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Tag: forced

  • 21m in forced labour, says ILO

    21m in forced labour, says ILO

    About 21 million women, men and children are forced to work under inhuman conditions on farms, in sweatshops, on board fishing vessels, in the sex industry or in private homes, with their sweat generating $150 billion in illegal profits annually, Director General, International Labour Organisation, Guy Ryder, has said.

    Ryder, who gave the startling statistics in a statement marking this year’s World Day of Social Justice, insisted that there should be no excuse, that forced labour can be stopped.

    “World Day of Social Justice should galvanise action against poverty and social exclusion. Work done in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity – decent work – is a key to inclusion and it is a conduit of social justice.

    “Yet the global situation gives cause for grave concern. The economic gap continues to widen, with the richest 10 per cent earning 30 to 40 per cent of total income while the poorest 10 per cent earn between two and seven per cent.

    “In 2013, 939 million workers – 26.7 per cent of total employment, were still coping on $2 a day or less. Millions of young people facing a future of unemployment or working poverty are losing hope in promises of economic and social progress,” Ryder said.

    He lamented that women and children are particularly at risk of being abducted and sold into slavery in times of violent conflict, stressing that in some instances, forced labour keeps entire families and communities in abject poverty for generations.

    “Ending forced labour calls for integrated approaches. Governments, employers and their organisations, trade unions and civil society organisations, each have a role to play in protecting, defending and empowering those who are vulnerable, as well as creating opportunities for decent work for all,” he said.

  • Forced into the dark

    Forced into the dark

    Three visually-impaired Nigerians, who lost their sights to violent attacks, share their stories of pain, regrets and rehabilitation. writes Adeola Ogunlade

    Ebong Essienkan is an IT consultant and trainer with over two decades experience as a software developer for local and multinational companies in Nigeria. As a graduate of Mathematics and a Masters degree holder in computer science, Essienkan was doing quite well, with lots of opportunities to further climb up the social ladder. To top it up, he runs a primary and secondary school with his wife in Alagbado area of Ogun State, where he gives vent to his desire to develop a new generation of change agents.

    Things, however, came to a halt in 2013, when Essienkan on his way back home from executing a job in Akowonjo, Lagos, was attacked by gun-wielding robbers, who shot rapidly at him. They took his car and other valuables in it, but in the process, the bullet also hit his eyes, rendering him blind ever since.

    For a man whose means of livelihood greatly depended on his sight, Essienkan had thought that all hope was lost. “My eyes were instrumental to my work. In developing new software, your eyes and other sense organ work together. My sight was the immediate tool for me to get access to information and use my computer as an IT consultant.”

    He, therefore, focused his thoughts on retiring gracefully or doing something else. And then his family came to his rescue. They insisted there was no way he was going to retire in that tender age and introduced him to the Nigeria School of the Blind (NSB), Oshodi, Lagos, where they told him that he could be rehabilitated and empowered to carry on with his IT dreams.

    Speaking to this reporter on the occasion of his graduation from the NSB, Oshodi, along with 37 other blind trainees, Essienkan said: “By the grace of God, I made use of the opportunity to do a one-year advanced course in computer.  I can now reply email, do power point presentations, and access Microsoft word. I used my brail writer machine very well, so I can relate with the outside world well.”

     Life as a blind man

    Essienkan explained that his training has also helped him to convey information through words of mouth and various multi media platforms. “With this training in NSB, I am back to being a contributing member of the society. I am no longer dependent because of the loss of my sight like the average blind person who needs support to live.”

    He also revealed how he and his wife are involved in training young people and helping them, so they can become contributing members of the society. “I am currently based in Alagbado, Ogun State, where I teach students and teachers mathematics, and I double as an IT consultant and school proprietor. Especially because my wife and I read mathematics, we focus more on mathematics, which is our way of contributing our quota in the preparation of tomorrow’s world leaders.”

    As a passionate mathematics teacher, he also says he wants to encourage children to love mathematics and disabuse their minds of the wrong notion that mathematics is difficult.

    Initially, access to computer was of importance to Essienkan here at the school, but now he says he can play a difficult keyboard. “I can handle the keyboard effectively. Life is back!” He says with that dint of elation.

    Having also worked as a software developer over the years, ICT had become a second part of him. He was deeply involved in software development. He had also trained a lot of people in that area and is hoping to get back into it. “The ultimate for me probably is to sit down and develop new software, particularly software packages that are accessible to the blind. We have noticed that a lot of software applications are not accessible to the visually impaired. If I was not blind, I would not have known.”

