Social media has been flooded with enraged comments after Nigerians were barred from applying for a job in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Shirley Recruitment Consultants posted a job advertisement on the website Joblinks but the firm’s preferences drew the anger of many Nigerians.
The advert said the company was looking for merchandisers in Dubai with between one and three years’ experience. The advert stipulated that eligible candidates should be male or female and from Africa. It made one exception, however – no Nigerians.
Backlash from Naija
The exclusion in the advert of Nigerians from the eligible candidates did not sit well with many of them.
Some took to social media to vent their spleen on the Dubai company, while others pointed to conspiracy theories.
A Twitter user by the name of Emeka Gift described the move as discriminatory and unlawful.
“Mazi Nnamdi Kanu wrote: ‘We told you that the zoo is finished.’ For a country to only exclude Nigerians from applying for a job is not only discriminatory but unlawful under international laws,” he tweeted.
Links to fraud bust
Meanwhile, some Nigerians also connected the advert and the exclusion of their compatriots from applying for the Dubai job to the arrest of a Nigerian, alleged to be an internet fraudster, known on social media as Ray Hushpuppi.
Hushpuppi was arrested by Dubai police in June. He was extradited to the United States, and arrived in Chicago on 2 July to face accusations of conspiring to launder millions of dollars through cybercrime scams.
Hushpuppi will answer to criminal charges including money laundering and defrauding thousands of people of more than US$450 million.
Although it cannot be confirmed whether this was the reason for excluding Nigerians from the Dubai advertisement, the argument about the publicity could prove damaging to Nigeria’s international reputation.
E A Alanore
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