Femi Gbajabiamila explains his sponsored immigration law bill, calls it Nigeria's BREXIT law

                         Femi Gbajabiamila
      Majority Leader, Federal House of Reps.

A couple of days ago I introduced an Amendment Bill to our Immigration law.  The Bill was generally well received by Nigerians particularly the vastly unemployed youth. However a few people had some genuine and some not so genuine concerns. I believe as a representative it is important I address the more salient areas of concern with the hope that we can all flow on the same page to adequately address the scourge of unemployment and its attendant social consequences. Some of the concerns are as follows:

1. That the Bill is discriminatory and isolationist and our citizens abroad may suffer retaliatory laws based on reciprocity.

I do not see this as discriminatory or isolationist. Rather for me it is protectionist. There is no responsible government that will sit with arms akimbo and watch foreign nationals come in and exploit its hospitality by taking away jobs that should ordinarily be available to the locals and citizens. It is the job of any government to protect its workforce. This situation is so extensive in Nigeria that it cuts across all categories of workers from skilled to unskilled. From Phillipino nannies, artisans and tillers to pilots and mariners, to bank MDs and oil workers. Most of our top hotels in Nigeria are managed by foreigners, yet we have Nigerians who are professionally qualified to do same. It is not unusual and is even normal to see Chinese labourers on construction sites. Many have even said(though I find it difficult to believe) that prisoners are brought from other countries to come and work in Nigeria.

On the doctrine of reciprocity and fate of Nigerians working abroad, these fears are misplaced. My proposed law obtains in most countries and diligent research into the labour laws of other countries will evidence this. Indeed if there is any retaliatory law it is this Bill that seeks do that by aligning with international best practices. Same policy obtains in the US and others. I have provided a comment from a Nigerian in the UK, Mina Jumbo, below

"This is a brilliant proposal and long overdue. I worked as a Development Geoscientist in the UK, for my company to successfully get my work permit, they had to prove to the UK government that I possessed skills & the diverse set of experience that couldn't be found in the UK. They had to show proof that they had interviewed several British citizens to no avail. Proof that the role had been properly advertised in reputable job sites & news papers. These and many more were required before my permit was granted. I don't see why the rules should be different here. Best of luck with the proposal, and I hope when approved, there will be 100% compliance and stringent penalties for defaulters."


2. That there are other laws that already deal with this such as expatriate quota provisions of our immigration law and our local content law

Again this is a misread of our laws. Firstly, expatriate quota does not address the issue of foreigners coming to pick up local jobs.  All expatriate quota does is register foreign workers for business organisations based on a quota system which can be increased at any time. It does not restrict what and where they can or cannot work. For instance, an expatriate can get an expatriate quota to come in and work on an agricultural  farm breeding poultry. What this Bill seeks to do is to give two conditions before you can obtain the expatriate quota in the first place. 1. There must be no Nigerian qualified in the field or 2. If there is any, he or she must be unwilling or unavailable to do the job. In other words even if you have graduates and professionals in the area of agriculture and poultry farming but you do not find one who is interested in doing the particular job, then the employee can give the job to a foreigner. A qualified Nigerian should always get the first dip or right of refusal. Its that simple.  On the issue of the local content law. It may be similar but not quite the same. In any event, the local content law is restricted only to the oil industry.  The cabotage law was also referred to by some who felt this was a duplication of laws. I believe the cabotage law deals only with ships in the maritime sector and essentially talks about patronage of Nigerian vessels. This Bill is all encompassing and cuts across all sectors.

3. That it goes against the policies of free trade and discourages foreign Investments.

Firstly, this Bill has nothing to do with neither is it akin to free trade. There is a difference between free trade and gainful or paid employment. Foreigners can continue to trade, buy and sell and exchange goods under different trade agreements. You just cannot come here seeking permanent or even temporary jobs under the guise of trade without meeting the 2 conditions proposed in the Bill. Again for emphasis,  trade is different from employment and we will spot the difference!

As regards the Bill’s implication on foreign direct investment, there is very little if any. Indeed one would think because of the cheaper labour, a foreign investor would find that such a Bill as this works well for him. Any foreigner or company that is attracted to the potentials of the Nigerian market (and there are many) and wants to invest in Nigeria is not precluded from doing so. Such a person or company can come in on an investors visa and can even reside in Nigeria to monitor his or its investment. You just must fill your staff roll from within the Nigerian workforce. We will not let you have a foreigner for instance as the manager or cashier in your gigantic supermarket or restaurant. Now if you were chinese for instance and worked or invested in Nigeria and needed a Chinese nanny for your baby because you wanted him or her to learn mandarin, the chances are that you would be able to meet the two conditions for the employment of a chinese nanny.

4. That the law will not be enforced or implemented.

On this I will urge us not to adopt a defeatist attitude.  Whilst implementation and execution of laws is the preserve of the Executive under our constitution and whilst making and oversight of such laws is that of the legislature, the citizens also have a role to play. This is why the House recently passed the whistle blower law to encourage citizens to report infractions of laws such as this and bring them to the knowledge of authorities. Besides with the law in place it makes it a lot easier for a citizen to have a cause of action in court to enforce its breach by a company. I believe with a collective effort we can make this country work.

In closing it is important to note that in all of this, the expatriates who work here illegally earn their money and repatriate same. Case of capital flight? This Bill for me is an attempt to address the problem of unemployment in Nigeria and I believe the number of employees in Nigeria doing what Nigerians can easily and effectively do if properly collated will shock many of us.


I have taken time to address these issues of concern in the hope to give some clarity and I hope that it has helped. I believe engagements such as this only help for  more qualitative legislation and a better end product at the end of the process. Should there be other areas of concern not addressed or if there are contributions to be made to make this Bill stronger, I will be happy to receive suggestions and if practicable you are invited to the public hearing of the Bill when it takes place. For now lets just say this is our own ‘BREXIT’!