    Although the introduction of the Automated Teller Machine is a welcome development in the financial sector as it has made business and banking transactions a lot easier, Essienkan says the visually impaired community has been shut out of its boundless opportunities.

    “We know that ATM machines are very personal and if you have to move to someone who will help you type your secret code on the ATM, your account is open to fraud.”

    As an IT consultant and because of his current situation, Essienkan notes that he has privileged information that the visually impaired have been left out in some of the development stride all around the world. The internet community is good, as a lot of websites are visually impaired compliant. Although, he also says, some are not.

    Quite surprisingly, one of the popular websites, Yahoo, is not friendly with the visually impaired, Essienkan says. “If you are filling a form to register for an account with Yahoo and other social platform, it will get to a point where you will be asked to enter a particular code; and you must enter that code. But the blind cannot enter that secret code. The secret code must be read and imputed into the system.”

    So ultimately, Essienkan has an urgent call to duty. It is therefore left to see, how environmental factors will impact on his dream.

    Expectations from the government

    “Visually impaired people are a group of people who are contributing members of society and should not be left to wallow in the dark,” Essiekan says.

    According to him, efforts should be channeled at making the brail system of reading and writing compulsory in schools, as it will go a long way in engendering everyone, particularly the upcoming generation to supporting the visually impaired in the society.

    “For us to be effectively integrated into the human society, I think members of the society need to be abreast of ways of interacting with us. Everyone must be able to read and write for us, just like Mathematics and English language are compulsory in schools. Whether we like it or not, whether in old age or accidentally, the reality is that people lose their sight.”

    Essienkan also suggested that the government and society should finance and subsidise the visually-impaired people from a generic point of view, because as he put it, “a lot of poor people are finding it hard to manage life. And it takes time.”

  • Mu’azu: injustice forced Amaechi, others out of PDP

    Mu’azu: injustice forced Amaechi, others out of PDP

    THE National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Adamau Mu’azu, has identified injustice as a major factor responsible for the defection of five state governors and others from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Governors Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara) and ex- Governor Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), in November 2012, defected from the PDP to the APC.

    Similarly, a number of prominent party chieftains, including senators and members of the House of Representatives, left the PDP for the APC.

    Mu’azu, who spoke in Abuja at the inauguration of the PDP’s Presidential Campaign Organisation, urged President Goodluck Jonathan to consider the governors’ defection as a challenge ahead of the general election.Decrying what he described as politics of use and dump, which he said was pervasive in the ruling party, the party chair said the trend, if not stemmed, could spell catastrophic consequences for the democratic process.His words:

    “I appeal to President Jonathan to consider it a challenge to discuss with your governors, senators and all other elected officials of the PDP that members of the PDP said we should not be used and dumped.”Adhere to equity, fairness and justice; substantial membership of the APC, APGA and others are members of our party.”A lot of our party members have left because they have been used and dumped. It should not happen again.”

    Speaking at the event, Jonathan said the performance of his administration would be his selling point during the electioneering campaign and urged his campaign team to be civil in the use of language.

    Reiterating his promise for free, fair and credible elections, the president said next month’s elections would mark a critical point in the nation’s history. Apparently referring to his major challenger, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, he challenged his critics to tell Nigerians how many women served in their administration.

    Jonathan said: “I am not campaigning to you; I have no doubt you are already familiar with the achievements of this administration.

    ”We will see those who said they would form a parallel government. Do not join them in violence; every Nigerian is free to campaign in every part of Nigeria”.Chairman of PDP Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih, who was appointed national campaign adviser, emphasised that the presidential candidates of other parties cannot boast of any achievements in the nation’s democratic journey.

    According to him, they have not got the requisite experience to govern the country.

    He said: “I expect that Nigerians will prefer continuity of this administration’s robust national transformation agenda to the so-called ‘change’, just to satisfy some personal and narrow interests.

    “The presidential election is the first in the series of elections scheduled by the INEC to hold on February 14, with the National Assembly elections. What this means is that we must work assiduously to win the best prize, which is the presidential election.

    ”Once we do that, the victory will expectedly have a bandwagon effect on the February 28 governorship and  assembly elections.

    “We have travelled through this familiar path before, specifically in 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011.

    “In the last three elections, our candidates had defeated the leading opposition candidates.  Therefore, as we do the needful, I am confident that we will defeat them again”.

