Abstract
The aim of this study was to analyze the “Impact of Ekiti Radio campaign against human trafficking in Ido community of Ido-Osi Local government area. The study made use of survey research method. The study answered three research questions. From the research findings, it was observed that the programmes aired on Ekiti Radio helps in discouraging the practice of human trafficking. Survey research method was used because of its convenience, while Chi-square formular was used to test the formulated hypothesis. The study recommend that the government should embark on putting effort to ending human trafficking especially among women and children.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Crime has become one of the greatest obstacles to the better realization of democratic governance and the much acclaimed millennium development goals (MDGs) in Nigeria.
The country is being bedeviled by all forms of crime, which range from simple acts of thefts, burglary and verbal assault to serious acts of robbery, economic and financial crime ethnic and religious disturbance “cultism and sexual harassment in institutions of learning youths restiveness and trafficking of human beings. All the segments of the population in Nigeria, including the elites and the youths, at one point or another commit these criminal acts. Both rural and urban cities have suffered from these undesirable activities the degree of the crime rate has gone far beyond the tolerance limit of the safety and has consequently attained disturbing dimensions to the extent that social economic and political activities are seriously attached, given this situation academic government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as well as the international community have sought an understanding of the various dimension of the phenomenon including its level manifestation causes and implications for all segment of the societies.
These efforts have been with the singular desire of devising appropriate strategies towards the effective management of the problems, however, this study has focused on the effect of communication on trafficking in human commodities.
In some selected states in Nigeria, its aim was to measure the problems of human trafficking in terms of the attributes of the rectums, the pattern of human flow, and the casual factors. The specific objectives were to discovers the socio-economic attributes of victims of human trafficking determines the pattern of flow establish the underlying factors, and make appropriate recommendation towards curbing human trafficking in Nigeria.
In 1995, as at the time of the belging conference the issue of human trafficking was not regarded as an issue of concern for Africans it was a problem considered as the Asian and Latin American people the unfolding events since the almost ten years that human trafficking is rife in the countries has been found to be source, transit and destination country for the crime of human trafficking.
In West African, the incident of human trafficking in women and children were dated as far back as the 1960s. However, the significant public recognition and focus on issue only come since the mid 70s. Although there are no exact figures and data on the number of trafficking victims, there are indicators to show that the trend is assuming an alarming rate in the sub-regions. One of such indicators is the growing population of women and children particularly children in the West African city centre and European countries as a result of urban migration and illegal trans-border migration with exploitative labor.
The challenges of searching for a sustainable solution to the menace of human trafficking and child labor led to the decisions by the Ekiti-State broadcasting services to commission this as part of their programmes.
Records show that over 400,000 children work in Benin and approximately 625,000 children from cote D’ ivoire are in labor. Most of the children are under the ages of 15 years. According to research carried out, it has found that a large percentage of these children in labor are trafficked victim. The violence are spelled out sanction against those who engage in slavery and laid down procedure for victims restitution. The daily champion of 12 July, 2002 reported than 80% of foreign prostitution in Italy were Nigerian women.
Nigerian was categorized in tier 2 of the trafficking in persons country list for 2001 compelled by the United State government and the transparency international. The tier lists states that do not meet minimum standards of combating human trafficking, but are making efforts to do so.
1.2 Statement of Research Problem
Human trafficking as one of the various forms of crime that have of recent become a disturbing trend to both the Nigeria government and various communities. The phenomenon of human trafficking is universal and has been practiced in forms in different parts of the worlds Okogie et al (2004) observes that the phenomenon is a multibillion dollar business because of the level of involvement of organized criminal gangs. It has also been adjudged the fastest growing category of organized crime and the third largest profit making business outside of drugs and arms deals.
One of the problem of human trafficking is loss of population/reduction, human trafficking causes loss of population because those involve does not know the risk of been into such act, and at the same time such risk may lead to loss of life.
People are also dehumanized because of the involvement in human trafficking, image of people are been ridiculed and tarnished just be cause of money.
Human trafficking regarded as a crime against making, because people who are been trafficked don’t even know their right. It also brings about loss of trust amongst people involved in such act.
