teaching materials, especially at the nursery, primary and secondary levels, would not only improve comprehension but also affirm learners’ identities. A child who sees their speech patterns represented in textbooks and examinations is more likely to believe in the value of their intellect and voice.
Economic Empowerment: Language for Inclusion and Participation
English remains the language of official documentation, digital platforms, trade, and business in Nigeria. However, the language variety typically promoted in these spaces often alienates the very people it seeks to empower. Entrepreneurs in local markets, artisans, small-scale farmers, and tech-savvy youths from informal sectors speak Nigerian English yet economic literacy campaigns, banking systems, and tech applications are delivered in overly formal, standardized registers. By recognising and integrating Nigerian English into economic discourse particularly in digital financial education, vocational training, and SME development, we can bridge this gap. Language is access, the basic purpose of language is communication. Simplified, localised, and culturally resonant English will improve financial inclusion, digital participation, and the reach of national economic initiatives. It is not a simplification of content but a sophistication of access.
In a nation, Nigerian English is the only unifying code across ethnic, regional, and social lines including the elite class. While our indigenous languages remain invaluable repositories of culture and identity, Nigerian English offers a shared space of communication, a common linguistic currency. More than pidgin, which still carries socio-linguistic stigma in formal settings,
Nigerian English exists as an organic hybrid carrying the intelligibility of international English, while being grounded in Nigerian expressions, metaphors, and mannerisms.
It is a language that has evolved to carry our jokes, our frustrations, our politics, and our aspirations. By officially embracing Nigerian English as a pedagogically acceptable, nationally relevant variety, we affirm a sense of ownership in our shared national voice. Policies that legitimise Nigerian English in media, literature, and even public service communication would further enhance our sense of collective identity and belonging.
National Growth and Development: Rewriting the Nigerian Narrative Language is not neutral, it shapes perception, policy, and potential. Nigerian English, as a symbol of postcolonial linguistic agency, allows us to narrate our own realities rather than borrowing idioms of development from other nations. From Nollywood scripts and Afrobeats lyrics to the daily banter in markets and parliament, NE has given Nigerians a way to own and export their narratives. Ignoring this linguistic resource in our development agenda is to continue importing frameworks of growth that do not fit our reality. Let us promote Nigerian English in local tech start-ups, international diplomacy, cultural exports, and educational policies. In doing so, we redefine what it means to be globally relevant and locally rooted.
It is time for the National Council on Education, curriculum developers, university faculties, media regulators, policymakers and indeed government to begin a deliberate process of codifying and standardising Nigerian English, taking into account its lexical features, phonology, pragmatics, and stylistic markers. The goal is not to replace international Englishes but to establish our own legitimate variety within the global Englishes spectrum. Let us be bold enough to teach in the English we speak, write policies in the English we live by, and train future generations to embrace their linguistic heritage not as a limitation, but as a launchpad for transformation. In our tongue lies our strength. Nigerian English is not bad English, broken or Pidgin English; it is our own English, our identity language, a reality picture of who we are and represent. And most importantly, it is a very powerful development tool we have yet to fully embrace.
Nneka Emeka-Duru
Dr. Emeka-Duru, a World English specialist, wrote from Port Harcourt.
President Bola Tinubu’s visit to Benue State on Wednesday, June 18, 2025 was an indication that he is a leader that has listening ears. Many Nigerians had called on him, as the father of the nation, to visit Yelwata community in Benue State, where armed criminals murdered over 100 people penultimate weekend and destroyed their property and he did exactly that.
Though the President could not get to Yelwata community, “because of rain, flood and bad road”, his visit to the State, his town hall meeting with some key stakeholders, his visit to the victims of the tragedy in the hospital, speak volumes of his quality of leadership and Nigerians appreciate him for that and hope that other leaders in the country will learn from him.
During the town hall meeting at the Government House in Makurdi, the President queried the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, why no arrest had been made since the heinous crime was committed and directed him and the Chief of Defence Staff, Christopher Musa, to immediately arrest killer herders, who perpetrated the crime.
That was quite commendable because we cannot have the much-needed peace in Benue and other communities in the country where killing has become the order of the day if there is no justice. After every such tragic wanton killings, the police, the military and other security agencies claim to be on top of the situation, assuring that there would be no repeat of such deadly attacks.
But what we never hear or see is that anybody was arrested, prosecuted and jailed for the crime committed. That emboldens the criminals to keep attacking innocent citizens with impunity. Nigerians hope to see things done differently going forward.
Nobody, irrespective of his tribe, religion or political leaning should be above the law. No tribe should be treated as a sacred cow if Nigeria must move forward.
It is hoped that the heads of the Department of State Services (DSS) and the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) will act on the President’s directives and intensify surveillance and gather actionable intelligence to apprehend the perpetrators.