    Chairman, PDP Governors Forum and Akwa Ibom State Governor Goodswill Akpabio described the campaign by the opposition as mere propaganda.

    ”The 2015 election is about darkness and light. The contest is between darkness and light; Nigeria cannot go back to darkness.

    ”We don’t want the fate of Nigeria to be handed over to people we cannot trust. This nation will give you valentine love on February 14″, he said.

    Director general of the organisation, Dr. Ahmadu Ali, assured that his team would meet set targets.

    He said it’s ironic that in the 21st century the opposition was presenting a septuagenarian as presidential candidate.

    The PDP is expected to begin its campaign in Lagos tomorrow.

    Jonathan said the party’s governorship candidates would be presented with the party’s flags.

    He said unlike in the past, the PCO would now oversee all the elections

    “We have inaugurated that body. The body should oversee all our elections. It is like a Board of Directors that oversees the management team that manages a company. We have the PDP national campaign council, not just the presidential campaign council,” he said.

    The president urged the PDP governors to deliver their states during the polls, saying they would be held responsible if they failed to do so.

    He said: “All the states we have governors, the governors are the coordinators. They must make sure that we win those states. If we lose, you know you have failed us. The governors will be completely in charge. Some of them will be zonal coordinators and some of them will be state coordinators.”

  • Enforce protocol against forced labour, govt told

    Textile Garment and Tailoring Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (TGTSSAN) has called on the Federal Government to enforce the global protocol against forced labour.

    The protocol, adopted by the International Labour Conference (ILC) in Geneva, Switzerland, aimed at accelerating action against modern slavery.

    TGTSSAN’s National President, Comrade Ambi Karu, made the declaration while interacting with reporters on how the protocol has put other world leaders on the alert in the efforts to combat forced labour, which is rampant in the private sector.

    He said: “We are very comfortable with the new ILO Protocol on forced labour that will put government of member states of the ILO on alerts. This is because the private sector is responsible for 90 per cent of the estimated 21 million victims of forced labour, reaping about $150 billion from some of the most severe forms of exploitation in existence.”

    According to Ambi, the call became necessary to prevent  jobless youths from being usurped by the political class to create political crisis in the country as the nation prepares for 2015 general elections

    “We are more comfortable because over 92 per cent of, employers and workers’ delegates at the recent ILO Conference voted in favour of the protocol, which the ILO described as bringing one of its longest-standing instruments, Convention 29, into the modern era.

    “We are optimistic that the new ILO protocol, if taken seriously by the three tiers of government, the federal, states and local governments, will revitalise action to ending forced labour, especially in the textile and Garment industry, as the new rule will put those who make money from anti-workers’ activities on notice,” he said.

     

  • Crown official forced to pay gate fee in Jos

    Crown official forced to pay gate fee in Jos

    Crown FC Chief Operating Officer, Tony Rafua has alleged he was told to pay before he could enter the Rwang Pam Stadium, Jos yesterday despite showing his identity card and other documents to show he was one of the officials of the away team.

    Rafua alleged that he was forced to do so despite pleas from him.

    “I was shocked that I was forced to pay at the gate of the Rwang Pam Stadium, Jos even when I  introduced myself as an official of

    Crown and backed it up with an identity card,”Rafua, who has worked with Gateway United and Warri Wolves said.

    “However, I took it in good faith as they say, fair play is supreme.”

    Crown went ahead to lose the tie 2-0 with Shuaibu Ibrahim’s 36th minute effort and super sub Usman Deenee’s solo effort later on in the game.

    The Ajilete Boys are yet to pick a point outside Ibadan’s Lekan Salami Stadium.

  • Govt forced us to shift Jonathan’s visit, says Ekiti PDP

    President Goodluck Jonathan’s visit to Ekiti State has been postponed indefinitely.

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said it was postponed owing to the state government’s alleged refusal to grant it (PDP) permission to use the Oluyemi Kayode Stadium in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.

    Addressing reporters yesterday through the Fayose Campaign Organisation, PDP said it wrote to the government on March 28, requesting to use the stadium for the kick-off of former Governor Ayo Fayose’s campaigns, but was turned down in a letter dated April 2, signed by Mr. P.O. Dada.

    Director-General of the Ayo Fayose Campaign Organisation Chief Dipo Anisulowo berated the government for refusing the request, saying: “Such move is not excusable, as the facility was built with tax payers’ money.”

    He said the party had petitioned the President on the development and was considering another venue and date for the event.

