November 8, (THEWILL) – At first glance, the reaction sounded alarmist, but a closer look shows its reasoning and judgment are sound. On Tuesday, the Chairman of the Nigerian Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, raised the alarm over the fate of 57 Nigerian professionals in The Gambia on the verge of losing their jobs following a directive from the country’s Central Bank to replace foreign workers with its citizens.
Taking to her X handle on Tuesday, Dabiri-Eruwa, who described the bank’s directive as “deeply worrisome”, disclosed that the Nigerians were working in Nigeria-origin banks, namely, Access Bank, FirstBank, Guaranty Trust Bank and Zenith Bank. According to the directive of the apex bank which she also posted on her social media platform, all commercial banks operating in the West African country must replace non-Gambian workers with no approved expatriate quotas with qualified Gambians by December 31, 2026.
On the surface of it, the bank’s directive is in order, particularly in the face of the binding law it quoted as the basis for its action. According to the bank, the country’s Labour Act 2023 and Guideline 9 governing expatriate employment in the banking industry mandate qualified Gambians to replace foreigners not covered by the approved expatriate quotas. This makes sound patriotic and business sense.
Every country would uphold any law that promotes the development of its workforce and local content, as Dabiri-Eruwa rightly observed. However, the question remains whether the affected Nigerians are covered by the country’s approved expatriate quotas. It is not obvious from Dabiri-Eruwa’s explanation.
While explaining that the 57 Nigerian professionals employed by four Nigerian banks would be affected by the directive, she could only disclose their valid legal status in the country “These professionals reportedly hold valid residency and work permits and have contributed significantly to the Gambian banking sector,” she said.
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Nonetheless, the grounds for her appeal for restraint and a rethink of the directive are faultless. It is not just about African solidarity and regional integration, as she stressed in her appeal. It is about the vital importance of the banks to the Gambian economy. According to her, the four Nigerian banks, “collectively account for approximately 37.2 per cent of total banking industry deposits, valued at 35.3 billion Gambian dalasis.”
They also “account for 32.6 per cent of loans, valued at 7.67 billion dalasis, and 37 per cent of the industry’s assets, worth 44.78 billion dalasis. Moreover, the banks “account for approximately 34.5 per cent of investments in Central Bank bonds and reportedly contributed 90 per cent of the funding supporting the operations of the National Water and Electricity Company.” This is massive.
It demands reciprocity. It is on this basis that we join her in appealing to the Central Bank of The Gambia to reconsider the directive. Moreover, the issue is one that diplomats of both countries can meet and resolve amicably. The law is made for man and not man for the law.
