Truly slavery in its literal terms have been abolished but when I look at certain operations around the ecosystem, I cannot help but wonder if truly slavery has been abolished.
There might not be people in chains and shackles anymore but there are certain situations that many people are in that are akin to being in chains and shackles.
As long as there is a class gap in our society, slavery can not be totally abolished. It has only been rebranded and hidden in plain sight. ”What do I mean by this?” I'll explain in a bit.
I once worked in a shoe factory where the owner brought in Spanish experts to train us. He promised us a mouth watering salary but when we commenced work, he slashed the payments into three and paid us one part as against his earlier promise. His justification was that we haven't been making sales. We understood and swallowed our grievances. Then he went and cut short our break time from two hours to thirty minutes and increased our closing time from 5pm to 7pm, as against the advice of the foreign experts.
To ease our minds, he made several promises which kept us salivating and hopeful but in the end, nothing was fulfilled. I stayed in that company for almost a decade because he kept promising to raise Heaven and Earth for me as his church member but one day, the scales fell from my eyes and I left his company like some other colleagues of mine did. The highest I was ever paid was 20,000 naira and I had a full family to cater for, plus the pay was irregular and not monthly. I had to bite the gun and leave for something better and that was when it hit me that the working conditions there were similar to ancient slavery.
What do I mean…? Just follow me…
This man reduced our break time from two hours to thirty minutes and if anyone enters five minutes late from break, he or she would receive half pay for that day but would still meet up with their daily target. He made laws that no one should leave their work station for anything until break time and after break, we were to remain at our work station until closing hours which was 7pm from 5pm before. This means that if a worker was pressed and needed to use the toilet, that worker would not be allowed except if it was break or closing time. It was that strict.
The story above happened to me.
Virtually every area and sphere of life experiences modernized slavery. So long as there's someone higher in class and with more resources than the rest, the one with more money and resources would think of himself as a mini god, expecting those under him to serve before they can receive benefits from him.
In marriage, if the man is the only one bringing in money, he would demand submission from his wife and tend to control all of her affairs. If that is not slavery, then what is?
In employment, many employers only offer salaries that would be enough to feed their workers, giving them enough strength for them to continue working but such salaries are never enough for them to do something meaningful and worthwhile.
In religious circles, I have heard of many clergy who use evil prophecies to keep their members afraid and loyal and if ever those members should leave their circle, they would lay curses on them. If this is not slavery, then what is?
In the home, many rich people hire maids to help out with chores since they've become gods who can't do chores anymore. Still, they maltreat these maids who work for them, treating them far worse than the ancient slave masters ever did.
I remember many years ago when my daughter was hospitalized for a few days for treatment. A girl was sleeping on a bed next to my daughter's bed. I noticed that the girl's skin was peeled, from her shoulders down to her right hand and thighs. Being the curious cat, I asked a nurse about her case and what I heard gave me goosebumps in my spirit.
According to the nurse, she said that the girl was brought in by kind neighbours after they heard her sharp cries of help. Apparently, her madam whom she stayed with had splashed boiling hot water on her and that was what led to her skin peeling off.
Oh how I cried out of pity for the girl. According to further stories that I heard, the madam was pregnant and cranky and that was why she did it. (Hmm, shey Dem no dey slap pregnant woman ni?*)
That was highly wicked of such madam but I learnt that the case was with human rights and I calmed down.
Will there ever be a permanent solution to slavery? Maybe but it depends on us. Are we ready to be a voice of change like Martin Luther King Jr or are we going to mind our businesses just because it is not affecting us at the moment.
When we are ready to give helping hands, take risks and create more awareness of how slavery has been rebranded, then I can say that we are on the right path to curbing modernized slavery.
Thank you all for reading.
Image source: Meta Ai
