“Heads need to roll,” is the prevailing view of several prominent citizens following Saturday’s stampede at several job centers around Nigeria.
“Heads need to roll,” is the prevailing view of several prominent citizens following Saturday’s stampede at several job centers around Nigeria.
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One of them, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), the former Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) and Governorship aspirant of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Ondo State, has called for the immediate sacking of the Minister for Internal Affairs, and the Comptroller General of Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS.) His call follows the death of 19 applicants who lost their lives during Saturday’s recruitment test of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS),
A statement issued by Rotimi Akeredolu on Monday evening in Akure, and obtained by Saharareporters, disclosed that the untimely death of the 19 young people was unfortunate, shocking and barbaric. It brought shame on the country, and the high rate of unemployment is “bedeviling” for Nigerian youth nationwide.
According to Rotimi Akeredolu, the country has “once again been treated to another round of calamity with the lost of our vibrant youth, who were struggling to get jobs at all cost.” He stressed that “Nigerians are mostly tired of gory news, which (in this latest incident, has) brought nothing but sadness.”
“The tragic import of this shame on our a country, awash with petrol-dollars, should not be lost on genuine patriots. Nigerians are getting accustomed to disturbing news of gory details," Rotimi Akeredolu’s statement read.
The defunct ACN leader, and now APC chieftain, called for a “concerted effort to vigorously challenge the abuse on the rights of the Youth, with a unanimous call for the sacking of the officials of the Nigeria Immigration Service who had failed to manage the conduct at the test.”
“Unemployed Nigerian youth trooped out in their thousands, to participate in the so-called Aptitude Test, which looked more like religious carnival or football fiesta,” he said.
Rotimi Akeredolu described the national test conducted by the Nigeria immigration service as “a sham,” which might not go a long way in choosing merited applicants, but their own candidates who had already paid for the slots.
"At the end of the organized scam, many of our youth died while several others sustained serious injuries. Somebody must take responsibility for these calamities," Rotimi Akeredolu said to reporters.
In a pointed and angry statement, Rotimi Akeredolu declared the ”the organizers of this national disgrace had sold almost one and a half million of application forms, for a supposed 4500 vacancies nationwide. In this age when access to the internet has been liberalized, it is unthinkable that a government agency will ask applicants to attend a sham interview, in an open stadium.”
While calling on the government to ensure it sacks the Comptroller of Nigeria Immigration Service, and the Minister of Interior immediately, the former NBA boss bemoaned that the officials cannot continue in office “after their avoidable multiple tragedies.”
He also demanded an unreserved apology from the NIS boss, and the Minister of the Interior, and also called for thorough investigation to unmask the characters behind, what he termed, the 'serial fraud', urging Nigerians, most of them young people searching for jobs, to resist any attempts by job agents to defraud them of their money.
“Nigerians must resist any further attempts by unscrupulous elements who masquerade as recruitment agencies, to exploit the misery of the people,” he added.
Akeredolu also berated the government for failing in its mandate to make life easy by creating jobs.
“It should now be clear to apologists of this government, that it has done almost nothing to create hope for our youth," he said.
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