It should have been simple: go to school, earn a degree, graduate and secure a job based on your skills and qualifications.
Unfortunately, it’s now more like: get jammed by JAMB a couple of times before getting into school, get struck a million times by FG-ASUU before finally graduating, and then entering the “labour market” hoping to hit the ground running.
Some are able to secure great careers, but then for , it just doesn’t happen. This has encouraged a lucrative job racketeering market aka “pay something if you want a job”. We spoke to five Nigerians about their experience with this market and here’s what they had to say:
“I was asked to pay ₦450k for a ₦55k job”
— Daniel*, 32
I’ve been trying to get a government job for as long as I can remember because I believe it comes with great job security. I also only have a Higher Diploma, so I haven’t been able to get a really good job.
Around 2019, a family friend connected me to someone in a federal parastatal, and he was supposed to help me get a job. Recruitment was lowkey, and he explained that I could only get a grade level six job and that I’d need to claim that I only have a National Diploma in order to qualify.
I agreed to it and was already thanking my stars when I learnt that I would need to “sort the people involved” with ₦450k. Where was I supposed to find that? Even if I got the job, it would be more than one year’s salary.
I begged them that I’d pay part and then pay the rest when I got the job, but they refused.
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“I had to do it”
— Nike*, 37
My husband lost his job during the pandemic and hasn’t been able to secure another since then. I suddenly had the responsibility of providing for all our financial needs while earning just ₦60k.
Sometime in April 2021, my uncle introduced me to the person who helped me get my present job at a private firm. I submitted my CV to him and kept following up, but he kept posting me. No one needed to tell me to suggest paying for his help before I did.
He immediate became more responsive and told me plainly that I’d need to pay him ₦100k before he would secure my employment letter, assuring me that my salary would be twice that. I reported it to my uncle, but he advised me to just try it.
I got a loan and paid him, and I still don’t know how he did it, but I got a job offer within the week. I’ve been too scared to try digging into who he paid or how he did it.
“I was scammed”
— Jojo*, 28
Around April/May 2019, I learned that the Nigerian Railway Corporation was recruiting. I applied and miraculously got an interview invite. When I got there, there must have been at least a hundred people present as well.
I couldn’t get interviewed that day or even the day after, and by the third day of pushing sweaty bodies, I was exhausted. Then I noticed a small group of people around this man. Apparently, he was a staff and was gathering a small list of people he could help sort their employment.
To cut the story short, I paid ₦70k but didn’t get the job. Till today, nothing.
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“I was asked to pay ₦200k”
— Jack*, 39
This one is even more annoying because the guy that was charging me was supposed to be my friend.
He works in a state ministry, and I badly needed a job in 2021. I shared my problems with him, and he told me there was a quiet recruitment ongoing, and he’d get me a spot if I could pay ₦200k. According to him, he had many people he’d need to settle to ensure my employment.
Well, I didn’t pay and, you guessed it, I didn’t get the job.
“He wanted to date me”
— Precious*, 25
I applied to this accounting firm in November 2021 for a personal assistant role, and I eventually got invited for an interview.
It was a physical interview with the managing director, and this man was legit telling me I’d need to work from his hotel room on Saturdays, all while he was ogling my chest.
I told him I’d be open to working in an open location within reasonable work hours, and he never reached out to me again. It was obvious that I needed to play to his tunes to get the job. He can keep it.
*Names have been changed for the sake of anonymity, and answers lightly edited for clarity.
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