Nigeria may lose U.S. aid over human trafficking
By Francis Obinor and Prisca Egede
N IGERIA risks losing further aid from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) if it fails to show enough commitment to stem human trafficking.
According to JoAnn Scheneider, Deputy Director, Office of the Combat and Monitoring of traffic in Persons at the U.S. Consulate General Public Affairs Section, yesterday, the government despite recent laudable steps taken should demonstrate more commitment against the scourge.
She lamented that Nigeria was yet to prosecute offenders despite the establishment of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) in August last year.
"We are disappointed that in spite of the various steps taken by Nigeria, enough commitment has not been shown to prosecute offenders to fight the scourge. Nigeria by this is in danger of slipping to tier 3-a level that risks losing U.S. aids through USAID.
"We know it is difficult to prosecute traffickers, but if the government is not showing enough commitment, it will be difficult to stay in tier 2.
She explained that tier 1 stands for countries showing full will to battle the scourge, tier 2 (where Nigeria still belongs) are countries with "significant progress in coming into compliance with the requirement of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act and tier 3 are countries not showing enough progress to stem the scourge", she said
The American official said the CMTP backed by the Trafficking Victims Protection Re-authorization Act of 2003 (TVPRA), which amended the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, would want the Nigerian authorities to raise more public awareness on the issue and its inherent dangers.
The law is not enacted to punish any country, but to encourage them take positive steps against the source. Although it is a complex problem, it can be solved through government and local reforms and public awareness"
USAID Mission Director to Nigeria Dawn luberi said the agency would continue to engage the Nigerian officials in the area of protection for victims.
She assured that USAID would soon move to the northern part of the country.
"We will move into the North very soon. We started in the South because it is the epicentre of the problem. We hope to start the initiative in the next five years in three states - Lagos, Rivers and Delta", she said.
The USAID boss remarked that since the issue was a key policy and also revolved around human rights, the agency would have direct policy dialogue with the Nigerian government.
According to her, in 2003 USAID / Nigeria granted $500,000 to the International Office of Migration (IOM) to support a shelter in Lagos for returned trafficking victims, mostly women deported from European countries, adding that USAID would soon initiate an awareness campaign and counselling, including HIV/AIDS education.
At the briefing, which included Nicholas Levinton and Robert Zuehlke, human rights officer ABRSA Washington, Luberi said over the next five years (2004-2009), USAID / Nigeria "plans to provide approximately $3million to support anti-trafficking efforts".
A recent U.S. report on Nigeria's trafficking combat identified Nigeria as a source, transit and destination country for trafficked women and children.
It chided the government for not doing enough to comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking due to the continued complicity of security personnel and lack of increasing efforts to address such complicity.
Although the government created the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) in August last year, there were no known prosecutions during the year and anti-trafficking efforts among the states appeared to diminish considerably over the period, the report said.
