Obasanjo blames African leaders for Libyan slavery
Ex-president, Obasanjo, has blamed the failure of African leaders for the slave trade which is ongoing in Libya. He describes the slave trade as dehumanizing.
- A former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, describes the condition faced by some Nigerian youths in Libya as dehumanizing
- He says the occurrence in Libya ought to be condemned as a failure of African leadership at all levels
- Another set of 164 Nigerians were brought back from Libya by the International Organization for Migration on Friday, December 8
A former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, has blamed the failure of African leaders for the slave trade which is ongoing in Libya.
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Obasanjo made the statement on Thursday, December 8, when speaking at the opening ceremony of the 2017 Annual Conference of the Comptroller General of Immigration of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) held at Abeokuta, Ogun state.
The former president described the condition faced by some Nigerian youths in Libya as dehumanizing, Premium Times reports.
He stated that the occurrence in Libya ought to be condemned as a failure of leadership at all levels.
Obasanjo said: “I believe that slave trade in the 21st century should be condemned in the strongest language possible and 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."
“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 youth 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! Making human beings as instruments for merchants, property to be sold and commodity, dehumanising what God has created to be dignified and uplifted.”
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He said the unfolding events in Libya must make African leaders feel a sense of regret and have sober reflection on what has been done or yet to be done that brought African people in such a situation.
The returnees were received by the southwest zonal coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Suleiman Yakubu, who represented the agency's director general, Mustapha Maihajja.
The returnees - 155 male adults, three male children, one infant male, five female adults, one female child and a female infant - arrived on a BURAQ Boeing 737 airline with registration number 5A-DMG.
Yakubu while receiving the returnees who arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos at about 12.34 am thanked the IOM and the European Union for their humanitarianism.
Nigerians speak on slavery in Libya on NAIJ.com TV
Source: Naija.ng