HIGHLIGHTS:

We Must Stop Modern Slavery, Human Trafficking - Dogara

2018 Budget Passes 2nd Reading

Reps Raise Alarm Over Incessant Deaths at Railway Crossings

Proposed Local Language Policy by the Nigerian Army

Discriminatory- Reps
 2018 Budget Passes 2nd
Reading
The House of Representatives has passed the 2018
Appropriation Bill through second reading.

The debate on the Bill was led by the Leader of the

House, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila, and lasted for three
days to enable all interested members make contri-
butions to the Bill.

The Bill is for an Act to authorise

We Must Stop Modern Slavery,
Human Trafficking - Dogara the issue from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of
......calls on President Buhari to lead efforts to emancipate the Federation the total sum of 8,612,236,953,214
victims of modern slavery (Eight Trillion, Six Hundred and Twelve Billion, Two
Hundred and Thirty-Six Million, Nine Hundred and
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Fifty-Three Thousand, Two Hundred and Fourteen
Dogara, has emphasized the urgency in stopping hu- Naira) only, of which 456,458,654,074 (Four Hun-
man trafficking and modern slavery, while calling on dred and Fifty-Six Billion, Four Hundred and Fifty-
President Muhammadu Buhari to lead the struggle for Eight Million, Six Hundred and Fifty-Four Thousand,
total and unconditional emancipation of the unfortu- Seventy-Four Naira) only, is for Statutory Transfers,
nate victims of slavery in Libya and other places 2,233,835,365,699 (Two Trillion, Two Hundred and
where slave trade is happening by deploying Nigerias Thirty-Three Billion, Eight Hundred and Thirty-Five
diplomatic and military clout. Million, Three Hundred and Sixty-Five Thousand, Six
Hundred and Ninety-Nine Naira) only, is for Debt
He also challenged the stand of the African Union Service, 3,494,277,820,219 (Three Trillion, Four
(AU) and the Economic Community of West African Hundred Ninety-Four Billion, Two Hundred and Sev-
States (ECOWAS) on the issue, saying their voices on
enty-Seven Million, Eight Hundred and Twenty-
the ongoing inhuman trade have been too feeble.
Thousand, Two Hundred and Nineteen Naira) only, is
for Recurrent (Non-Debt) Expenditure while the sum
In a speech delivered in plenary titled, "Confronting
of 2,427,665,113,222 (Two Trillion, Four Hundred
The Scourge Of Human Trafficking And Modern Slav-
and Twenty-Seven Billion, Six Hundred and Sixty-Five
ery," he said by being passive to the ongoing scourge,
Million, One Hundred and Thirteen Thousand, Two
Nigeria and the world are granting permission for the
Hundred and Twenty-Two Naira) only, is for contri-
crime to continue being perpetuated, hence the need
bution to the Development Fund for Capital Ex-
to take a stand and work towards bringing an end to
penditure for the year ending on 31 December,
the inhuman venture.
2018.
While noting that the inhuman business is fuelled by
the quest for huge monetary returns, especially from
organ harvesting which is in high demand, Digital di-
rected that an investigative hearing be immediately
scheduled for two resolutions of the the House on the
deaths of the 26 Nigerian girls on the Mediterranean
and modern slavery in Libya as part of measures to
ensure that all agencies empowered by law to fight
this scourge are made to account to the people.

Read full speech below:


