ABUJA: The Federal Character Commission (FCC) has assured Nigerians that no state will be denied its fair share of employment opportunities in the Federal Government, warning agencies against diverting jobs allocated to one state to another.
The Executive Chairman of the commission, Mrs Ayo Omidiran, gave the assurance in Enugu on Thursday during a youth enlightenment programme attended by thousands of young people from across the state.
The programme, tagged Youth Connect: Beyond Quotas: Unlocking Opportunities for Enugu Youths Through the Federal Character Commission, was organized by the FCC Commissioner representing Enugu State, Hon. Peter Eze.
Omidiran said the commission under her leadership would not tolerate any federal government agency short-changing a state in the distribution of employment opportunities.
The FCC chairman said no justification would be accepted for transferring or diverting the employment opportunities due to one state to another.
According to her, the commission is working to expand access to federal employment opportunities and ensure that qualified Nigerians have a fair chance of competing for available positions.
She explained that the commission had encouraged more government agencies to publicly advertise vacancies whenever recruitment opportunities became available.
“We have decided that more and more agencies should advertise when they have vacancies for employment,” Omidiran said.
She explained that Nigeria has qualified people across virtually every part of the country and that recruitment processes should therefore be sufficiently open to allow competent candidates to compete.
The FCC chairman urged young Nigerians not to allow the belief that federal jobs are reserved for the children or associates of influential people to prevent them from applying.
She encouraged job seekers to take advantage of publicly advertised opportunities instead of assuming that recruitment outcomes had already been decided.
Omidiran said the major challenge confronting Nigeria was not a lack of capable people but the absence of credible pathways for converting talent into productivity, innovation, employment and economic prosperity.
She urged young Nigerians to actively seek available opportunities rather than wait for employment to come to them.
Her message was echoed by Eze, who challenged what he described as a widespread misconception that federal government jobs are often distributed before vacancies are publicly announced.
The Enugu FCC commissioner urged young people to reject the belief that advertised government vacancies were automatically reserved for people with political or personal connections.
He stressed that qualified Nigerians should apply whenever legitimate vacancies are advertised and follow the recruitment process through to the end.
Eze also warned job seekers against paying individuals who claim they can secure federal government employment for them.
According to him, anyone demanding money in exchange for a legitimate government job should be reported to the appropriate authorities.
“You do not need to buy a job; you need to prepare yourself,” he told the participants.
He warned that paying for government employment could amount to participation in an illegal process and urged young Nigerians to be cautious of individuals exploiting unemployment to defraud job seekers.
The commissioner also urged participants not to disqualify themselves by assuming that recruitment exercises had already been concluded before applications were submitted.
Eze disclosed that there are more than 700 Federal Government ministries, departments, agencies, commissions and other establishments across the country that provide employment and other opportunities.
He said the Federal Character Commission has a constitutional and statutory responsibility to promote equitable representation and ensure compliance with the federal character principle across federal institutions.
However, he observed that many young Nigerians, particularly job seekers, were missing legitimate opportunities because of misinformation and long-standing misconceptions surrounding federal recruitment.
He said some qualified applicants had become discouraged from applying because they believed vacancies had already been shared among influential individuals before being advertised.
According to him, such assumptions have prevented many Nigerians from pursuing opportunities for which they could otherwise have been qualified
While encouraging young Nigerians to pursue government employment, Eze acknowledged that the Federal Public Service could not accommodate every job seeker.
“Everyone cannot be accommodated in the Public Service. There are limitations in every MDA,” he said.
He nevertheless stressed that legitimate opportunities available to Nigerians should not be lost because of ignorance, misinformation or inadequate access to information.
He urged participants in the Youth Connect programme to broaden their search for employment and other opportunities across federal institutions.
The Federal Character Commission’s latest position highlights its broader responsibility to promote equitable representation in federal institutions and ensure that recruitment opportunities are not concentrated in particular regions or groups.
Omidiran said the commission was working towards an employment system in which Nigerians from different parts of the country could have greater access to opportunities based on established procedures.
She encouraged young Nigerians to prepare themselves, monitor legitimate recruitment announcements and apply for positions for which they meet the requirements.
The event was attended by the Secretary to the Enugu State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, who delivered the keynote address, and Senator Emmanuel Onwe of Ebonyi State, who participated as one of the resource persons.
The FCC urged Nigerians to remain vigilant against fraudulent recruitment schemes while taking advantage of legitimate employment opportunities advertised by federal institutions.
