Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed
FG calls for sustained campaign, as Nigeria commemorates ‘International Day For The Remembrance Of Slave Trade and its Abolition’
Nigeria has joined the rest of the world to commemorate the annual ‘International Day For The Remembrance Of Slave Trade And Its Abolition.’
The theme of this year’s celebration is; “Modern Day Slavery, A National Question: Protecting the Future Generation”
The International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition is an international day celebrated August 23 of each year, the day designated by UNESCO to memorialize the transatlantic slave trade.
That date was chosen by the adoption of resolution 29 C/40 by the Organisation’s General Conference at its 29th session. Circular CL/3494 of July 29, 1998, from the Director-General, invited Ministers of Culture to promote the day.
The date is significant because, during the night of August 22 to August 23, 1791, on the island of Saint Domingue (now known as Haiti), an uprising began which set forth events that were a major factor in the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade.
UNESCO Member States organize events every year on that date, inviting participation from young people, educators, artists and intellectuals. As part of the goals of the intercultural UNESCO project, “The Slave Route”, it is an opportunity for collective recognition and focus on the “historic causes, the methods and the consequences” of slavery.
Additionally, it sets the stage for analysis and dialogue of the interactions which gave rise to the transatlantic trade in human beings between Africa, Europe, the Americas and the Caribbean.
Remarking at the event, which held at the National Press Centre, Radio House, Minister of Information and Culture Alhaji Lai Mohammed urged the media to continue to spread the word about the dangers of modern-day slavery.
The Minister urged practitioners 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.”
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, adding that it was against that backdrop that he hoped that the campaign against modern-day slavery does not end with the event only.
