We're Not Yet Free from Slavery - Minister
From Julcit Onigbogi in Abuja
As Nigeria yesterday joined the rest of the world in celebrating the International Day for the Remembrance of Slave Trade and its Abolition, Minister for culture and Tourism Mr Franklin Ogbuewu, said the nation is not yet free from slavery.
Addressing the forum in Abuja, the minister said, "We are yet to be freed from slavery even though the slave routes have stopped. We are still suffering from economic and technological slavery, women and children are still taken out of the country to work and prostitute, while at home sometimes we are not treated equally with our expatriate counterparts"
Ogbuewu described slavery as "a most peculiar form of violence that violates the sanctity of human life. It violates the inalienable rights of man, which cannot be negotiated nor mortgaged at any price under any circumstances. This is an act, which can only be remedied by the government, the governed, the civil society, the family and the individual."
Looking at the over-riding need for self-examination, Ogbuewu said it is more compelling if we take into cognizance the fact that today, slavery and slave trade has taken a more invidious, sophisticated and hydra-headed dimension.
This he listed as: trafficking in children with its attendant abuse, the threats facing the idea of the 'virtuous' African woman as she has become an article of trade, and the harrowing experience our athletes face as they are shackled in the bondage of obnoxious contracts.
August 23 was proclaimed international year to commemorate the Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition by the United Nations General Assembly. The purpose is to remind humanity of the fight for freedom, dignity and justice by the slaves which led to the independence of Haiti and the 1804 proclamation of the 1st black republic.
The day gives the opportunity to reflect on the historical causes, processes and consequences of the unprecedented tragedy that slavery and the slave trade was, a tragedy which the Director General of the UNESCO represented by Mr Reuben Charles described as "one that was concealed for many years and is yet to be fully recognized."
In conclusion the forum said that for us Africans, the slave trade could be a catalyst for change, progress and development, and globalization need not be a source of cultural discontinuity but a super highway to reinforce cultural identity. And in order to make the international community form a collective vanguard against the emerging modern variants of slavery, there must be a stop to the destruction of important monuments and the collective patrimony of a people and their rights during international and internal conflicts."
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