Nigeria’s President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu has declared his support for the Expatriate Employment Levy EEL, scheme saying the initiative will checkmate insecurity, generate more funds as well and close the wage gap between the expatriate and the Nigerian labour force.
Launching the initiative at the State House on Tuesday, President Tinubu, cautioned the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) against turning the EEL into an administrative bottleneck that would discourage foreign investors in the country.
The President described the EEL initiative as a game changer that will impose an effective timeline on expatriates working in Nigeria to train and develop Nigerian workers further.
“I declare my support for the Expatriate Employment Levy scheme, and I will continue to encourage the operators, practitioners of immigration matters and expatriate quotas, but I emphasize: do not use it as a bottleneck; do not use it as an obstacle to frustrate potential investors.
“Commenting on the EEL initiative, the President said “I consider it a game changer. It is important to know that EEL is a contribution recently approved by the government, which will impose an effective timeline on expatriates working in this country, to be able to train and develop Nigerians. I’ve listened to Honourable Adams Oshiomhole, the Distinguished Senator, making very good and valid points on why Nigeria should be at the forefront of technology transfer and stem the brain drain associated with our current situation.
“ We expect revenue generation improvement, improved naturalization and indigenization, employment of more Nigerians by foreign companies operating in this country, balancing of employment opportunities between Nigerians and expatriates, close the wage gap between the expatriate and the Nigerian labour force by making it more attractive to hire Nigerians.” The President added.
The President lauded the collaboration between the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), the Central Bank of Nigeria, and the Federal Ministries of Finance; Budget and National Planning saying individuals heading the organizations, have partnered in the spirit of development and progress.
“We might be going through a difficult period now, but when you look at the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), the Federal Ministries of Finance; Budget and National Planning, and the people manning the ship of this country, including the Central Bank of Nigeria, they have collaborated, and in the spirit of development and progress, we are glad that good effort is being made to re-engineer the finances of the country and make growth our hallmark.”
Speaking on the details of the initiative, the Minister of Interior, Mr. Bunmi Tunji-Ojo, explained that the project would be operated on a public-private partnership model between the federal government of Nigeria, the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), which is the implementing agency, and a technical partner, EEL Projects Limited.
“It is worthy to mention that the project is aligned with the eight-point agenda of Mr. President, especially on the issue of job security and economic growth. This project will, among other things, lead to technology domestication.
“The essence of this is to be sure that if you are bringing an expatriate to work in Nigeria, it should be a job that no Nigerian has the skill to do. That is the major objective of this particular initiative,” the Minister said.
Chairman of, the Senate Committee on Interior, Sen. Adams Oshiomhole expressed his satisfaction saying that the initiative was centred around the need to ensure that jobs that Nigerians could do were handled by Nigerians and not by expatriates.
“I have been concerned about how we can put in place a policy that will ensure that companies, whether indigenous companies or foreign companies don’t bring technicians and read them as engineers and some Nigeria engineers work under them as technicians,” he said.
The lawmaker, who advocated that Nigerian jobs must be for Nigerians, assured of the support of the members of the National Assembly for the policy.
Dominica Nwabufo
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