Winner of the African Migration Legendary award and member, African Union Labour-Migration Advisory Committee, Her Excellency, Dr Princess Asie Kabuki Ocansey, has urged Nigeria to lead the path towards saving millions of the African youths trapped in slavery abroad through a well structured labour-migration policy.
The call was made by the author of the best seller international book on Amazon titled “Deadly Work or Decent Work” at the Nigerian embassy in Ghana on Monday where she revealed 10 keys to achieving decent work.
The keys included review of labour-migration that would lead to massive job opportunities for Africans, financial and human capital developments, which she said if shared at the grassroots, and adapted by the government officials, shall put paid to the urge for irregular migration from the continent and doubled remittances in no time.
Ocansey, who was decorated with an award at the maiden edition of African Migration Summit organized by the Journalists International Forum for Migration, JIFORM, headquartered in Nigeria, in partnership with the Nekotech Center of Excellence, Ghana told the Nigerian Ambassador, Mrs Esther Adebola Arewa, that time had come for the giant of Africa to work closely with Ghana and other nations to end the deadly work Africans were being subjected to in the Middle East.
Saddened by series of distress messages from the African women in several parts of the world, Ocansey explained that the ladies were exposed to slavery because of the inability of the African nations to negotiate decent work for their citizens thereby giving rooms to unqualified agents and slave masters taking advantage of them.
She pleaded that “Nigeria must be the lighthouse for regular migration”, saying “If Nigeria gets it right, it will impact Africa entirely.”
Asked by the ambassador how irregular migration could be stopped, Ocansey posited that African leaders needed a multilateral platform, and charged the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to create legal channels that would shut down the demand for such migration pattern.
If the labour migration policy in Africa is strengthened she said, “opportunities of decent work are available now and the rush into deadly jobs must be put to an end by accessing the decent job opportunities.
Mrs Adebola thereafter demanded a road-map that would put an end to children and women being trafficked between Ghana and Nigeria.
Ocansey’s ”Deadly Work or Decent Work?” is an alarming revelation on a raging 21st century slavery leading to an urgent outcry and humble appeal to Middle Eastern and African leaders for the abolishment of the horrifying archaic migrant employment hiring system in the Middle East: called Kafala.
This eye-opening book journeys deeply into the trenches, bringing us face to face with the mind boggling violent experiences of the most vulnerable migrant workers: women domestic workers – whose plights have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 era, especially in Lebanon, where the recent explosions have created an unprecedented number of sick, stranded, suffering and even suicidal African women.
