Immigration recruitment: I thought I was going to die and began my last prayers – Candidate

Weekly Trust: How did you learn about the NIS recruitment?Itunu Ayodele Oloyede: I learnt about the recruitment  on the internet,  but it was a friend who convinced me to apply.How did you apply?I applied through the internetWhat response did you get?After applying, we printed out a slip, which we were told would be useful when […]

Weekly Trust: How did you learn about the NIS recruitment?
Itunu Ayodele Oloyede: I learnt about the recruitment  on the internet,  but it was a friend who convinced me to apply.
How did you apply?
I applied through the internet
What response did you get?
After applying, we printed out a slip, which we were told would be useful when the time to write the exam came.
Are you currently employed?
Yes, I am. I am a Software Engineer and Research Economist. I currently work with a private company.
At what point were you levied N1, 000 and for what?
We had to pay N1,000 to UBA in the course of registration. After payment, we got a printed form from the bank which enabled us proceed with our application.
Did you have any worries about the process?
The online process was organized. I had no issue with it.
What did you think of the conduciveness of the stadium as the venue?
When I first read online that the Liberty Stadium was to be used as the venue, I thought it was April 1, I thought it was a real joke. I was very surprised. Several questions ran through my mind.
What kind of questions popped in your head when you learned about the venue?
Are we going for physical training? Is it because of the population? Is this even feasible?  Those were the first set of questions that popped into my head.
What is your take on the organisation and facilities available for  the exam?
The organisation was terribly poor. The choice of the stadium was even a wrong call from the onset. This really made the whole process much more stressful.
Could you describe what the day was like when you got to the stadium?
I left home around 6:30am and got to the examination venue around 7:25am. The journey to the venue of the examination was very rough due to the holdup caused by the massive influx of vehicles around the venue. There was a time I had to get down from the vehicle I was in to walk to the place. Immediately I got to the premises of the Liberty Stadium, I saw everybody in white tops and shorts which heralded back the NYSC orientation camp memories.
Were you able to enter inside?
It eventually came to my turn to gain entry. It was like a horror movie, we were asked to put our bags on our heads. The real pandemonium broke out when Immigration officers needlessly started beating applicants with military belts.
This caused real pandemonium and commotion. The push started, I couldn’t breathe, the heat was intense. I was saying my last prayers in my mind already; I thought I was going to die. I thought the end had come. I gained entrance at last, divinely.
What was the procedure before people were allowed in?
They tried checking out our credentials before entry, but they later stopped because of the cumbersome nature
Did you imagine it would end up the way it did?
Yes I imagined it. Immediately I gained entry into the stadium, seeing the population was overwhelming, it really scared me.
Was anybody able to write the exam at all?
We wrote the exams and during this time, it was orderly to a very reasonable extent. People sat down gently while question papers were distributed efficiently.
What kind of questions did it contain?
It was 30 questions in all for 35 minutes (BSc category). They were logical Mathematical questions. The questions were up to standard I must confess.
What do you mean by BSc category in the exam?
There were four categories namely: the BSc, HND, OND and SSCE category. It depends on the category you chose while applying.
Had it all gone well, did you have a preference for where you would have liked to be posted?
I would have preferred to be posted to their passport processing office where I could use my expertise as a Computer Scientist to improve the way they do things. Passports shouldn’t take more than 24 hours in an ideal environment.
Have you had any prior recruitment experience?
Of course, I’ve participated in many recruitment exercises which were well planned
What’s your take on the whole incidence?
It’s just an eye opener to the fact that many more people than statistics say are unemployed. The massive crowd really showed this. This is a call to the Federal Government to invest massively in solving the problem of unemployment.
One thing I noticed that day was that some applicants who are self-employed still came because their general complains was the lack of an enabling environment for their various businesses to thrive. Thus, frustration sets in and all availables become desirables. Most employers of labour now make money through jobless graduates asking them to first pay inorder to attend interviews.
If you were to advise the NIS and Ministry of Interior on how better to next organise it, what would you say?
The major advice I will give to NIS is to organize an online aptitude test. They should contract this out to IT firms that are into this. The world is beyond physical examinations. There should be stages, once you pass your online aptitude test, you’ll proceed to another stage and before you make any physical appearance, the population would be reduced drastically already. I want to also advise the NIS to employ according to merit. Results should count and there must be maximum transparency in the whole conduct.
There have been suggestions that relatives of the diseased candidates should be given employment. What do you think of this?
This is the best thing to do. They should be given immediate employment. Asides this, they should be compensated monetarily.
What do you think of the call for the sack of the Minister of Interior and the NIS boss?
The call for the sack isn’t far-fetched if politics isn’t involved. I think he should own up to his responsibility and not trade blames. A resignation will be fair enough.
Considering all that has happened are you hopeful you will eventually beget into the NIS?
My hopes are very high because I’m sure I’ll definitely do well in the examination if we’re going to be chosen according to merit. All I want is a meritorious exercise.I don’t want to believe that some people have paid their way to employment. I believe capable hands should be employed.