Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has condemned what he described as ‘dehumanising and undignifying’ slavery in the 21st century in Africa.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 2017 Annual Conference of the Comptroller General of Immigration held at the MITROS Residences in Abeokuta, Ogun State, yesterday, Obasanjo said such practice should be condemned in all ramifications.
The former president expressed concern that slavery had reared its ugly head and deserved to be condemned “in the strongest language possible.”
“Nobody who is involved in it should be excused. What can we do and what must we do? We must ensure that conducive atmosphere is created for genuine exchange of goods and ensure development within our country, sub-region, continent and the world which we live in,” Obasanjo said.
Continuing, he said: “Without movement there can be no development. And movement means migration. But then today, migration has a very nasty connotation particularly when you watch the television and you hear the story of thousands of our youths daring to go through the desert. Then after they have done such hazardous journey, some of them are being sold as slaves. Slaves in the 21st century. Africans being sold by Africans and maybe to Africans.”
Obasanjocharged men of the NIS to imbibe culture of training, professionalism, integrity, honesty, loyalty, and service in the discharge of their constitutional duty.
In his address, the Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Interior, Hon Jagaba Adams Jagaba said the National Assembly frowned at the outsourcing of services by the NIS, saying 99.9 percent of those contracts are “null and void.”
He said those services lacked the approval of the Federal Executive Council and they were being used as avenue to milk Nigerian resources.
In his opening address, the Comptroller – General of NIS, Muhammad Babandede said that the service was committed to safe and regular migration to prevent the stories of loss of lives and resources of Nigerian citizens and foreigners.
