ILO Wants Nigeria To End Modern Slavery

The International Labour
Organisation (ILO) has called on Nigeria and other countries to end modern slavery by going ahead to sign the 2014 Protocol on the 1930  ILO Forced Labour Convention.
Director General of ILO, Guy  Ryder made the call at the ongoing 104th session of the ILO Conference in Geneva on Wednesday.
Ryder said that the 1930 ILO Forced Labour Convention 2014 Protocol is a legally binding instrument to bring the existing convention into the modern era with new provisions on prevention, protection and victims’ access to remedies.
The ILO DG said that an estimated 21 million people are victims of forced labour around the world, stressing that victims are exploited in agriculture, fishing, domestic work, construction, manufacturing, mining and other economic activities especially  as women and girls in particular are subjected to commercial sexual exploitation.
He said Niger Republic has become the first country to ratify the 2014 Protocol, giving new impetus to the global fight against forced labour, including trafficking persons and slavery-like practices.
He said that the ratification of the 2014 Protocol was part of a renewed global effort to eradicate modern slavery, stressing that Niger Republic ratified the Forced Labour Convention in 1961 after becoming Independent in 1960.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria  Labour Congress (NLC) has called on the ILO to give the country necessary technical and institutional support to revive social dialogue in the country.
The NLC President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, stated’ this in his contribution to issues at the ongoing 104th  ILO Conference in Geneva.
Wabba said Nigeria’s organised labour is committed to genuine participation in the revival of social dialogue.
He said organized labour in Nigeria is eager to discuss issues of job creation, migration management, social protection, floor implementation and the broader issues around the structural transformation of Nigeria’s economy.
However, the 104th ILO conference would end by this weekend with far reaching decisions to eradicate poverty, discrimination and other issues on the global level.