Edo state Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, on Thursday, highlighted some of his administration’s measures to tackle human trafficking, revealing that a special task force led by the newly-sworn in Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General of the state, Professor Yinka Omoregbe, would be set up to address the social malaise.
He added that the DSS, the Nigerian Police, and other security agencies would work with the task force to baulk the scourge.
This was at the 4th Edo Women’s Conference, themed ‘Modern day slavery: policies and programmes to combat/end trafficking in Edo state’, where the governor, who was special guest of honour, expressed disapproval at Edo’s involvement in the illegal trade.
Describing trafficking as “a threat to our survival as a race and as a people,” Governor Obaseki assured that his administration would do everything humanly possible to combat the problem, while also charging citizens of the state to combat the problem.
Pinpointing the causes of human trafficking, he fingered poverty, illiteracy, greed and the breakdown of the education system, especially the basic education system, as eminent culprits occasioning for the rise of the scourge.
Meanwhile, the governor explained that strategies to address the issue would include diplomatic international collaboration, economic, empowerment, education, job creation, and skill acquisition initiatives.
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Furthermore, he elucidated that other modalities were being instituted to encourage education, such as refurbishing technical and vocational schools such as Benin Technical College.
In addition, the governor expressed confidence that the Benin Technical College project, which would be completed in about 9 months, would not marginalise female students, but would encourage them to study and acquire necessary skills to become independent.
In the meantime, Governor Obaseki, has commended the Federal Government for the foresight deployed in establishing the National Institute of Construction Technology (NICT), Uromi, identifying construction as one of the challenges facing the country.
This was on Thursday, at the Edo State Government House in Benin City, where the governor received members of the institute’s governing council and management, who paid him a courtesy visit.
Governor Obaseki suggested that Nigeria could develop its own technology to construct roads, using locally sourced materials to enable cost reduction; hence, the importance of such institutions as NICT could not be overstated.
On the issue of financial assistance from the state government, he said his administration was built on truth and could not make any promises.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Governing Council of NICT, Uromi, Prof. David Adewumi, disclosed that the Institution, which was established on the 26th of July 2014, had about four programmes accredited, while calling on the state government to support the institution financially for fast-tracking development of its permanent site; accreditation of courses, and provision of utility vehicles.
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