Nigerians are no strangers to the Japa movement. The airwaves are continually titillated with news of the most recent nation seeking or rejecting Nigerian talents. BUSINESSDAY’s Legal Business Editor, Onyinyechi Ukegbu speaks with Olusola Jegede, Managing Partner of Resolution Law Firm and Head of the firm’s immigration practice on blacklists, the impact of japa on the economy and the most suitable Nigerian policy response. Excerpts below.
1. What informed your firm decision to venture into immigration law?
Well, I am a Corporate Commercial lawyer, and it grew as an additional service that I offer to my foreign corporate clients who require immigration services to come into Nigeria. I process business permits, expatriate quotas and Nigerian work permits, among other services.
2. What would typically go into a country’s decision on how to design its immigration policy?
Generally, it is based on demand and supply; what the country needs versus what it is trying to obtain. For Nigeria, and several other countries, it is to attract investments, for some others, it is to get workers to key service areas, and for others as well, it is to control the influx of the immigrant population.
3. What are the strengths of Nigeria’s immigration policy?
Nigeria is seen as a very big market in Africa and has numerous natural resources. As earlier mentioned, Nigeria’s immigration policy has primarily concentrated on attracting investors, which is one of its strengths. Also, its immigration policy is favourable to men who have married foreigners, in that it affords easy relocation provisions for such families. Although, we have not been seeing a large throve of families relocating for marital purposes.
What we see instead is a large influx of people from Asia, and I believe that what attracts them is the Return on Investments. However, most immigrants are not those who have come to set up companies but expatriates. Expatriates make up nearly 70% of immigrants in Nigeria and about 20% of foreigners in Nigeria set up businesses here.
4. What are the weaknesses of Nigeria’s immigration policy?
One of the weaknesses I think is that they do not have a robust strategy. Another is that the Work Permit known as the Combined Expatriate Permit and Aliens Card (CERPAC) granted to approved expatriates, at $2000 is one of the most expensive in the world. As a result, the cost may dissuade talents that want to come into the country. It also creates a cash-and-carry mentality rather than a talent attraction mechanism, especially as there is no strategy to accommodate those who cannot afford CERPAC but want to contribute to the economy.
5. What would be a robust strategy for Nigeria?
There are two issues if adequately addressed, I believe would contribute to a robust immigration strategy. Firstly, we should have a specific provision for long-term expatriates who want to transition to permanent residents, if they are talented and have shown that they can contribute meaningfully to the country’s culture and economy. The policy should be more specific in terms of who we want to attract and friendly to our preferences. Particularly, it should reward those bringing investments and discourage those who are coming in to do the work that Nigerians can already do.
Expatriates make up nearly 70% of immigrants in Nigeria and about 20% of foreigners in Nigeria set up businesses here.
The second is that closer attention should be paid to company formation requirements. According to CAC, for a foreign company to be registered in Nigeria, it must have a minimum of 10 million Naira authorised share capital. This sum is not required to be paid to the government. It is an undertaking of an amount that they must invest in their own company. Next, the Ministry of Interiors gives them the necessary work permits and assesses the requested expatriate quota at N100,000k per expatriate, officially.
Again, the cash and carry perception of the immigration policies must be stepped down and the investment worth and value of the company to Nigeria and the Nigerian workforce must be carefully considered.
6. Several countries have introduced policies seeking the best of Nigerian professionals making it convenient for Nigerians to come to their countries. From a nation-building perspective, should we be worried?
It is worth being worried about. The most common motivator to japa is the generally poor remuneration in most jobs. The world is becoming a global village, and people can see what is being paid for similar roles, in other countries. So the remuneration structure should be carefully considered. What we need to consider is an annual automated salary increase.
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I am not in favour of a lump sum increase as this will have a negative impact on those in the informal sector. We should implement an annual increase for a while, so we can stabilise the economy and Nigeria can retain its key talents. If people continue to move out of the country, you cannot build a viable economy. The Naira has suffered a lot recently because many Nigerians are dumping their Naira in exchange for forex to fund their japa dreams.
7. On one hand, we have a lot of countries designing policies to attract Nigerians, and on the other hand, Nigeria as a country has been blacklisted by various nations. What do you think informs this?
One is bad government policy and the other is the bad perception of Nigerians and other Africans. These countries believe that most people, especially from sub-Saharan Africa, want to migrate. And there is no country that will throw open its borders for everyone to come because they know they have an implied responsibility to cater for them, and they cannot afford to cater to the estimated influx of Nigerians, based on the data they have. Perhaps we need to return to the days of governmental orientation, where people note that there is no El Dorado in the world. There is nowhere where people don’t get up and fight for what they want.
8. Many Nigerians wonder why Nigeria has no response to being blacklisted. Should Nigeria at least implement indirect sanctions?
Blacklists are political in the sense that international relations between nations come to play. Most countries have their own immigration policies, and one of the policies of several Western nations is to consider most Africans who are coming to their countries as people who want to reside there one way or the other, even if they apply for a tourist visa. However, these Western countries have their relationships where they extend some courtesies to each other, for instance, the Canada Visa-on-Arrival policy that was not granted to Nigerians for no discernable reason. For issues like this, there has to be some attention to these issues on a governmental policy level.
Recently the US government asked Nigeria to extend the duration of its nationals’ visa but Nigeria did not get a reciprocal consideration. And in terms of sanctions, Nigeria does not have the political strength to respond directly or indirectly. There is no point in making a policy you have no means to enforce. For one, how many Americans are coming to Nigeria to work or study, compared to those travelling to Western countries?
9. How conducive is the Nigerian immigration policy to your clients?
A key challenge we need to address, especially in this administration’s current drive for a digital economy and the nature of the business these days, is the impact of Nigeria’s banking policy on foreigners that want to establish businesses in Nigeria.
A Nigerian who wants to set up a business in America, can do so from here completely and even open a bank account. But for a foreign company setting up businesses in Nigeria, banks insist that such persons should come to Nigeria, and their work permits and other documentation before they can open a bank account in Nigeria.
This prevents people from accessing Nigerian markets, especially those that want to tap in without migrating to Nigeria. It prevents SMEs that could have been set up in Nigeria to try their business principle and employ 1-3 people in the process. Addressing this can also serve to increase the flow of forex in the system. This, along with the cost of CERPAC is something the new administration needs to address.