It is also high time the nation’s security agencies and the government at all levels were more Proactive than reactive. They should be able to prevent these deadly attacks from happening instead of running around when the deed is already done. They really need to synergise and re-strategise towards better results since obviously the strategy deployed all the while has not been effective.
It was also good that the President touched the sensitive issue of ranching. He urged Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue State to allocate land for ranching and directed the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security to follow up.
Reports have it that at the core of the agelong conflict in Benue State is unrestricted cattle movement which results in destruction of farms and crops. The State has for decades been enmeshed in a persistent and deeply troubling conflict mainly between local farming communities and nomadic herders over grazing rights, land encroachment and destruction of crops.
The Chief of Defence Staff puts it this way, “Now, from what I have observed, two or three basic things, one is the issue of land, [between] indigene and non-indigene, [is] critical, which is political. That’s supposed to be sorted out politically.
“Secondly, the issue of the movement of animals. I’ve told people over time that when they say farmer, headers clash, clash means two things are moving. But if a farm is [just there] and an animal comes in, it is not a clash, it’s somebody entering somebody’s [asset]. So, we must find solutions to how, which means if the animals don’t move, we don’t have issues.
“Now again, because of that again, we have issues of rustling of animals, which means if we don’t even rustle animals again that are moving again, there won’t be most of this problem.
The quest for a lasting solution to the clashes led to the enactment of the State’s Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law (2017). The law bans open grazing and mandates ranching. The effect of this is hardly seen as cattle still roam freely in Benue State just as in other parts of the country, including the nation’s capital, Abuja.
The Director General of Benue Peace and Reconciliation Commission, Josephine Habba, recently lamented that though the anti-open grazing law is still valid, the enforcement operatives are not that of the State, thereby limiting the power of the State over the violators of the law.
The leadership and members of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) and other such associations should therefore, key into the President’s plan of ranching. MACBAN and other well-placed Nigerians who are in the business of cattle rearing should invest in ranching as it is done in other parts of the world.
It is no hidden fact that Benue indigenes are predominantly farmers. They depend on farming to cater for their needs. They have the right to farm in their ancestral farmlands just as the cattle breeders being citizens of the country, have the right to live and carry out their business in any part of the country. So, there is the need for a balance, an arrangement where the two parties carry out their businesses without encroaching on each other’s space. That is why ranching or controlled grasing, as some people choose to call it, is very important.
A coherent national grazing policy that supports ranching should be developed. Both federal and state governments should invest in building modern ranches with proper facilities, veterinary services, and access to water, particularly in the Northern states where herders traditionally originate. This will reduce the need for migration into farming territories.
It is also important that for there to be the desired lasting peace in Benue State, Tinubu and the heads of the nation’s security agencies should look into the comment of the paramount ruler of the Tiv Nation, Tor Tiv V, His Royal Majesty James Ayatse in his address at the stakeholders meeting on Wednesday.
He said, “What we are dealing with here in Benue State is a calculated, well-planned and full-scale genocidal invasion and land grabbing campaign by herder terrorists and bandits. This has been on for decades and it’s worsening every year.” The same view had been shared by the Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia and some other indigenes of the State. A thorough investigation is needed to ascertain the veracity of the allegation and deal with it before it is too late.
It was really good hearing all the fatherly advice of the President to Alia. There is no doubt that if the governor works with those words of wisdom, Benue will be a better place to live in. The governor should wake up and face the challenges facing him squarely, never forgetting that his allegiance is with the people of the State and not to some individuals of a political party.
Benue State (the food basket of the nation) is a very important part of the country. The lingering insecurity in the State, if not urgently dealt with, may pose a big threat to food security in the country.
All hands must, therefore, be on the deck to restore peace in Benue State and other parts of the country. It is high time the government rose above ethnic, religious, and political interests and took bold, coordinated action towards restoring peace to the State. The people of Benue deserve peace, dignity, and the opportunity to thrive in their ancestral land. The time to end the agelong conflict is now. Silence and half-measures can no longer be an option.
Once again, thank you our dear President, for visiting Benue. We hope there will be a follow up to ensure that all your directives to the security chiefs are carried out . More of such a visit to other parts of the country.
Calista Ezeaku
The floods have done it again! No thanks to our governance systems that enables such tales of bad fate. Our national encounters with floods have become annual meets in which Nigerians have had to be vulnerable to inundating floods. Every incident becomes a combat with nature in which Nigerians have been made no match. Many unlucky Nigerians have had to endure overwhelming onslaughts from floods, some not surviving to tell the stories.
The sad event that just occurred at Mokwa in Niger State has once again reminded us that we have entered the Season 2025 Rendezvous With Floods. Yes, the flood season is here again! It also appears that by our inactions to check the floods, we have entered some unwritten agreements with same, to annually decimate the lives of hundreds of Nigerians whom conditions of life placed on the paths of menacing floods. As humans fail to be humane to their fellow, why would the floods?
