It should be noted that there was a time when child trafficking was a huge menace in Nigeria, and the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) was established to stem the tide or wipe it out. It is now incumbent upon the executive and legislative branches of government to take note and urgently work toward enacting a law to address this crisis. In this regard, labor laws and protections have been introduced in countries like the Philippines, Indonesia, and South Africa, specifically for domestic workers. These include minimum wage requirements, paid leave, and protection from abuse.
Incidentally, Nigeria has just approved a minimum wage of N70,000 for workers, and Senate President Godswill Akpabio recently stated that it applies to domestic workers. However, there is a need for clarification by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and relevant government agencies on the status of domestic workers, as the current minimum wage law applies only to employers with more than fifteen employees.
Arising from the above reality, the proposed agency would be dedicated to the training and support of domestic workers. Some countries already offer training and support for both domestic workers and employers to promote healthy relationships, conflict resolution, and cultural understanding. In some jurisdictions, domestic workers also require psychological evaluations to identify potential mental health issues before placement.
Help or efforts to resolve the challenge does not have to come solely from the government. Based on a brief research that I conducted on the matter, community-based initiatives and support groups could help address socio-economic factors and provide a safety net for domestic workers. In that regard, churches and mosques are relevant and have critical roles to play. Most importantly, there is an urgent need to step up law enforcement and prosecution of cases involving domestic worker violence against employers to serve as a deterrent.
Examples of successful initiatives include:
The revelations above are enough justification for some initiatives focused on better management of domestic workers with a view to minimizing the rising spate of killings of their employers to be adopted in Nigeria. In the Philippines, which is the number one country in the world for sending domestic workers abroad (and one of the top three countries with the highest foreign exchange remittances), there is an agency known as the ‘Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).’ It has brought order to the domestic worker sector. Similarly, Singapore has implemented a maid levy and training requirements to regulate the activities of domestic workers. It has proven to be efficacious.
In the USA, the ‘National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA)’ ensures that there is proper oversight in this area.
Given the critical role that domestic workers, such as security guards, housemaids, and drivers play in society and our households, especially when they work closely with our loved ones—parents or children—their activities should be monitored, as other countries have done. This is the crux of the discourse, and I hope the point has been sufficiently made that our government needs to awaken to its responsibility by providing safeguards for managing these existential issues. Although they may seem innocuous, these issues can have disruptive and catastrophic effects on society.
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Some readers may wonder why I have decided to shed light on such a sensitive issue, which some would prefer to leave in the dark corners of their minds as it evokes sorrow and grief. In other words, why open old wounds?
My response is that I share the pains of the families of the victims of domestic workers violence.
In 2017, I suffered the tragedy of losing my 18 years old adorable daughter, Kikaose Ebiye-Onyibe, who was on track to graduate as a lawyer from the University of Birmingham in England. Her sudden passage which was a result of a badly performed surgery for appendix in Gold Cross Hospital, now Lagoon Hospital on Bourdilon Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, had a profound effect on me and my family.
Since I did not want a similar tragedy to happen to other families owing to ignorance and not having anyone to advocate for potential victims as a patients in hospitals, I shared my family’s sad experience in a book titled, ‘Beyond Loss and Grief. The Story of Kikaose Ebiye-Onyibe, a Survivor’s Manual for Coping with the Loss of a Child’.
It is a personal memoir which I believe helped to shine light on the painful experience of grief. In a chapter, titled, ‘United In Grief’, I listed prominent and ordinary Nigerians including a president, governors and musicians as well as sports enthusiasts who lost their young children under tragic circumstances.
It is my hope that I would achieve a similar goal with this media intervention aimed at gingering the authorities into taking actions to end the rising tide of domestic workers killing their employers before another such avoidable tragedy befalls another family.
• Magnus Onyibe, an entrepreneur, public policy analyst, author, democracy advocate, development strategist, alumnus of Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, Massachusetts, USA and a former Commissioner in Delta State government, sent this piece from Lagos, Nigeria.
To continue with this conversation and more, please visit www.magnum.ng