The problem observed before choosing this topic is that human trafficking. Mostly children and women has become a global business that affected almost all countries and reaps enormous profits for traffickers and their criminal intermediaries.
1.3 Objectives of the Study
The aim of this study is to measure the magnitude, pattern and identify the causes of human trafficking in Nigeria, and also to know the impact of communication on this harmful behavior practices.
(1) To identify the causes of human trafficking
(2) To make recommendations on how to eliminate human trafficking in Nigeria
(3) To provide demographic information on victims and their experiences.
(4) To know the level of effectiveness that communication has brought about concerning human trafficking.
1.4 Research Question
(1) Are the victims of human trafficking aware of the risk associated with the act?
(2) Is poverty the major cause of human trafficking
(3) Do these campaign help to reduce the rate of human trafficking.
1.5 Research Hypothesis
1. Hi Victims of human trafficking are aware of the risk associated with the act.
Ho Victims of human trafficking are not aware of the risk associated with the act.
2. H2 Poverty is the major cause of human trafficking
Ho Poverty is not the major cause of human trafficking
3. H3 Campaign can help to reduce the rate of human trafficking
Ho Campaign cannot help to reduce the rate of human trafficking
1.6 Significance of the study
The study when completed will be of important to the media, women and children and the government community of information and communication.
The Media
Most media outfits in Nigeria are in the business for the profit, they derive form publishing and broadcasting and adverts are gradually beginning to occupy the space and our time meant for other important writes up and programmes. The media could help in reducing the rate at which human trafficking is growing in our country today they could help inform and educate people both in urban and rural areas of the effect of human trafficking and disadvantages and how tit could destroy lives.
Finally, the media can and should run campaigns and adverts against human trafficking so that it could be brought to the knowledge of everyone about the harmful effect of this practices.
Women and Children
As enticing and tempting as the premises made to victims could be women and children should under no circumstances be lured into believing what they art being told about helping to train them in school because it’s a huge form of deceit and a trap, and is very harmful, morally socially and otherwise.
Government Ministry of Information and Communication
The ministry of information and communication should be able to ensure that the media disseminate information to the public on how harmful human trafficking is, and also letting them
know how their story is told so as not to be able to deceive the less privileges into realizing their children to this derailed individuals who master trade is human trafficking.
1.7 Scope of the study
The interest of the study is finding out what extent the Nigerian communication system has helped in the fight globally to put an end to human trafficking especially in Nigeria both in rural and urban area.
1.8 Limitation of the Study
During the course of putting this project together, I encountered so many restraints, such as logistics, which is the practical plan to make this work a bit hectic. In the sense that combining school work and other activities with writing the projects was not an easy task.
Another methodological problem was the difficulty in getting victims to interview, this was especially the case with those who were already settled, in fact a few of them who had already settled down to responsible family did not want to be reminded of what one reffered to as “the dark” chapter of life”. Even those of them who agreed to be interviewed felt quite so reticent as to fail to be opened about sordid as past of their experiences either in Nigeria or abroad, consequently they did not disclose all that was required of them.
1.9 Operational Definition
Trafficking: The illegal movement of people of Ido Community of Ido-Osi local government area to republic of Benin by people trading on human beings from January to June 2014.
Campaign: All the messages packaged on Ekiti radio to convince people of Ido-Osi to stop the illicit trade of human trafficking.
Impact: The feelings of Ekiti people after receiving the radio campaign messages on why they should stop human trafficking in their community.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Sources of Literature
The sources of literature used in this analysis are primary and secondary data. The secondary data are already prepared research work of scholars on related topics from journals, magazines, relevant books published and unpublished material e.t.c. Primary data are information got by the researcher from the respondents. Mass communication encyclopedia on language communication and various websites on human trafficking, Caritas University library, mass communication library, textbooks and so on.
