In Akwa Ibom, where the dearth of industries have meant that hundreds of thousands of graduates remain unemployed despite efforts by the state and few private entrepreneurs to create jobs for the youths, some graduates and school leavers have however, devised some illegal means and strategies to secure paid employment with the state government.
Though illegal, it was no surprise then when 45 school leavers and graduates were caught by the authorities of the State College of Education in Afaha Nsit, Nsit Ubium local council of the state for using fake certificates and statements of result from the institution in search of employment.
The 45 self-styled graduates of the institution were discovered when officials of Federal Teachers’ Scheme, FTS, and State Universal Basic Education Board, SUBEB, visited the College on verification mission.
According to the College Registrar Mr. Iniabasi Ubong, the visit by the officials of SUBEB and FTS was to confirm the authenticity of results and certificates presented by candidates during the recently conducted SUBEB recruitment exercise in the state. The discovery of the statement followed an in-depth investigation by the college management team led by the Provost Dr. Patrick Uko after it was suspected that some certificates and statement of result produced by some of those seeking teaching employment in the area were fake .
“Angered by the nefarious activities of desperate job seekers whose stock-in-trade is to smear the good image of the institution, the Management of the College, led by Dr. Patrick Uko swiftly waded into the matter by collecting names and photocopies of Statements of Result and Certificates of those who claimed to have graduated from the College.
“After an in-depth verification by the Management of the College, 45 names of those parading fake Certificates and Statements of Result of the institution were discovered. And to sustain her hard-earned reputation of a centre of discipline, sound morals and academic excellence, the Provost has gone ahead to make public, names of persons who parade fake Certificates and Statements of Result purported to have been issued by the institution.” Said a release made available to newsmen.
The release informed employers of labour and the general public to treat certificates and statements of results presented by the 45 persons whose names, purported course of study and registration numbers are published in newspapers as fake. While disassociating itself from such persons, the College also advised employers who have doubts about any document purported to have been issued by the College not to hesitate to contact the College Management for authentication.
National Certificate of Education, NCE, issued by the college has become very attractive in recent times following massive employment of teachers by the state government in recent times to satisfy the needs of its free and compulsory education policy which has tripled school enrolment in the area. Indeed, it was gathered that the practise has been ongoing for some time now by people desperate to secure any form of employment in the state as it has now become easier to get a teaching job due to massive recruitment of teachers by the state government. But job seekers under this sector are supposed to possess at least an NCE which accounts for the attraction in the certificate. It was further gathered that some unemployed University graduates have even become part of the certificate scam due to non availability of jobs in the state labour market. The exercise has recruited more than 5,000 teachers in the last six years.
But the recent incident would raise questions over recent claims by the state government that it has done enough to create employment opportunities for the indigenes of the area. Even at that, many people in the area have criticized the government for doing little to address the unemployment challenges in the state. The state economy is characterized by slow growth in private enterprise and dearth of employment opportunities, especiallythat of the private sector has remained a reoccurring issue. School enrolment and the number of graduates have continued to increase as a result of the free and compulsory education policy of the state government.
The state government’s promise to industrialise the state by the establishment of one industry in each of the 31 local councils of the state has remained a mirage while less than 5% of prospective investors and industrialists have accessed the N5 billion Akwa Ibom seed fund deposited in the Bank of Industry. Only one out of the more than 10 industries established by previous administrations in the state has remained operational while efforts to privatise the others have been unfruitful as many of them have been in a serious state of disrepair.
A renowned lawyer Andem Andem recently accused the present administration of not taking any conscious steps to address the dearth of industries that could have generated employment in the state and has done little to match infrastructural development with human capacity development. According to him, “the present administration promised to industrialise the state by setting up one industry in each of the local councils in the state in 2011 but up till now no single of such industries has been established and as such most graduates and youths have remained unemployed in the state. In effect, the state government has done nothing to match infrastructural development with human capacity development. There is so much hunger in the state because human capacity development has been lacking.
But information commissioner, Mr. Aniekan Umanah in his reaction to the accusations maintained that, the present administration has created employment opportunities and provided enabling environment for the growth of private enterprise more than any previous administration since the creation of the state 28 years ago. Umanah said, the accusations were merely political pointing out that, the state government has expanded employment and empowerment opportunities for indigenes since 2007 especially in the agricultural and environmental sectors and mainly for youths and women in the area.
Umanah, further stated that, more than 13,500 women and youths have also been empowered in the agricultural sector, while the more than 10,000 inter ministerial project contracts completed and ongoing by the state government were awarded to indigenes of the area. “About 9,000 youths were trained in various areas of agriculture and empowered with N500, 000 each while 4,500 women were also trained in various farming methods under the women in Agric programme and each empowered with N250, 000 each.
“In addition, about 10,000 inter ministerial direct labour projects are either completed or ongoing in every part of the state and all the contracts were awarded to our indigenes as a way of empowering them and helping them to develop their capacities. These are conscious efforts to get people engaged or empowered. It is impossible to take everybody off the street.
People should know that the policy of the present administration is a clear departure from the past where people just collect money and zoom away without doing anything with it. The seed fund is for serious people who are genuinely interested in investing the money in industrial concerns and I believe that is why many are finding it difficult to access the fund.” He said.
More than 7,000 people, the commissioner pointed out were employed alone in the mainstream civil, local government and teaching services to boost the free and compulsory education scheme of the state government blaming rising unemployment rate in the state to inability of most youths to take advantage of numerous government employment and development programmes and increasing appetite of youths for politics.
The commissioner also pointed out that it would also be impossible for government alone to create jobs for everybody calling on the private sector in the state to help government reduce the number of unemployed graduates in the area. “Government cannot put food on the table for everybody. People should be able to take advantage of numerous programmes initiated by the state government to empower themselves and be independent because everybody cannot be employed in the civil service.
He however assured that the state government would continue to expand opportunities in the civil service in order to create more employment opportunities especially for the youths in addition to jobs already created by its numerous construction programmes.
It was learnt that efforts are being made by the college authorities to prosecute the fake certificate holders in order to discourage such cases which is now run by a well organised syndicate.
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