It is trite to say that majority of Nigerian students who have toll the legal pathway to study and reside in Europe battle job discrimination, and unless the European Union would as a matter of priority do the needful to remedy this act of discrimination by its member states, Nigerian students in the EU member state would continue to face discrimination against job employment.
There is no doubt that every human being has the right to move from one country to another either for economic, political or for other purposes. This right is guaranteed under international law for the free movement of persons from one territory to another. It is this right that entitles Nigerian citizens to travel from one continent to another including the member states of the European Union. According to the president of the Association of Nigerian student in Europe (ANSE) BASHIRU MUHAMMAD, there are over three million Nigerians currently studying in different higher institutions in the member state of the European Union with Nigerians having one of the highest numbers of international students studying with the hope of high expectations of securing a job and residing permanently after graduation. However these expectations are caught off with uncertainty considering language as a prerequisite to employment in the member state of the European Union. This have in recent time become a false practice of some EU member state particularly in the Eastern part of Europe where language is used as a weapon to discriminate against foreigners that work, study and reside permanently in Europe.
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Considerably, the question one would bear in mind is on how state can rely solely on its national language as a prerequisite to seek for job employment without considering same as criteria for seeking admission to study in the member state of the European Union. The truth is that, in drafting of the EU Labor policy to determine the official languages to be used by all member state, it was never the intention of the draftsman to discriminate against foreigners from third countries but was aimed at a uniformed standard of communication among member state of the European Union. However, most member states have willfully implement this policy in part by relying solely on the national language of the member state as a prerequisite for employment with the exclusion of other alternative languages enlisted in the EU labor policy. For instance, in determining the language to be used by the European Economic Community, REGULATION NO 1 of the (ECC) stipulate that the three official language to be used as the official languages of all member state of the European Union will be that of the National language of the member state to include English, German and French as the most spoken language in the EU member state. However, it is sad to find that most member state have intentionally disregard the use of ENGLISH as part of the official language enlisted in REGULATION 1 OF ECC, therefore relying only on its national language as the sole official language to be used for employment. This practice on its whole is inimical to English speaking students particularly Nigerians residing in the member state of the European Union as it has evidence the deliberate effort by member state to grow their economy via their tuition fees but show less effort to provide jobs that will enhance the integration and settlement of the foreign students residing in their territory.
Consequently, by implication, the practice by member states in principle is contrary to the provision of the EU regulation under Article 21 of the charter of fundamental rights of the European Union that prohibits discrimination in treatment of languages and in the same vein contrary to Article 14 of the European Convention for Human Right which further provides for the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms of individuals to participate in the labor force without discrimination on any ground such as language or other status. In affirmation to this principle, the Grand Chamber case of ITALIAN REPULIC V EUROPEAN COMMISSION in its decision conclude by stating that all official journals must be published in all official languages and if there are any subsequent amendments, must be published in all official languages in order to avoid any discrimination based on languages.
Conclusively, as a matter of urgency, it is expedient for the European Union to look into the activities of its member state considering how member state could implement the scheme of training professionals in English language and yet unable to absorb them to explore their international experience through their knowledge and skills after graduation. This lacuna should be one of the priorities of the European Union to remedy in the present circumstances. If discrimination against international students by member state would be a routine within the entire Europe, then international students particularly from the West African region of Nigeria whose official language is English should indeed reconsider whether going to Europe would be a preferred choice to study and work, or rather consider relocating to other English speaking countries like the United state, Canada, United Kingdom and Australian where their impute will be valued. If the EU must succeed in its legal pathways, the union should as a matter of urgency establish a working committee to oversee the activities of its member states in order to ensure strict compliances with its policies. There is also the need for the EU to upgrade its policies against any form of ambiguity in order to guide against discriminatory practice by its member states, and unless this is achieved, Nigerian international students would continue to battle job discrimination in the member state of the European Union.
By OGHOLAJA E. OLAYEMI ESQ