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The Licensed Recruiters Association of Nigeria has urged the Federal Government to lift the ban it placed on its operations since 2018, saying the action has failed to produce the desired result.
Addressing a press conference in Lagos on Tuesday, the acting chairman of the association, Rex Bamidele, said licensed recruiters are professionals that recruit skilled manpower for international organisations as well as governments of foreign countries that may be in need of skilled professionals from Nigeria.
“We are licensed by the Nigerian government through the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment. In the course of our operations that spanned over five years, we have helped over 1,000 Nigerians secure well-paying employments in several countries. Before our operations were abruptly stopped for no fault of ours, we proudly contributed to the reduction of unemployment in the country,” he said.
According to Bamidele, in March 2018, following a directive from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity instructed all licensed companies to stop their operations because some unlicensed and unregistered people, who were parading themselves as international recruiters, were involved in human trafficking.
“The Federal Government of Nigeria as a follow up to this action sent a delegation to the Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia to investigate the companies and/or individuals that were involved in the illicit act. Expectedly, none of our members or registered companies were found culpable in the illict act.
“While hoping that the Federal Government would lift the ban it placed on our activities, we have been left in limbo. The assurance that our operations would be restored after all stakeholders develop a Standard Operation Procedure has remained a pipe dream.
“As law abiding individuals and organisations, we have suspended our operations since 2018 in deference to government directive. But while we have remained law abiding, the unlicensed recruiters whose activities in the first place led to the ban placed on us have continued their illicit activities, including trafficking persons under the guise of recruiting them for international jobs. We find it ironic that our activities as licensed operators have been put on hold while illegal persons who have been tarnishing the image of the country through their nefarious activities have been left to operate,” the acting chairman stated.
Bamidele said the ban has caused the country huge losses because its members could not pay taxes and other remittances that would have accrued to the country.
“Members of our association have continue to incur huge bills as well because we still pay rent on our offices, maintain our staff in order not to add to the unemployment in the country,” he added.
He, therefore, appealed to the Federal Government to as a matter of urgency develop the “long overdue Standard Operating Procedure” in order for members of the association to go back to work.
“We find it curious that at a time when all hands are expected to be on deck to fight unemployment in the country; legitimate employers of labour like us are being hampered by bureaucratic bottlenecks. If government is serious in fishing out human traffickers parading as international recruiters, there is no better way to do this than work with licensed operators like us whose members are known and can be easily accessed.
“We believe that common sense will soon prevail and the Federal Government of Nigeria through its relevant ministries will lift the embargo placed on our activities so that the country and indeed its citizens will benefit from the huge opportunities our activities offer,” Bamidele said.