By Akinbode Badiu Akinola. Adesua is a sixteen-year-old girl with a promising future who would later fall victim to circumstances. She has...
By Akinbode Badiu Akinola.
Adesua is a sixteen-year-old girl with a promising future who would later fall victim to circumstances. She has just finished her secondary school education and she has continued to nurse the ambition of becoming a Doctor; an ambition she had nursed right from her primary school days when she lost her father to meningitis. While she had watched her father being snatched from her by the cold arms of death, she only wished she could at least save him from dying. But that won't happen as her most dreaded enemy(death) took him.
Adesua is a sixteen-year-old girl with a promising future who would later fall victim to circumstances. She has just finished her secondary school education and she has continued to nurse the ambition of becoming a Doctor; an ambition she had nursed right from her primary school days when she lost her father to meningitis. While she had watched her father being snatched from her by the cold arms of death, she only wished she could at least save him from dying. But that won't happen as her most dreaded enemy(death) took him.
Right from that tragic day, her resolution was to renew hopes by saving lives. Her Uncle had taken up her welfare since the death of her father and now he had just promised her a university education abroad, one she perceives as a path to fulfilling her dreams. Sadly, her Uncle had merely sold her to a travelling agency that specializes in using young girls for prostitution.
Unknowing to her, she was shipped to Italy where she would serve as a commercial sex worker. Her Uncle cared less as he had received his own share of the bargain. Her future is crumbling, her hopes are failing and her world is crashing right at her face.
Bankole has just finished his National Youth Service in Kano after he had bagged an HND in Business Administration from the nation's premier institution, Yaba College of Technology (Yabatech). Sadly for him, his struggle to make headway in life had just begun as he would have to search for the job in the same economy where the unemployment rate has not cease to rise. The same country where the commonwealth has no wealth and public infrastructures lack real structures. No thanks to the political class that has failed to invest in his future. Amidst frustration and displeasure comes a life-changing offer albeit dicey and illegal, he is ready to do anything. In the least "this country has nothing to offer me", he concludes.
The previous narratives presents human trafficking and illegal migrations as it were, According to Article 3, paragraph (a) of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons defines Trafficking in Persons as "the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs." On the other side, Illegal Migration can either be illegal immigration or illegal emigration. While illegal immigration involves "the illegal entry of a person or a group of persons across a country's border , in a way that violates the immigration laws of the destination country, with the intention to remain in the country, Illegal emigration refers to a person moving across national borders in a way that violates emigration laws. Such a person may legally go abroad and refuse to return when demanded by the country of origin. Special cases are when one flees a country as a refugee escaping persecution or, after committing a crime, trying to escape prosecution." The implications of all of these are that just like Adesua, many; women and girls especially have fallen victims of human trafficking and have consequently been denied the right to achieve to full potentials. Also, just like Bankole, a number of Nigerian youths have resorted to seeking greener pastures(better jobs, better living conditions, etc...) on the other side through illegal migrations without thoughts of the consequence.
One salient question that boggles the mind is that "why will a young energetic man feel there is a greener pasture on the other side?", after all he has not stopped to hear that the land is green here and full of natural resources that can help him survive. On the contrary, he is faced with poverty and unemployment; the social realities(problems) that continue to limit his potentials and also create a false consciousness in him(that you can only make headway on the other side). Hence, he sets out in search of a better life on the other side and he is bent on achieving such feat whether by crook or by hook.
Reports have shown that even after the end of legal slave trade in the 19th century, Nigeria has continued to be a source, transit and destination country for women and children subjected to trafficking in persons including forced labour and forced prostitution. Estimates by the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC reveals that 51% of identified victims of trafficking are women, 28% children and 21% men, 72% people exploited in the sex industry are women, 63% of identified traffickers were men and 37% women, 43% of victims are trafficked domestically within national borders.
Bankole has just finished his National Youth Service in Kano after he had bagged an HND in Business Administration from the nation's premier institution, Yaba College of Technology (Yabatech). Sadly for him, his struggle to make headway in life had just begun as he would have to search for the job in the same economy where the unemployment rate has not cease to rise. The same country where the commonwealth has no wealth and public infrastructures lack real structures. No thanks to the political class that has failed to invest in his future. Amidst frustration and displeasure comes a life-changing offer albeit dicey and illegal, he is ready to do anything. In the least "this country has nothing to offer me", he concludes.
