Modern-Day Slavery: Minister tasks media on national awareness

The Minister of Information and Culture Alhaji Lai Mohammed has urged the media to continue to spread the word about the dangers of modern-day slavery.

The Minister made the call on Monday at the event to commemorate The International Day For The Remembrance of The Slave Trade and Its Abolition.

He urged them to ensure that the campaign against modern-day slavery is sustained on-air and reaches the nooks and crannies of Nigeria “to create the needed national awareness of the menace.”

SPEECH BY THE PERM SEC:

The Minister who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of Federal Ministry of Information And Culture, Dr. (Mrs.) Ifeoma A. Anyanwutaku said, “Today, we honour the memory of men and women who in 1791 in Santo Domingo (that is today’s Haiti and the Dominican Republic) revolted and paved the way for the end of the transatlantic slave trade and its associated dehumanization.”

“This special day acknowledges the pivotal struggle of those, who, subjected to the denial of their very humanity triumphed over the slave system and affirmed the universal nature of the principles of human dignity, freedom, and equality.”

The Minister noted that this year’s theme, modern-day slavery “Modern Day Slavery, A National Question: Protecting the Future Generation” is particularly a subject of interest to him considering the realities of modern-day slavery that children and youths are faced with today.

The minister listed some of the modern-day slavery to include; “human trafficking, voluntary slavery, child labour, forced marriage, forced labour, irregular migration”

The Minister added that it was against that backdrop that he hoped that the campaign against modern-day slavery does not end with the event only.