On an hour and a half flight from Accra to Abuja, anxiety grabbed me on my first trip to one of Africa's beautiful cities, but at Nandiajikiway International Airport, Nigerian immigrants seized me for about three hours to burst my bubble.
My warrant for seizing at the airport is a mandatory requirement for electronic landing cards and passenger scores from Nigerian immigration website with very weak internet connection applied for it.
For about 3 hours I was unable to advance online online on the immigration website and inland at the airport.
After solving that challenge through the intervention of a woman who was asked to help passengers apply for electronic landing cards, Anthony, a gentle and friendly immigration officer who stamped my passport a few metres away from that section, led me to hope.
Their meeting with electronic landing cards and executive Anthony presented me with the two worlds of migration in Africa.
That harsh reality will later unfold vividly at the Chelsea hotel in Abuja. There, the West African Journalist Union and Association leaders met on the topic for two days.
ILO Media Toolkit
Lack of information to help make appropriate decisions can affect migrant labor in many ways, as experienced at airports.
The ILO Media Toolkit on forced labor and fair recruitment in the ECOWAS region provides remedies in that regard by enabling it to address its needs in that respect.
The Media Toolkit, drafted by the International Labour Organization (ILO), is located in five modules that guide journalists on labor migrant reporting.
The module details important issues surrounding forced labour and fair recruitment. Information gathering methods, storytelling style and skills.
In fact, the Media Toolkit provides a true manual for journalists, journalism trainers and students, clearly setting the content and context needed to address the labor transition in a useful, educational and impactful way.
With the incorporation of several recommended amendments, the release of the ILO Media Toolkit on forced labour and fair recruitment in the ECOWAS region is extremely useful in dealing with such horrifying labour migrants.
Purpose of the workshop
The two-day regional verification workshop will be held by the ILO Regional Office in West Africa, in collaboration with partners such as the African Federation (FAJ), and is considering exposing participants to the ILO Draft Media Toolkit.
ILO interventions are based on the belief that media play a “strong and profound” role in shaping the general understanding of migration, recruitment and labour exploitation.
“Your words can amplify the voices of people that are too unprecedented and shed light on the darkest corners of the labor market,” says Dr. Venessa Phala, country director of the ILO offices in Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
Through the representative, the ILO Country Director points out that forced labor and unfair recruitment practices do not only violate basic labor and human rights. “They strip people of dignity, protection and opportunity for decent work.”
“But these abuses continue to last and are often hidden in obvious vision,” she adds.
According to Dr. Phala, the ILO Media Toolkit on Forced Labour and Fair Recruitment in the ECOWAS Region provides practical resources to help media to clarify the accuracy, sensitivity and impact of the reality of forced labor and unfair recruitment.
The African Federation of Journalists is promoting the ILO agenda on forced labour and fair recruitment reporting, as they consider labour migrants to be the subject of public interest journalism.
“These are important stories for our continental communities, our families, and our continent's future. They are about people who are not essential without choosing their home.”
The FAJ president has established an order to report labor migrants, saying, “We want to see African journalists at the heart of this story. It's time for us to shape the story of African labor migrants from our own perspective so that our experiences are not misrepresented or misunderstood.”
Another major partner of the ILO, Giz, a project under Ghana's European Employment Centre Migration, Giz, is excited to contribute to shaping the narrative for regular migration.
Dr. Lillian Amankwa Fobi Asia, technical advisor at the Centre, said her organization “is committed to ensuring regular, orderly and safe migration and we believe that potential immigrants will provide accurate information to make informed decisions in their usual form.”
As a journalist, journalism trainer and human rights activist, the ILO initiative will go a long way in making journalists more aware of the challenges of labor migrants, so that information availability helps secure an e-Exit card for a smooth check-in to return to Accra before arriving at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport.
The author is the general secretary of the Association of Ghana Journalists and Lecturer of Communications at Wisconsin International University University. Email: kofiyebe@yahoo.com
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Disclaimer: The opinions, comments, opinions, contributions and statements by readers and contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policies of Multimedia Group Limited.
