Red alert: Nigeria, modern slavery haven –Rights body

Esther Uzoma is a rights activist that invests much of her professional efforts in defence of the powerless and indigent.

On the platform of Proactive Gender Initiatives, the non-governmental organisation (NGO) she champions, as National Coordinator, she has invested her time and resources in handling pro-bono cases for the less privileged, especially those whose rights have been trampled upon.

Uzoma, who is also the Secretary of the Human Rights Committee of the Abuja NBA, is also a keen watcher of global trends.

She spoke to Abuja Metro on the recent slavery index, which placed Nigeria fourth behind India, China and Pakistan. The index has proven Nigeria, as a society that enslaves its own people. The index released weeks back by the Walk Free Foundation was met with mixed reactions globally, with many Nigerians wondering how Nigeria ended up high on the inglorious list.

 

Blame religion and tradition

If some Nigerians are surprised about the report, Uzoma, who also served as chairperson, Litigation and Advocacy for FIDA, isn’t. For her though, though the slave ships of ancient slavery have ceased to sail the oceans, the number of people enslaved within Nigeria remains high. “I am not surprised that Nigeria made it to the top of the list. It shouldn’t surprise anyone concerned about such issues,” she said. According to her, Nigeria is predisposed to forms of slavery due to tradition and the major religions practised in the country.

“You know that slavery, whether modern or ancient, is ingrained in Nigerian traditions and the major religions. Almost in every language in Nigeria, there is a word for slavery. So, in Nigeria, slavery is not an imported culture. It existed long before the imperialists arrived. In fact, there were kingdoms that rose on the throes of slavery.  Some kingdoms were built on selling slaves to the white man.

“Like I said earlier, the major religions practised in Nigeria also recognise slavery. It appears that Christianity recognises slavery and even Islam. In Colossians, servants are encouraged to obey their masters in all things. In the Bible, you also find instructions on how to treat slaves fairly, like when masters were advised to circumcise all the men in their household, including slaves.  In Islam, people are encouraged to buy out individuals from slavery with multiple references to slaves, slave women and the freeing of slaves in the Quran. Also, remember that at no point did Nigeria abolish the slave trade. Rather it was Britain that abolished slave trade in 1807. But the practice of slavery was never abolished in Nigeria.”

Despite having a constitution that upholds the fundamental human rights, Uzoma argues that slavery is so entrenched in society, that a radical denunciation of the evil practice is needed to effect reasonable change. She said: “Yes, there is constitutional provision that protects people from enslavement, but there has never been a formal ban on slavery in Nigeria. And due to our traditional history, forms of slavery have continued in the country. It may interest you to know that in legal jurisprudence, any law that runs contrary to the traditional practice of a people is simply avoided. The people just ignore such a law and live their lives they way they deem fit.”

She cited the law on bigamy to buttress her point.  “A practical example is the bigamy law that bars a man marrying more than one wife at a time. But only one highly unfortunate man has been convicted for this, while other men are marrying one wife after another.”

 

Between slavery and family

Many experts have debated on where to draw the line between slavery and the age long Nigerian culture where families help raise young relatives. Uzoma also has a well taught out position on the topic.  She said: “Another problem caused by our traditional practices is picking an agreed point where family assistance to a less privileged member becomes a form of slavery.

The extended family system is open to abuse. As the years progressed and poverty which is the creation of the political class deepened, slavery took various dimensions in Nigeria. Things worsened beyond sponsoring a relative through school in return of his/her helping out in the home. Parents now get paid for their children working for people in the city. We don’t event recognise that women who sell their babies for a price are slave dealers. This is a dimension of slavery that we are not even talking about in Nigeria, though we read that it’s happening frequently. You see someone selling a whole human being for money and we are yet to address this problem squarely”. She said: “Whenever an individual losses the right to think and make choices or whenever an individual is compelled to act in a certain way, or you are compelled to make certain choices that person has been enslaved.

“You hear people insisting that a nephew or niece living in their homes must attend the same church with them.  This is slavery.  Whenever someone has to accept an option presented to him/her by a benefactor or someone they see as a master, they have been enslaved.  When you hear something like, ‘in this house, you must eat what we have not what you prefer’, then slavery has set in.”

 

Country of corporate slaves

Each time the issue of slavery is brought up, what comes to mind is a picture of poor, dirty and malnourished children.

