Systems and societies are regularly compelled to review policies in light of changing realities. The review readies the system for the times ahead and puts them on a better ground for advancement. It is the reason systems have crops of leadership, expected to be knowledgeable enough to think out of the box, in the interest of navigating difficult times. Even when the leaders are necessarily political and do not have the requisite expertise, the onus is often on them to consult the experts for policy modelling for the good of the people.
This practice permeates the dimensions of the sectors, including politics, economics, education, health, and much else. It is a continuing one, often dictated by exigencies, and it is in this light that we can situate the government’s new thinking around expanding its revenue net by bracketing expatriates, more into it, than they are presently doing. Recent reports have said the government is planning to broaden the contribution of expatriates to the nation’s income net, beyond the entry requirement and their regular obligation like the average citizen. The arguments, thus far, have been robust.
One is that it is a practice that is obtainable in countries like Japan, Slovenia, Belgium, Portugal, Finland, Sweden, Ireland, France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, and Zimbabwe. If these countries are doing it to shore up their revenue bases, why not Nigeria? Second is that Nigeria needs to raise enough money, even continuously, to meet its infrastructure needs in the next 30 years. With declining and unpredictable revenue from oil, new thinking on revenue generation has to be ramped up.
Third is the need to create a level play field for skilled Nigerian workers. The expectation for welcoming expatriates is that they are to populate areas where local expertise is absent. But reports have it that many of them fail to leave, even after honing the skills of locals, more because the nation has been sleeping on its rights. With the new plan, expatriates are likely to be more mindful of their exit times, and then preparing the ground for local occupation of positions they will be vacating. The increasing problem of unemployment and underemployment is likely to be lessened as a result. Fourth is that while the government is thinking of diversification through agriculture, steel development, mining, manufacturing, production, and others, it should also begin to imagine other quick wins, happening in the short term, like harnessing the untapped resources in which they are entitled to from the nation’s over 200,000 expatriates population.
And what is more? The plan, it has been said, has nothing to do with ease of doing business. The government is rightly concerned about attracting foreign investments, especially portfolio investments, to boost its liquidity. It is also encouraging Foreign Direct Investments [FDIs]. The policy is likely to enhance these by making the working conditions for all to be better regulated, making foreign workers much more confident about their entry and exit times, their obligations and commitments and much more determined to be compliant.
It reportedly has nothing to do with Ease of Doing Business (EoD), because the primary idea is to create an additional source of revenue, which is rather helpful to achieve the objective behind EoD. It should also regulate the situation where many companies import workers, whereas Nigerians otherwise have the skills. Companies should now be inclined to employ skilled Nigerians rather than bringing them in from abroad.
Largely, the policy should improve private sector profitability and address inflation, increase labour profitability, impact employment and nationalism, and boost earnings from non-oil sources. It should also ease the commencement of businesses, fast-track regulatory permits, enhance the availability of credits, protect investments, and eventually provide the ground for adequate infrastructure, including electricity, roads, ports, ICT, rail and the import and export process.
Reports have also said about $2 billion in annual income, a gross reduction in unemployment and unemployment figures, lowering of the quest for foreign exchange, are among other key benefits of the initiative. Regarded as an effort designed to increase the employment of Nigerian citizens, especially because expatriates are not required for low-hanging jobs which can easily be replaced by Nigerians, the plans should envelope workers in the construction, supermarkets, restaurants, and retail businesses because we have more than enough citizens who can handle the sectors, as exemplified in the excellence of the Banking sector, where expatriates are hardly involved.
It is trite to say there are skilled Nigerians who do similar jobs given related skills but are not regarded as expatriates. The policy would likely put these sets of Nigerians on a level play field with the expatriates to some extent. Multiple sources have also cited valued examples saying if a Nigerian company goes to China and India and sets up a plant, it may have a handful of expatriates at the management level, while the remainder will also be local staff members. This is not the same case in Nigeria, where expatriates are more at the top and fewer at the bottom. It is time to reverse the narrative for Nigerians.
With the plan, there will be a reduction of expatriates resulting in lowered demand for scarce foreign exchange, especially from the parallel market, ultimately dropping pressure on the currency. Besides the above, all the technology start-ups in Nigeria are also 99% Nigerian entrepreneurs’, harnessing skill sets, and knowledge that are always available. So there is no sector which cannot achieve this. Revenue earned by the government can be put to use for the benefit of the Nigerians in many areas ranging from education, production, health and infrastructure, amongst others.
By and large, with the initiative, there will be more job opportunities, improved remuneration, more chances for training and skill acquisition, enhancement of the prestige of the Nigerian workers, and reduction of the demand for Foreign Exchange, resulting from the exhausting salaries of expatriates. This scheme and policy, as the argument goes, should have been implemented years ago, but it is still not too late, though. All look reasonable, especially from a government that wants to be innovative. Let’s get going, therefore.
Mr Ojeifo, publisher of The Conclave [online newspaper] writes via [email protected]
