Adeze Ojukwu
The escalation of incidences of human trafficking for sex, labour and torture, across the globe, particularly in Africa, Asia and South America, is evident that slavery and its impact still persist across the world. In Nigeria, children and young people are abducted and enslaved by terrorists and human traffickers, across the country and even beyond its borders. Despite efforts by security operatives, these criminals devise ferocious methods to trap soft targets from their homes, schools and public places.
Last March, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), secured the extradition of a high profile human trafficker in Italy to serve out her 13 years jail term in Nigeria.
Director General of the agency, Prof. Fatima Waziri – Azi, who highlighted this feat, at an event, in Abuja which climaxed NAPTIP’s 20th Anniversary and the 2023 World Day Against Human Trafficking said “human trafficking remains an ongoing threat.” However, she expressed commitment towards partnering with international organizations and all stakeholders to design creative solutions for ways to better understand and tackle human trafficking.”
Also speaking on the menace, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Dr. Nasir Sani – Gwarzo, said “the numbers are staggering and behind these numbers are individual stories of pain and despair, stories that cry out for justice and compassion. It is our moral duty to heed these cries and stand united against this global injustice.”
Obviously, government and relevant authorities need to intensify efforts to tackle these inhuman acts, by deploying more effective punitive and legislative measures, as well as improving research, staff welfare, surveillance techniques, public enlightenment campaigns and use of new technologies.
According to the International Labour Organization(ILO), slavery is still a very real and widespread phenomenon. “It affects more than 40 million people worldwide, with children making up a quarter of the victims. This is despite the entry into force of the landmark Forced Labour protocol in 2016.”
Gory details of the suffering faced by millions of victims of this evil practice are often underreported or repressed by the criminal cartels and their corrupt officers in government, for unjustifiable reasons. Indeed the 17th century transatlantic slavery, remains the worst in human history. For over 200 years, millions of vibrant young men and women were brutally kidnapped, chained and carted away, like animals and articles of merchandise to the Americas for exploitative labour. Till date, this brutalized continent bears the painful vestiges of this horrendous calamity.
These bitter memories reverberated again, across the world, at this year’s International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition. As in previous editions, the anniversary emphasized the urgency to end all forms of human oppression. The commemoration is observed, annually, on August 23, in remembrance of the night of August 22 to 23, which sparked the historic uprising in former Saint Domingue, now Haiti in 1791.
That remarkable revolt marked a turning point in history, because it played a pivotal role in ending the transatlantic slave trade. Earlier this year, from February 27 to March 30, the United Nations(UN) Outreach Programme on the Transatlantic Slave Trade and Slavery, in collaboration with the Rijksmuseum, as well as the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the UN and its Consulate General in New York hosted an exhibition entitled “Slavery: Ten True Stories of Dutch Colonial Slavery.”
The event featured a heart-rending message by UN Secretary-General, Dr António Guterres. “The legacy of centuries of enslavement, exploitation, and colonial rule reverberates to this day. We must learn and teach the history of slavery: the crime against humanity; the unprecedented mass human trafficking; the unspeakable human rights violations. Behind the facts and figures are millions of human stories of untold suffering and pain. But also, stories of awe-inspiring resilience, courage and defiance against the cruelty of oppressors. This powerful exhibition calls on us all to put an end to racism and injustice In our own time and make inclusive societies based on dignity and rights a reality everywhere.”
Also speaking, recently, on this year’s during the activities on this year’s Slave Trade Remembrance, the UN scribe highlighted the significance of the theme tagged: “Fighting slavery’s legacy of racism through transformative education.” He said, “the racist legacy of the Transatlantic Slave Trade reverberates, today, in harmful prejudices and beliefs, which are still being perpetuated and continue to impact people of African descent across the world. Transformative education, which seeks to empower learners to see the social world critically and through an ethical lens to challenge and change the status quo, as agents of change is essential to the work of teaching and learning about slavery in order to end racism and injustice and to build inclusive societies based on dignity and human rights for all people, everywhere.”
According to Dr Guterres, the enslavement of over 13 million Africans during the Transatlantic Slave Trade was driven by the racist ideology that these women, men and children were inferior because of the colour of their skin. “Countless families were torn apart. Scores of human beings lost their lives. Despite experiencing serious human rights violations, and intergenerational trauma over centuries, enslaved people persevered in their resilience, demonstrating courage and defiance against the conditions of enslavement, forced labour, and systemic violence and oppression,” he stated.
In her speech, Director General of UN Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO), Audrey Azoulay, emphasized the necessity to end exploitation. “It is time to abolish human exploitation once and for all, and to recognize the equal and unconditional dignity of each and every individual. Today, let us remember the victims and freedom fighters of the past so that they may inspire future generations to build just societies.”
“The Day is intended to inscribe the horrors of the slave trade into collective memory, encourage reflection, and offer an opportunity to examine the complex interactions that unfolded between Africa, Europe, the Americas, and the Caribbean as a result of human slavery.
Slavery is a crime against humanity, with humongous and deadly impact on traumatized victims as well as their families. Eradicating this evil is a task that cannot be ignored, hence the increasing agitation and necessity for government, international development agencies and all relevant authorities to step up efforts to end the brutality and related violations.
•Ojukwu, a journalist, author and Fellow of Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship, a US sponsored Fulbright programme. She is an advocate for justice, equity and good governance. Kindly send feedback to adeze.ojukwu@gmail.com
