NANFeatures/Vol.11/No.56/2017 (April 5)
Eradicating modern day slavery
A News Analysis by Jean Ambele, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
American news network — Cable News Network (CNN) — inaugurated the freedom project in 2011 aimed at eradicating modern-day slavery, including acts against human freedom.
The 2017 edition of the day came on March 14 as the World Freedom Day and many schools across the world with a large number of teachers and students celebrated it by sharing their views on what should be considered freedom of the people.
The project, tagged #MyFreedomDay, is usually celebrated with the use of visual arts, performing art, voluntary work and group discussions by students in schools and on social media platforms to raise awareness of the existence of slavery in the 21st century.
The freedom projects allowed participants to express what freedom meant to them and what they felt should be done to eradicate modern-day slavery.
Reviewing the level of participation in the 2017 Freedom Day, Skylar Davidson, an anti-human trafficking activist and school teacher in England, said she was glad to know that more people were aware of the slavery problem and the movement to fight it.
She noted that it was important for people to know that there were millions of people caught up in modern slavery and it was important to identify such people and speak up for them.
“The freedom project has been in existence since 2011 but we can see that there has been a major increase in the number of participants this year.
“I believe that the success in this year’s celebration was made possible thanks to social media accessibility and technology around the world and this has made the spread of the awareness easier.
“Many people, especially children and young adults, are unaware of the fact that slavery still exists in the word; in fact, India is known to have the worst rate of slavery in the world with an estimated value of 14 million victims.
“According to the United Nations, there are over 30 million people who are currently victims of human trafficking and slavery.
“I have worked with many organisations over the years that focus on rehabilitating trafficked victims and it is an emotional experience so I am more than excited to see Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter flooding with updates of people’s freedom day celebration,’’ Davidson said.
In his opinion, Mr Ayomide Adediji, a Nigerian youth corps member serving in Kebbi, said people needed to realise that modern day slavery was more than the conventional thought of slavery.
“It is not all about the conventional chained hands and legs, payment of debts with hard labour which includes human trafficking, child trafficking and the normal idea we have about slavery.
“From the area I come from, most of the children here are suffering from cultural slavery and are slaves to tradition and ethical values.
“These young leaders have been chained by the ways of life and their mentality has been tormented by the values which are being sung into their ears.
“Voices and societal activities telling them that education is not meant for the girl-child rather they should be prepared and nurtured for marriage.
“Killing goals, dreams and aspirations of children all in the name of promoting tradition and we haven’t sat down to listen to their creative minds tell the stories of their lives, community and society, putting them in a state of mental slavery.
“Let them tell you that the mouth is not for crying neither is the eyes for shedding tears, let them show you their inner mind and see how they cry as their future have been enslaved to the hands of wicked society.
“I hope the voices of my students would be heard as we make a stand against modern-day slavery so we take the advantage also to take action against child marriage, teenage pregnancy and gender discrimination as we join other 45 million participants to take action’’ he said.
With a large number of children, especially female children around the world being prevented from receiving sound education and having the ability to make choices for their future, Nigerian students see the need to celebrate the day.
It was important for Yinka Adeyemi, a pupil of Olumawu School, Abuja, to celebrate the day with her friends as she wanted to express gratitude for the opportunities she and her friends normally took for granted.
“I have been seeing the Freedom Project advertised on many social media and television channels but the publicity was more on CNN and my parents made sure they educated me on the project.
“My teachers have spoken about the importance of education and the importance of respecting people’s opinions and cultures.
“My friends in other schools are also celebrating this day but it was important for my friends and I to make donations as a way to fight against slavery because we realised we have been taking many opportunities for granted.
“I felt bad when I was told that some children are prevented from going to school to receive an education meanwhile I get lazy at times to do my homework or even go to school.
“My parents reward me when I do my chores but some children somewhere are being forced into hard labour and unimaginable things to get food or to pay off their parents debts and that is very wrong.
“Freedom to me is the ability to have dreams and aspirations and being allowed to reach for them happily regardless of one’s race, social status or gender therefore myself and my school stand with the Freedom Day project to end modern-day slavery,’’ she said.
Like many students, Ben Ogar, a student of Government Secondary School Tudun Wada, Abuja, made an art piece that expressed his view on the need to fight for freedom.
“My painting expresses what I think freedom is and that is the ability to live happily and let others live happily, this view is fundamental because it will end discrimination.
“As a young adult, I believe it is important to fight against slavery because anybody can be a victim.
“Many people get kidnapped and are forced into hard labour and are being trafficked so if we all fight against this, we will have a safer environment for ourselves and our children,’’ Ogar said.
As Freedom Day has become a student-led day of global activation with the goal of raising awareness for the issue of human trafficking and freedom restriction, millions of individuals have celebrated the day to end unfair human treatment and restriction.
Observers, therefore, note that as the awareness continues to grow and the day continues to gain prominence, concerned individuals should continue to work towards saving victims of human trafficking and preventing future enslaved victims.(NANFeatures)
**If used, please credit the writer as well as News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)