2.2 Review of Concepts
The following concepts were review
i. Ido-Osi local government area
ii. Human trafficking
iii. Child abuse
iv. Child labor
v. Mass media
Ido-Osi Local Government Area
Ido-Osi is in Ekiti State, Nigeria the local government is full of rural towns and villages that cherishes education and has almost 10% o the total professors in the country, and one of the local government districts of the Ekiti state. It is very close to other local districts, moba, Ijero, Ilejemeje and Ado. The local government comprises towns, Aaye, Ido, Usi, Ayeton, Ilogbo, Osi, Ifaki, Orin Ora, Igbole and some other small villages. The local government headquarters is hosted by Ido with the secretariat sited in between Ido town and Usi. Among her contemporary in Ekiti state, Ide-Osi has highly educated people with early sitting of churches and a primary school in Usi Ekiti just immediately a school was established in Ado-Ekiti the present state capital. Notable individuals like the former state governor (Olusegun Oni) is from Ifaki, a town in the local government.
Ido Ekiti
Ido-Etiti is located in Ido osi local government area of Ekiti state, Nigeria. It is situated in the northern part of the state where the routes from Oyo, Osun and Kwara states respectively coverage. Ido-Ekiti is the headquarters of Ido/ Osi local council; it is bounded in the east by Ipere and Iludun, in the south by Igbole and Ifinssin axis and in the North and North West by Osi and Ilogbo-Ekiti.
In the pre-local government reforms in Nigeria in 1876 Ido district was made up of ten town and villages with Olojudo as the paramount ruler “Ido Mewa” meaning a “country” with ten settlements emerged from the aforementioned sole authority of Olojedo.
In the beinnin six potential hunters left Ile-Ife for Ido Ekiti about the middle of fifteenth century. These hunters were bold and courage’s. Oral traditions did not reveal their initial names was made their leaders.
The head of the five hunters was later christended as Odemorun. It could now be inferred the Odemomu was the founder o Ido after proper settlement and interaction with small villages. The settlement was organized by the violent incursion of Ikere people against Ido. The letter was attacked, defeated and was captured almost half of the peoples population.
Various and notable kings were installed and reigned in Ido. These include;
abakota, elekere, oluaran, ogbolo i,ogbolo ii, akangbiarin, ajiboyede, abatagunwa , ojogboaye, okeoro, oyiyo, adefi, olayisade i, adejowon , olayisade ii, ajiboyede iii, the incumbent, till date.
2.2.1 The Concept of Human Trafficking
Human trafficking is the trade in human, most commonly for the purpose of sexual, slavery, forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others, or for the extraction of organs or tissues including surrogacy and or removal, or for providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage.
Human trafficking can occur within a country or trans-nationally human trafficking is a crime against the person because of the violation of the victim’s rights of movement through coercion and because of their commercial exploitation. Human trafficking is the trade in people and does not necessarily involves the movement of the person from one place to another. Human trafficking represents an estimated 31.6 billion of international trade per annum in 2010. Human trafficking is thought to be one of the fastest growing activities of trans-national or criminal organization. Human trafficking is condemned as a violation of rights by international conventions.
According to the national agency for the prohibition of human trafficking in 2003 defines trafficking “as including all acts and attempted acts involved in the recruitment, transportation within or across Nigeria borders, purchases, sale, transfer, receipt as harboring of a person involving the use of deception, concern or debt bondage for the purpose of placing or holding the person whether for or not involuntary servitude (domestic, sexual or reproductive) in forced or bonded labor or in slave like condition. In 1994, the general assembly of the United Nations Organization defined trafficking as illicit and clandestine movement of persons across national and international boarders largely from developing countries and some countries in transition with the goal forcing women and girl, children into sexual or economically oppressive and exploitative situation for the profit of recruiters, traffickers, crime syndicates as well as other illegal activities related to trafficking such as forced domestic labor. Article three (a) of the international labor organization (ILO) recognizes human trafficking as one of the worst firms of human labor, child trafficking as defined as all forms of slavery, such as sale and trafficking of children debt bondage and selfdom of children for the used of armed conflicts (UNICEF 2002).