Reps Raise Alarm Over Incessant
Deaths at Railway Crossings
Alarmed by the increase in deaths cause by collision
of cars with trains at railway crossings, the House of
Representatives has mandated its Committees on Po-
lice Affairs, Information, National Orientation, Ethics
and Values and Land Transport to interface with the
Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) on how to provide
railway level crossing barriers, highway codes and
alarm system arrangements at all railway level cross-
ings across the Federation to curb incessant deaths at
railway crossings.
This was after the House considered and adopted the
resolution of a motion co-sponsored by Hon.
Akinwunmi Nurudeen Olaitan and Hon. Jimoh Ab-
dulraheem Olajide which recalled an incidence that
occurred on the 16 November, 2017 when a train de-
railed at Fagba area of Ifako Ijaye Federal Constituen-
cy of Lagos State and rammed into a trailer on the
railway line, causing multiple crashes among trucks
and other vehicles which led to the death of seven (7)
persons.
The House noted that most accidents involving trains
and vehicles are caused by failure of vehicle drivers to
abide by highway codes and absence of railway level
crossing barriers, given that most crossing locations
are among the most eventful points on the transpor-
tation network.
Proposed Local Language
Policy by the Nigerian
Army Discriminatory- Reps
The House of Representatives has called on the
Nigerian Army to halt its proposed local language
policy that seeks to compel non speakers of the
three major Nigerian languages to learn them and
to place speakers of the language at an ad-
vantage over non-speakers, for being discrimina-
tory and inimical to the cohesion in the Army.
It also moved for the continued practice of com-
municating in English in view of the fact that the
Nigerian Army is multi-lingual and English Lan-
guage remains one of the cardinal points of con-
vergence for the Army.
This was sequel to a motion sponsored by Hon.
Abiante Awaji-Inombek Dagomie and
Hon. Douye Diri.
The lawmakers noted that the Nigerian society is
heterogeneous and as such, in contemplating pol-
icies, care must be taken by the Army hierarchy to
steer discourse to what is integrating, progressive
and amenable to ensure mass involvement in the
national development and democratic processes
rather than pandering to primordial or tribal bias-
es.
They also adduced that the policy flies in the face
of an increasingly globalizing world where profi-
ciency in an international language is the current
inclination as it gives a common understanding of
precisely what is meant and what is expected.
Lawmakers Call For Better
Security Along Hawan Kibo
Road in Plateau State.
In order to ensure that the lives and properties of
Nigerians plying Hawan Kibo Road in Plateau State
are secure, the House of Representatives has urged
relevant security agencies to provide more surveil-
lance for the road.

Raising the matter before the House in a motion,

Hon. Beni Lar informed the House that the road
which is long and windy, has been abandoned by
the Police which used to patrol the road due to at-
tacks by hoodlums.

She added that consequently, motorists, especially

traders, who ply the road have been left to the mer-
cy of the hoodlums who attack them at will.

She prayed the House to use its weight to ensure

the safety of lives and properties of Nigerians ply-
ing the road, by calling on the Police to return back
to the road to provide security for motorists and
passengers on that route. The motion was ap-
proved by the House.
We Must Stop Modern Slavery, Human Trafficking - Dogara

REMARKS BY THE SPEAKER, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NI-

GERIA, HIS EXCELLENCY, RT. HON. YAKUBU DOGARA AT THE PLENARY OF THE HOUSE
ON THURSDAY, 30TH DECEMBER, 2017.
CONFRONTING THE SCOURGE OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND MODERN SLAVERY

Protocols:
My dear Honourable colleagues, I wish to make few remarks on the subject matter of my trip to Italy where I par-
ticipated in a Conference specifically convened by the President of Italys Chamber of Deputies, Her Excellency,
MS LAURA BODRINI, to discuss a very topical issue -Women Empowerment and the Fight against Trafficking in
Persons. The Partnership Between Nigeria & Italy.

2. The conference was convened in the aftermath of the very tragic event of 5th November, 2017 at the
shores of Italy which resulted in the death of some 26 mostly Nigerian girls having embarked on what has now
become the riskiest journey on earth, attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. You will recall that
this House passed a Resolution (HR. 151/2017) on November 9, 2017 to investigate this tragedy. And only yes-
terday, November 29, 2017 another Resolution on a related subject matter was passed.

3. If you thought the horrific events that led to the deaths of our girls were appalling just as we prepared to
leave Italy last Friday, we received the terrifying news that another set of 30 migrants had died in the Mediterra-
nean Sea while 200 were rescued. To our collective shame these kinds of deaths have become a recurring deci-
mal on account of which the Mediterranean Sea has become the cemetery where Africas future, which our
young represent, is buried. Our findings reveal that the deaths are under-reported as the figures more often than
not do not take into account those deaths for which the corpses are not recovered. It must be noted that in most
cases some of the immigrants are deliberately dumped into the sea like bags of weed.

4. To add salt to injury, humanitys conscience was recently jolted by the CNN report of auctioning of black
African migrants as salves in Libya where these migrants are normally held in servitude in human cargo holding
facilities. I believe most of us have seen the atrocious pictures of black Africans in such overcrowded holding fa-
cilities were they are packed like sardines and often mercilessly beaten and terrorized by their captors in order to
keep them subjugated. These pictures which the social media is replete with have moved even the brute and the
cruel to tears.