The previous narratives presents human trafficking and illegal migrations as it were, According to Article 3, paragraph (a) of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons defines Trafficking in Persons as "the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs." On the other side, Illegal Migration can either be illegal immigration or illegal emigration. While illegal immigration involves "the illegal entry of a person or a group of persons across a country's border , in a way that violates the immigration laws of the destination country, with the intention to remain in the country, Illegal emigration refers to a person moving across national borders in a way that violates emigration laws. Such a person may legally go abroad and refuse to return when demanded by the country of origin. Special cases are when one flees a country as a refugee escaping persecution or, after committing a crime, trying to escape prosecution." The implications of all of these are that just like Adesua, many; women and girls especially have fallen victims of human trafficking and have consequently been denied the right to achieve to full potentials. Also, just like Bankole, a number of Nigerian youths have resorted to seeking greener pastures(better jobs, better living conditions, etc...) on the other side through illegal migrations without thoughts of the consequence.
One salient question that boggles the mind is that "why will a young energetic man feel there is a greener pasture on the other side?", after all he has not stopped to hear that the land is green here and full of natural resources that can help him survive. On the contrary, he is faced with poverty and unemployment; the social realities(problems) that continue to limit his potentials and also create a false consciousness in him(that you can only make headway on the other side). Hence, he sets out in search of a better life on the other side and he is bent on achieving such feat whether by crook or by hook.
Reports have shown that even after the end of legal slave trade in the 19th century, Nigeria has continued to be a source, transit and destination country for women and children subjected to trafficking in persons including forced labour and forced prostitution. Estimates by the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC reveals that 51% of identified victims of trafficking are women, 28% children and 21% men, 72% people exploited in the sex industry are women, 63% of identified traffickers were men and 37% women, 43% of victims are trafficked domestically within national borders.
The effects of these ordeals on the trafficked are enormous and far-reaching. Young girls are deceived and manipulated against their wish. They are manipulated by their captors. No doubt, the humiliation and emotional trauma they undergo are yet untold and consequently, for every trafficked Adesua and Bankole, the potential of a glorious future is lost.
One may wonder how these menaces have continued to thrive despite national and international laws and regulations that prohibit them. It is no gainsaying the government has failed in its responsibilities. According to an annual report issued by the U.S. state department's office to monitor and combat trafficking in persons, Nigeria is ranked in the "Tier 2 watchlist" in 2017. The tier 2 watchlist specifies countries whose governments do not fully comply with the TVPA’s minimum standards, but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards :
a) The absolute number of victims of severe forms of trafficking is very significant or is significantly increasing; or
b) There is a failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of trafficking in persons from the previous year; or
c) The determination that a country is making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with minimum standards was based on commitments by the country to take additional future steps over the next year.
Furthermore, according to the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Nigeria was claimed to be one of the leading African countries in human trafficking with cross-boarder and internal trafficking. Studies have found as many as 10,000 Nigerian prostitutes in Italy subjected to human trafficking. All of these merely points to the failure of the Nigeria government and its agencies(especially the Immigration Service who have continued to be accused of collecting tips, thereby waving the law aside).
In conclusion, there is a dire need to salvage the future as most of the victims of human trafficking and illegal migrations are young persons who are apparently the future. Government should provide enabling environment such that poverty and unemployment is reduced. Also, the level of awareness and sensitisation on the laws(The 2003 Trafficking in Persons Law Enforcement and Administration Act, the 2003 Child Right Law,etc...) and dangers of engaging in human trafficking and illegal migrations should be heightened especially in rural areas.
One may wonder how these menaces have continued to thrive despite national and international laws and regulations that prohibit them. It is no gainsaying the government has failed in its responsibilities. According to an annual report issued by the U.S. state department's office to monitor and combat trafficking in persons, Nigeria is ranked in the "Tier 2 watchlist" in 2017. The tier 2 watchlist specifies countries whose governments do not fully comply with the TVPA’s minimum standards, but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards :
a) The absolute number of victims of severe forms of trafficking is very significant or is significantly increasing; or
b) There is a failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of trafficking in persons from the previous year; or
c) The determination that a country is making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with minimum standards was based on commitments by the country to take additional future steps over the next year.
Furthermore, according to the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Nigeria was claimed to be one of the leading African countries in human trafficking with cross-boarder and internal trafficking. Studies have found as many as 10,000 Nigerian prostitutes in Italy subjected to human trafficking. All of these merely points to the failure of the Nigeria government and its agencies(especially the Immigration Service who have continued to be accused of collecting tips, thereby waving the law aside).
In conclusion, there is a dire need to salvage the future as most of the victims of human trafficking and illegal migrations are young persons who are apparently the future. Government should provide enabling environment such that poverty and unemployment is reduced. Also, the level of awareness and sensitisation on the laws(The 2003 Trafficking in Persons Law Enforcement and Administration Act, the 2003 Child Right Law,etc...) and dangers of engaging in human trafficking and illegal migrations should be heightened especially in rural areas.
Being the text of the speech delivered recently in Abuja by Comrade Akinbode to campaign against human trafficking and child abuse in Nigeria.
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