I would like to use this medium to appeal to the Federal Government of Nigeria to please look into the silent tug-of-war making it impossible to procure Saudi work-visas, this has been going on between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs arm of Saudi Arabia and the Nigerian government since the last quarter of 2014 during the Goodluck Jonathan-lead administration. Needless to say most of us who travel frequently outside the country for various reasons already know the ridicule which we are subjected to when travelling under the Nigerian passport; one is subjected to extra-measures of security checks and treated as if one is the scum of the earth no thanks to the ill reputation of the Nigerian government which has been known to be corrupt even beyond it's own shores.

I am a Petroleum Engineer (in the general sense) of more than 11 years of experience and having paid my dues in learning and becoming proficient in my field I eventually landed a dream job of consulting for a reputable company in Saudi Arabia last year, this joy was to be short-lived after I came back from my first hitch with the company only to discover after getting home that I could not return to work because the company through which I consult for the client company could not issue work-visit visas for Nigerians. At first I thought it was a company-related issue only to discover that there were a bunch of other guys just like me in a similar situation. After several attempts to contact the Saudi Embassy in Nigeria I was reliably informed that the predicament was due to a new requirement introduction from the Saudi government not to accept work-visas via the previously accepted method of issuing via an invitation letter from the company in Saudi, now the visas have to be issued directly from Saudi the process of which has a lot of hurdles and which seems to only be possible for multi-national companies. Now there are a number of theories as to why this measure was introduced but chief among this is because of the corrupt reputation of the Nigerian government and the insolence of the GEJ administration towards relations with the Saudi Kingdom.

The aftermath of this predicament now is that I have been without a job for almost a year (save for the mini-contracts I pick up every now and then). Sometimes I bemoan my existence in this country because I know what I could have done by now and how much prestige and patronage I would get were I to be an American or even a Ghanaian with my level of proficiency. If this country had it's head wired right I shouldn't be looking for work outside my fatherland in the first place based on the simple fact that we are one of the largest producers of crude oil (the profession which i specialize in) but after 'huzzling' to get a well paying job outside Nigeria the reputation of this country has now deemed it fit to further frustrate my efforts in providing a better life for me and my family! I used to be a ardent believer in one employing his or her services in serving one's country and I even left my job in the UK several years back to come and resume work in Nigeria just because I believed that there's no place like home. Now with my present experience it would take the heavens coming down to convince me not to seek a back-up citizenship elsewhere so as to prevent this sort of rubbish ever happening to me again. We all know how challenging it is getting a job in this country but how does one explain having a job outside the country which you cannot resume because you have a useless government from a backward-thinking country?!

As I write this I am reliably informed that there has been no Ambassador in the Saudi Embassy in Abuja since last year when this happened and yet the GEJ-led government had done nothing about this and did not even bother to look into the well-being of it's citizens so affected.

I hereby use this medium to call the attention of the new President General Muhammadu Buhari-lead government to please look into this case and make us proud to be Nigerians once again like he promised (not like if I have ever been proud to be one anyway...at least in my lifetime).
Please re-open cordial relations with the Saudi government and implore them to make it easy for Nigerians to work in their country by accepting invitation letters issued from companies in Saudi but even much more start working on making well-paying jobs more accessible for professionals like me and also the graduates in Nigeria so that education can still be deemed valuable for the incoming generation.

For if we all leave for 'greener shores' then who would be left to develop our beloved country...?

Just becos of you and your family's comfort, u have insulted the president and Nigerians. Is it only in Saudi that there are jobs? Please try another country and begone with the insolence.

eureka:
Just becos of you and your family's comfort, u have insulted the president and Nigerians. Is it only in Saudi that there are jobs? Please try another country and begone with the insolence.

Just because you dropped out of school doesn't mean that you shouldn't at least be able to read the point your elders are making in a statement. I see you would rather keep looking for jobs outside your country rather than improve what your country already has right? Bless your ignorant soul.