History of Trafficking
There are several arguments about when human trafficking could have stated. Some say that the slave trade in which Africans were captured by slave trade and shipped across. The Atlantic to the Americans was the first human trafficking. Others argue that the forced labor of children during the 1700s was the real beginning of human trafficking.
Human trafficking for sexual purposes was first legally recognized by the term “white slavery” According to Kristina Kangaspunta” the executive officer of the Applied Research program of the UNICRI branch of the United Nations, “white slavery’s obtaining of a white woman or girl (kangaspunta) has also argued that international governments began to discuss “white slavery” after the trans Atlantic slave trade was made illegal.
Human Trafficking Internationally
While human trafficking is internationally recognized and there have been many international laws passed against it, it is still very serious issue around the world. According to a report given in 2004 by the Vs department of state 600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked across the international boarders every year and more people are trafficked within their home countries (Cree, 2008).
Human trafficking currently still use methods for obtaining their victims that are similar to the methods that were seen the League of Nations 1923 study. According to Linda Woolf a professor of psychology at Webster University the methods include coercion which include promises of a job are sold to traffickers by their own parents (Woolf).
Types of Human Trafficking
According to Anukan (1986): identifies two types of human trafficking, they are:
1. Sex trafficking
2. Labor trafficking
SEX TRAFFICKING: Occur when a person is made to perform commercial sexual acts when a person made to perform commercial sexual acts is under the age of 18. Examples of sex trafficking include forced prostitution of adults any type of child prostitution, trafficking for forced marriage and so on.
LABOR TRAFFICKING: It involves recruiting, transporting, harboring providing or purchasing a person for labor or services through the use of force, fraud or coercion. Examples include forced labor on American farms under valence. Note that labor trafficking can happen in any industry including agriculture, manufacturing, restaurant work, construction, fishing, mining, custodian work, and many more.
The Causes of Trafficking
Traffickers prey on people with promises of higher income to improve economic situations support parent and families in villages, and escape wars and conflicts.
Women and children are the key target group because of their marginalization in many societies and their limited economic resources. Other key target groups are:
(i) People from impoverished and low income household.
(ii) Ethnic minorities’ indigenous people, hill tribes, refugees and illegal migrants.
(iii) People with low level of education
(iv) Young girls running away from home.
Trafficking Techniques
i. Local Contacts: Trafficker enlists the help of local persons and villagers to identify vulnerable families.
ii. Direct Sale: Women and children are sold to traffickers by parents or other family members.
iii. Deceit: Unscrupulous agents deceive parents and lure women and girls with false promises of well paid work in cities or marriage to rich husbands.
iv. Debt bondage: Traffickers provide economic incentives and financial loans to parents who bind their children into sex slavery or other exploitative forms of labor. Debt terms are often ill-defined.
2.2.2 The Concept of Child Abuse
A child means every human being below the age of 18 years. The “word” child is also defined different in different cultures and the definition may not be based on the age (world Health Organization). The Oxford Advanced learners Dictionary (New 7th edition) defines child abuse as the crime of harming a child in a physical sexual, or emotional way. The centre disease control (CDC) defines child abuse as the physical sexual or emotional maltreatment or neglect of a child. The organization also listed four major categories of child abuse which include physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect of child or child neglect and emotional abuse.
Physical Abuse
Physical abuses is any non accidental injury to a child such as hitting, kicking slapping, shaking burning being, through and paddling, it comes in numerous degrees and firms. Uzoeze (2005) asserts that one of the most extreme forms of physical abuses is the murder of infants, Calvert (1993) opines that physical abuse is characterized by physical injury, for example bruise and feature resulting from punching, kicking, birthing etc.
Sexual Abuse
Sexual abuse is a form of child abuse which an adult or older adolescent abuses a child for sexual stimulation. It act aimed towards the physical gratification or the financial profit of the person
community the act. Platt (2002) observes that thousands of children are sexually abused daily. Globally sexual abuse is seen as the worst kind of gender based violence.
Child Neglect
Child neglect is generally defined as an act of commission of children, specially the failure of parent or person legally responsible for child welfare to provide for his/her basic needs and proper level of care with medical attention or supervision.