    Anisulowo said the party may use the Federal Highway for the campaign, if left with no choice, adding: “Governor Kayode Fayemi kicked off his campaign at that stadium on March 27. The stadium belongs to Ekiti people and is being funded with the people’s money. It is, therefore, surprising that the people, who are members of the opposition party, are being denied the use of the public utility.”

    Commissioner for Youth and Sports Kayode Olaosebikan said the request was turned down because the stadium was booked for a league match.

    He said: “If it was on another day, there would have been no problem. Anybody, irrespective of party or religion, can ask for the use of the stadium and it would be released, if available. However, we should realise that public property like the stadium is primarily meant for sporting activities.”

  • ‘We were forced to make statements against Atuche’

    Two bank officials arraigned alongside former Managing Director of Bank PHB, Mr Francis Atuche, over allegations of forgery of a company’s board resolution, yesterday told a Lagos High Court, Ikeja, that they were forced to make false statements against the former bank chief to keep their jobs.

    The statements are among their affidavits in support of the bail applications they filed before the court presided over by Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo.

    Joachim Nnosiri and Uguru Onyike were arraigned with Atuche on a nine-count charge of forgery, conspiracy and use of forged board resolutions belonging to Futureview Securities Limited, Tradjeck Limited and Extra Oil Limited.

    They agreed to change their statements because of the promise by an official of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) “to use us as prosecution witnesses against

  • Green forced Shittu on Keshi

    Green forced Shittu on Keshi

    SportingLife can exclusively reveal that it was Chris Green, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Technical Committee Chairman that imposed the invitation of Danny Shittu on the Stephen Keshi-led Technical Crew of the Super Eagles.

    SportingLife recalls that there was public hue and cry when Nigerians learnt that Shittu, a lower division (nPower) player in England, had been included among the players called up by Coach Keshi in his 32-man provisional Eagles squad.

    It was learnt that Green has not been happy with the criticisms that followed the invitation of Shittu both by the Press and Technical crew and that it was the outcry that made the Millwall FC defender to decline the invitation citing club engagements as his official reason.

    SportingLife’s source said: “It was Chris Green that insisted on the invitation of Daniel Shittu to the team. He even added him to the list, because he was not in the initial list submitted by the Coaches.

    “This was against the wishes of the Coaches. But when the invitation was greeted with criticisms that led to Shittu declining the invitation, Green was not happy, as he believed that it was members of the technical crew that incited the press and Nigerians on the player.

    “Since then, he has been looking for a way to rubbish the plans of the coaches to give some home-based players the opportunity in the team. From his behaviour after that match, we were of the opinion that he wanted the boys to lose that match, so that his views would be justified”.

    However, football pundits have started having taking decisions from the NFF with an inch of salt, as the Federation is being accused of speaking from both sides of the mouth. According to some of those who spoke to SportingLife, they queried the role of Chris Green in the team, since the NFF Executive Committee announced the dissolution of all its committees, and no other pronouncement has been made on their reconstitution. “So what is the role of Chris Green in the team’s camp,” they chorused.

    SportingLife recalls that a few days after the NFF Executive Board announced the dissolution of all the committees, the technical committee chaired by Chris Green met variously to take vital decisions affecting the country’s football. This leaves one to to ponder on the pronuncements of the Federation.

    Meanwhile, what would have been a show down between the team and Technical Committee Chairman of the NFF Christopher Green, was averted on Thursday last week when the team returned from Spain, where they held a star-studded Catalonian team to a score draw in a friendly match.

    SportingLife gathered that the Technical Committee Chairman stormed the team’s camp in Faro, Portugal expressing his displeasure at the performance of the home based players in the match.

    He said that the performance of the players had really shown that they deserve no space in the team. “We are going to South Africa for real business, we are not going for jamboree. So, I want to tell you guys that many of you may not make the team, because I will personally supervise the list that would be submitted,” Green was quoted as saying.

    This statement, SportingLife gathered, did not go down well with the Chief Coach who immediately expressed his reservations over the statement, pointing out that all the players performed above average. Keshi also informed him that he introduced a higher percentage of the home based players into the game to measure their level of confidence while playing the best players in world, and they did not disappoint.

    “ I want to tell you that Keshi is very matured. He is a good manager, who wants to succeed. He does not want any distraction, the way he handled the situation really showed that he knows what he is doing. I am urging Nigerians to pray for him to succeed. He has the interest of the country at heart,” the source concluded.