From Bode Durojaiye, Oyo.
Nigeria and other West African countries have been urged to initiate policies against the increasing phenomena of child labour and human trafficking, especially of women and children.
A legal practitioner, Wale Adeoye, gave the advice at
a public enlightenment forum in Oyo town.
He enjoined countries within the region to seek to
eradicate certain social evils and criminal activities, such as armed robbery, kidnapping, prostitution and political intolerance that may be prevalent, in order to prevent their spreading into countries that otherwise do not have them.
Adeoye equally implored African governments to establish
appropriate policies needed to increase economic growth and
investment, in order to create jobs.
This, he pointed out, involves the commitment to pursue sound economic policies, adopting the right priorities for
the exploitation and distribution of often scarce national resources, in such a way as to provide for people’s basic needs, and to ensure an honest and equitable sharing of benefits and burdens.
Lamenting on political corruption which threatens
socio-economic development and breeds economic chaos, poverty and unemployment, Adeoye, who is the National Coordinator of Child Vanguard Mission International, a body responsible for fighting the cause of the vulnerable children, noted that “good governance, with respect to transparency in public administration, judicious use of public funds, accountability to the people, justice for all, and
non-discrimination based on ethnic origin are what make for peace, stability and abundance in any country.”.
The legal expert also expressed strong indignation about
punitive measures, xenophobia and inhospitable sentiments against African nationals who migrate from their region to other parts of the world, stating that human mobility is not only a fundamental right but an inherent desirable component of socio-economic development.
“I consider certain types of forced migration as new forms of
slavery. While I abhor all forms of hatred and inhuman treatment directed towards migrants in any part of the world, responsible governments must also be greatly disturbed by the new form of xenophobia and racism directed in a
selected manner to migrants from Africa. In some parts of Europe for instance, some public officials were reported to have made statements aimed at instigating hatred towards migrants of African region. These utterances that can lead to the violation of basic human rights of migrants are hereby condemned. We call for hospitable, humane attitudes from all host communities”.