But Uzoma posits that it the large corporations who are the modern slave masters globally and especially in Nigeria. “Whenever our humanity is derogated, slavery has set in and this brings us to the fact that slavery is not only about those economically disadvantaged. Here in Nigeria, we have corporate slaves. I am talking about people who are given multi-million naira targets and they resort to all kinds of things to meet the target. In fact it is the corporate slaves that are easy to pick out. With each rising sun, the corporate person who is enslaved wakes up worrying about how to meet the target of his masters. The corporation dictates that you dress in certain way, act in a certain way for certain expectations.  Then, we must not forget that Nigeria is still battling with human trafficking.”

When reminded that the legal practice too has a dress code and other restrictions she has accused corporate organisations of insisting on, she asserted that there was no basis for comparison. “Well, with legal practice, you have the choice of coming in and exiting the profession. There is no compulsion. But how about a young graduate who is so grateful to get a job, he does everything to meet the target of the corporation? I dare say that the emerging slave master in the modern world is the corporation. Some of the children traffickers sell are sold to corporations to work themselves to the bone.”

 

Let’s apply the laws

Though many observers and victims of injustice have complained about Nigerian laws being inadequate for curtailing forms of slavery, Uzoma blames the fast food mentality for the loss of faith in the judiciary.

“Our laws are perfect, if I can use that word for any human creation. But the problem is that people have lost faith in testing the law. Few people believe that the system doesn’t work because of the slow process of the law. And when did we start losing faith in the law? It was when we imbibed the culture of quick fixes. In Nigeria, we want things done immediately. Few people can wait out a process. The love for fast food is also reflecting on our thinking. Now we prefer baked beans to cooked beans. Even in the home, the mother and the children prefer baked beans to cooked beans.”

She also suggested that judges place justice above technicalities. “It is human beings that will implement the law. A law can be perfect, but the human involvement in its implementation is what takes from its perfection. Can you imagine a polygamous judge handling a case of bigamy? For sure the human element will come into play. Of course there is still a lot we can do about our laws with regard to eradicating all forms of slavery, but we surely can start the race with what we have now.” She however conceded there is little or no infrastructure to implement laws like the Child’s Rights Act (CRA) which is specifically targeted at protecting children from exploitation. “Sure, there are impediments to implementing certain laws. Here in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), there are two levels of the family court. For Lagos, the family court is no longer a new idea. It has become part of the legal system. But other states are still battling with making the act fully functional. In fact, even here in the FCT where we have the Family Court at the Magistrate and High Court, things have remained difficult because there is no established procedure for the implementation of the Child Rights Law.

There was a case I handled which the judge declined to proceed with because there were no rules of procedure. He also stated in his ruling that he hoped that his decision will sound a note of warning to our lawmakers to bring out the rules of procedure. But again I must state that the law believes that there must be remedies and this is where the human element I alluded to earlier comes in.

 

Extra

Life imprisonment for baby sellers

Uzoma does her best to hide her disgust with people who sell children. When asked how the law should deal with such persons, she was unforgiving. “Such people should be sent to jail for the reminder of their lives. There is nothing human being dreads like being isolated. So if you isolate an offender for the remainder of his/her life, they certainly will learn their lessons”. She even more aggrieved with  mothers who sell their children. “For a woman who goes through the ritual of pregnancy and child birth and sells her baby, she and her fellow conspirators  should be isolated for life. For the woman who buries her child alive, it is a clear case of murder and we have stringent punishment for murder”.  Pedophilia is another evil that makes Uzoma sad, having handled a number of cases pro-bono for poor parents whose children were molested.  “The pedophile can only be stopped by observant parents. We keep telling parents to mind who they hand over their child to. The people who molest children are close relatives or friends. Parents shouldn’t take anything for granted, if all parents agree that pedophilia exists in our society, then we can keep it at the barest minimum.”

When reminded that parents don’t take up cases of defilement to save their children of lifelong stigma, she said silence wasn’t the best option. “If we keep talking about it (pedophilia) , it won’t cause stigma again. If we openly condemn pedophilia and shame those who molest children, the shame will be on the offender and not the victim.”

 

Lawyer as change agent

Speaking on why she developed a keen interest in fighting for rights of children, women and the less privileged, she disclosed that it was her own way of contributing to national development. “I believe that the legal practice is a tool for change.  I want to use what I have to bring about change in society. And you have to understand that the legal practice brings one in contact with those who have problems and in most cases, these problems are swept under the carpet. I do believe that we have to deal with these issues. For example, a molested or traumatised child grows up to be an abuser. So parents should be warned that they either raise an angel or a monster, depending on what happened during childhood. More so, I believe in the saying that when your neighbors house in one fire, you house too is on fire. So you have to help in stopping the fire because it may spread to your house. Above all, I truly have faith in Nigeria and I believe that legal and social activism is my own way of contributing to national development.”

The post Red alert: Nigeria, modern slavery haven –Rights body appeared first on The Sun News.

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