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Developing Media Capacity to Eliminate Human Trafficking

May 4, 2005

First, it is out of place to talk about enacting a law on human trafficking in Nigeria when at least a law has been enacted and operational. The "Trafficking In Persons (Prohibition) Law nforcement And Administration Act of 2003, has been put in place by the federal government which has also created an agency called NAPTIP, or National Agency for Prohibition of Traffic in Persons", to enforce the law, among others, owing to the enormity of the problem and the concerns by the leadership. Nigeria has also enacted a Child rights Act (2002), a derivative of the convention on the rights of child which the country was a signatory to in 1990. These apart, Nigeria has also ratified ILO conventions to protect working children such as those of minimum wage, medical examinations of young persons, but most importantly, convention 182 on the elimination of worst forms of child labour, including human trafficking. All these are meant to ensure the survival, development, protection and participation of the child who matures into an adult.

Concerning WOTCLEF, we in NAN have been collaborating in its activity, as well as activities of similar NGOs. In particular, I was a member of the Advocacy Group which developed a `National Advocacy Strategy for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour' by WOTCLEF in 2004. (WOTCLEF is Women Trafficking and Child Labour Eradication Foundation, founded by Titi Abubakar, the vice president's wife). We also collaborate with UNICEF, International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and USAID.

As a member of the National Childrights Implementation Committee, the International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN), and its African affiliate, ANPPCAN, I ensure that human trafficking is accorded the highest priority in our model project to diminish and eliminate child labour and child trafficking in the country. The project is in collaboration with ILO-IPEC, and I am the coordinator. In January, (2005), I participated as a resource person at the San Diego conference (USA) on child and family maltreatment, during which I informed the audience that the media, as change agents, can play a crucial role in child survival, development and protection if the practitioners are well informed.

As part of our social and constitutional responsibility, we shall sustain our efforts of networking and collaboration within and outside the country, with relevant stakeholders, until human trafficking is eliminated. NAN is established by the Nigerian government, and the project has in-built capacity for sustainability. Activities are already in place, and will constantly be updated to sustain the project, although funding is infinitessimally little.

Buki Ponle, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). Assistant Editor-In-Chief & Head, Health, Population and Environment Desk.