5. For those who wonder why would a fellow human being strip another of his dignity in this beastly man-
ner, the answer is, Money. They do it for the money. Slavery is so lucrative especially now that it involves human
organ harvesting. It was and it is still a money spinner. In the past, it was so lucrative that a part of the sweet
Land of Liberty fought a vicious Civil war to keep slavery until the Abolitionists won.

6. Permit me to underpin the historical difficulties in dealing with slavery. The author of the finest line ever
written by man, we hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal, himself a slave owner,
was once forced into deep introspection about the ideals he had lifted to cosmic heights and the fact that he
himself own slaves. Because slave trade and slave labour brought him so much wealth and influence, he couldnt
himself live up to the eternally truthful ideals he had so brilliantly espoused. He wrote to the effect that keeping a
slave is like holding the wolf by the ears, its a job you hate to do but you dare not let it go. He placed justice and
self-preservation on a scale but pathetically self-preservation won over consideration of justice. This is the case
with modern slave masters; justice and life have no meaning to them, all they care for is self-preservation. Its a
trade the mafia and their local collaborators dare not leave because of the money involved.
7. What is consistent with the lessons of history is that unless slave masters are forced to stop, they wont
on their own put a stop to the criminal enterprise. We have a duty to stop them and we must begin by accept-
ing responsibility for what is happening now. The question is, what have been done either as individuals or
corporately to force these forces of evil to stop this trade in humans? Where is our conscience? Are we not
troubled by the unfolding scenario where human beings are bought and sold for any amount much more for
as low as $400 US Dollars barely the cost of a local cow or horse?

8. It is my considered opinion that we are all involved in this crime either as perpetrators or those who are
aiding and abetting human trafficking by standing aloof. For we are ultimately responsible for what we allow
or permit. There is a place for Nigeria in all these. As the most populous black nation on earth, we must accept
the fact that if any black man or woman falls, it would be because Nigeria lacks strength. Until the last modern
slave is freed, we would have done nothing and our generation will bear this shame forever.

9. The legal framework to combat Human Trafficking is fairly well developed. What is required is the polit-
ical will and the muscle to execute the laws and policies already in place. As parliamentarians, we have a re-
sponsibility to use our legislative tools of oversight to ensure that all agencies empowered by law to fight this
scourge are made to account to our people. This we must ensure its done with dispatch.

10. It is in this regard that I hereby direct that the Public Hearing on House Resolution (HR. 151/2017)
which ordered an investigation into the death of the 26 girls recently in the Mediterranean Sea and the Resolu-
tion passed yesterday mandating relevant Committees of the House to investigate the slave trade going on in
Libya be consolidated and immediately scheduled for hearing in spite of the pending work on the 2018 Budg-
et. The relevant Committees should make sure that all relevant parties and stakeholders are invited to dig out
the facts and proffer workable solutions to this heinous crime against humanity.

11. Furthermore, the House of Representatives would soon convene a major Conference on Human Traf-
ficking and Modern Slavery as part of our intervention to help put an end to this evil. This would afford experts
the opportunity to make recommendations on possible Legislative and Executive actions required to tame this
evil trade. We must also sensitise and activate, as soon as possible, the ECOWAS Parliament and other Inter
Parliamentary bodies such as IPU, CPU and other affiliated bodies to wade into this matter.

12. Permit me to use this opportunity to call on Mr President and Commander in Chief to lead this struggle
for total and unconditional emancipation of the unfortunate victims of this scourge. History beckons on our
President with a gold pen and a page reserved for only Africas great Statesmen if he successfully leads the
campaign to eradicate modern slavery. Mr President should, if necessary, deploy Nigerias diplomatic and mili-
tary clout on this matter. We would like to see an immediate convening of emergency session of the ECOWAS
and AU to lunch a rescue operation as soon as possible. As it is, the voices of ECOWAS and AU are unaccepta-
bly too feeble on this devastating issue. We commend the French President, Mr Emmanuel Macron for taking
a principled position on this matter and applying pressure on the UN to take urgent steps in dealing with this
scourge. We expect other nations who value freedom and the dignity of the human person to join France in
working out a permanent solution to this resurgent evil.

13. In conclusion, let me once again commend the forceful words of His Holiness, Pope Francis who said:
Human trafficking is a scourge, a crime against the whole of humanity. It is time to join forces and work to-
gether to free its victims and to eradicate this crime that affects all of us, from individual families to the world-
wide community. Now and not tomorrow is the time to act, the world must not shrink from this responsibility.

14. Thank you for your kind attention and may God bless our commitment to excise this cancer from our
midst and bring this shame to a halt.