Even as flood prevention and mitigation activities draw huge budgets from government purses annually, they remain as ravaging as if they were never envisaged, the result of which many lives, properties and natural resources of innocent Nigerians are sacrificed yearly.
In the current tragedy at Mokwa more than 150 lives have so far been confirmed dead. Regrettably, the figures may go further as rescue operations continue. According to reports, mayhem descended on innocent residents who were asleep in the early hours of Thursday, May 29, 2025 in the neighbourhoods of Kpege at Mokwa, when torrential downpours led to surprising surges of water. In the ensuing confusion in which buildings and market areas became submerged amidst collapsing structures, hundreds lost their lives, buildings destroyed and many displaced. Those lucky enough to have escaped alive now face the frustration of sudden displacement.
Even as floods have become one of our intractable, annual woes, the latest incident at Mokwa remains heart-bleeding, considering that no less than 200 lives were lost to flooding in the same area in 2023 and over 386,000 were displaced. Such horrendous flood disasters keep recurring as a national tragedy.
In 2022 Nigeria made world headlines when CNN and other international media carried reports of one of our worst humanitarian flood disasters during which over 500 persons perished, about 1,546 injured, and over 1.4 million persons displaced by floods. The CNN also added that about “45,249 houses were damaged, 76,168 hectares of farmlands partially destroyed while 70,566 hectares of farmlands got completely destroyed.” That year, 27 out of Nigeria’s 36 states struggled with floods while access to the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja was threatened.
The more salient impact which draws lesser attention from the media is the trail of terrestrial erosions that etch our environments each flooding season. With widespread areas of farmlands, residential areas and coastal communities being washed away by floods yearly, the ecology of many parts of Nigeria continues to degrade in magnitudes unimageable.
***********Regrettably no lessons appear to have been learnt from flood incidents such like occurred in 2022, otherwise we would not have been experiencing subsequent scales of recurrences.
Nor have the preventable drownings of a colossal number of lives been enough to trigger official inquiry into the activities of our national emergency management programmes, and their associated agencies.
In the face of huge expenditures recorded in yearly national budgets through the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development to finance the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), it should be puzzling that no one has ever been held liable for the failures to safeguard areas prone to floods, the recurrent inability to swiftly come to the rescue of flood victims, and the consequential deaths. Even from the reported lamentations of victims, it is discernible that most often, relief materials reach victims almost a year after incidents. And that is for those lucky enough to secure reliefs. Designated places for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), may pass as mockery of the essence.
With respect to the Mokwa flood mayhem, NEMA claims it “Had prior to the incident, issued multiple early warnings regarding likely flooding in flood-prone regions like Niger State.” Probably in an attempt to shift blames to local authorities claimed further that, “Despite these efforts, the scale of the disaster revealed the limits of national-level warnings without sufficient ground-level implementation.” But as the apex disaster management agency in the country, is NEMA’s job only to raise alarms for local authorities? What hindered the deployment of its Early Warning and Preparedness mechanisms?
Being under the Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development Ministry, one may wonder if NEMA is not being choked under a ministry saddled with so many social duties, moreso, a ministry notorious for its social fund embezzlement scandals. For swifter operations, NEMA should operate from a ministry dedicated to special duties, or placed under the Presidency.
This nation has had so many innocent lives devastated needlessly by floods to have provoked national compunction in saner climes. Such regrets should have inspired decisive actions that prevent, or at least mitigate future occurrences to the barest minimum.
In our usual daily hustle, life may resume as normal for many Nigerians faced by many other daily struggles, and the memories of the over 150 who died at Mokwa will soon be forgotten. But it is pertinent to remind us that it is a crime against humanity to let helpless lives perish as such.
The menace of floods as occur on our part of the globe are preventable, as they are seasonal and predictable. Given all the technologies currently at our disposal, floods should not be as overwhelming as they have become. With conscientious efforts, floods could largely be prepared against and checked, while mitigating actions ensure that lives and resources are not destroyed on the scales being experienced. From the yearly outcomes so far, it is obvious that the requisite actions against floods are not being implemented, however how NEMA tries to defend itself.
In the meantime, it should be noteworthy that the Mokwa sad record is an early occurrence for the year 2025, and coming just from the River Niger flank of the country alone, when the usually worst crises from the River Benue axis are yet to commence. Officials of NEMA and those of concerned State Emergency Management Agencies (SEMAs) should not wait until the Republic of Cameroon embarks on the annual opening of its Lagdo Dam, and when communities downstream of the River Benue flank start wailing desperately, to take action. By then actions would be too little, and too late, and NEMA would issue another self-exoneration.
As NEMA goes nation-wide to sensitize the public on its National Disaster Preparedness and Response Campaign (NPRC) 2025, its activities should materialize in lives and resources saved against floods.