According to Uzoeze (2005) child neglect could jeopardize the Childs physical intellectual or emotional development. Opera (2001) confirms that in Nigeria hundreds of children is seen selling varies of things ranging from groundnuts to vegetable oil when they should have been at school learning. Opera on the following reasons why children works:
i. Poverty
ii. Family tradition
iii. Parental wish
iv. Home condition and,
v. Migration of children from rural to urban areas in search of work etc.
2.2.3. The Concept of Child Labor
Child labor is defined as any behavior directed towards a child by the parents guardians and other family members or another adult that endanger a child physical or emotional development. Child labor generally refers to any economic activities performed by a person under the age of 15 (international labor organization 1999).
Child labor therefore relates to the following:
(1) Prostitution
(2) Domestic work
(3) Agricultural labor
Wikipedia (2009) defines prostitution as the act of reengaging in sex act for hire, prostitution of children refers to children haring sexual intercourse for money.
Domestic labor refers to a situation where people performs domestic task in the home of the third party employer. Such jobs are more often than not taken by people from economically backgrounds where child domestic labor is exploitative and include trafficking slavery or practices similar to slavery or work.
Agricultural labor refers to physical work in farms the employment of child regular and sustained labor in farms is a common phenomenon in the African continent.
Owasanoye (2005) views agricultural activities as potentially destabilizing to the children engaged in it as it causes them to be taken out of school during the planting or harvesting seasons. Herding of cattle forcing them to be moved from one place to another unable to settle down in a formal school environment in spite of the nomadic education system. According to VILICEF in Babar (2003), estimated 2000 children are trafficked in West and central African each year to work on cocoa plantations and in other types of harsh agricultural work where children from those countries would not be used.
2.2.4 The Concept of Mass Media
Mass media are channels of communication that involve transmitting of information in some way shape or form to large numbers of people. They include broadcast media and print media.
According to Robert (1995) the mass media can be used to present one section of community to another in other to correct mis-information malediction. It can be used to reduce an ignorance of another way of life. In the view of Merfix (1990) “the mass media can contribute to people awareness of potentialities, dissatisfaction and collective power among people.
Mass media encourage and ginger people to achieve their goals or the goals of the society by promoting such goals in the media and stimulating the aspirations and activities of the people towards achieving such goals (Okun 1999 pp. 17.7). Thousands of children stayed greed to the television set or hours every day and television itself is powerful and can run public reputation. Hurblock (1998) classified mass media to include books, newspaper, magazines, movies, internet and the explosion of digital communication technology in the 20th and 21st century. In his opinion Mc Qvaiel classified the popular mass media as:
(i) Print pamphlet newspaper (15th century)
(ii) Recoding tapes, CD, DVD (19th century)
(iii) Concern – It started from about 1900
(iv) Radio – it stated from about 1910
(v) Radio – It started from about 1950
(vi) Internet – It started in 1990
Almost everyone gets his or her information about world, national and local affairs from the mass media. This fact gives both print and broadcast journalism important functions that include influencing public opinion, determining the political agenda, providing a link between the government watchdog, and affecting socialization.
Public Opinion
The mass media not only report the results of public opinion surveys conducted by outside organizations but also increasingly incorporate their own polls into their news coverage. More important newspapers and television help shape public opinion as well. Research has shown that the positions Americans take on critical issues are influenced by the media, especially when the media air divergent views and provide in-depth analysis.
Political Agenda
The term political agenda is broader in scope than the term public opinion, and it refers to the issues Americans think are the most important and that government needs to address. A persons perception of such matters as crime, civil rights, the economy, immigration, and welfare are affected by the manner and extent of media coverage.
Link between the Government and the people
The mass media is the vehicle through which the government informs, explains and tries to win support for its programmes and policies.
Government Watchdog
For muckraking early in the country to today’s investigative reporting, an important function of the mass media is to bring to the attention of the people evidence of competition, abuse of power, and ineffective policies and programmes.
IF YOU CAN'T FIND YOUR TOPIC, CLICK HERE TO HIRE A WRITER»
