Not many Nigerians at home are currently aware of the happenings at the country’s embassy in Spain under the leadership of Ambassador Demola Seriki. The truth is that the Nigerian Mission in Spain and its officials are in dire need of a presidential intervention.
The ambassador, like his predecessor, Susan Aderonke, is creating a toxic environment and stifling operations at the embassy. As at Monday; February 14, 2022, Ambassador Seriki had replaced all the Nigerian security personnel working in the Mission with Romanians.
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Ambassador Seriki terminated the appointment of 10 members of staff illegally as at February 14, 2022 without considering the negative effect on the staff and their family back in Nigeria who are depending on them as well as the contradiction of his actions against Article 56 of the Spanish Labour Law of termination of employment.
Many of the workers in question had worked between 10 and 25 years in the mission and have contributed diligently one way or the other to maintain the good name of Nigeria in Spain through their services to the public.
Ambassador Seriki’s autocratic attitude of ruling without consultation has led to his plan to review the existing permanent contract of the staff to provisional contract without considering again the contradiction against Article 15 of Spanish Labour Law that spells the terms and conditions for employment.
All efforts by the locally recruited staff and some of the home-based officers to make the ambassador see reasons and reconsider his actions dropped on his deaf ears.
The ambassador had argued that he was sanitising the embassy, but one wonders why replacing Nigerians with Romanians.
If Nigerians who work at the embassy are made to sign a contract with the same country that employed them initially as permanent workers, it will be impossible for them to enjoy any credit facility because of the insecurity of the provisional contract.
This will also make them forfeit every benefit they are entitled to through their contribution to the social security in the country. Above all, such a contractual agreement is against Spanish Labour Law.
There are currently rumours making the rounds in Madrid that Nigerians applying for passports now have to pay 200 euros. To the best of my knowledge, any Nigerian who goes to the embassy without prior appointment is made to pay 200 euros to get their passport. If this is true, it would not augur well for the image of the country abroad as no one pays such money anywhere in Europe.
At the moment, the ambassador has succeeded through his divide and rule tactics in creating a division among the once united and cooperative Nigerian staff of the commission.
This is a wakeup call to our president who is a man of integrity to save the country from the imminent embarrassment that may come from the Nigerian Embassy in Spain. Again, President Buhari must also act to call the ambassador to order in the interest of Nigerians in that country and, more importantly, staff of the commission who are being victimised by the power-drunk ambassador.
This is our SOS to President Muhammadu Buhari to please rescue us.
Olatunde Yusuf wrote from Plaza Espanol 4 Madrid
