Eki Igbinedion

Last updated
Eki Igbinedion
First Lady of Edo State
'
29 May 1999 29 May 2007
Personal details
Born4 August 1959
Benin City, Edo State
Spouse Lucky Igbinedion
Parent(s)Pa Benjamin Norense and Mrs. Grace Iyonawan Oyemwense
Alma mater Boston University

Eki Igbinedion (born 4 August 1959) is the former First Lady of Edo State [1] and wife of Lucky Igbinedion, the Former Governor of Edo State. Eki Igbinedion founded Idia Renaissance, a non governmental civil society organization based in Edo State, with the aim of combating human trafficking, including reception of victims of human trafficking. [2]

Contents

Early life and education

Princess Eki Igbinedion was born into a royal family of Prince and Princess Oyemarense in Benin City, the capital city of Edo State. She attended Boston University in the United States of America where she obtained a bachelor's degree in economics. [3] [ non-primary source needed ]

Pet Projects

Being the First Lady of Edo State, Eki Igbinedion undertook some pet projects to help the less privilege and also help solve some societal problems in the state. In 1999, she established the Idia Renaissance to help address the issue of sex and human trafficking in Edo State. [4] [5] She also founded the Edo Underprivileged Children Scholarship Trust Funds with the goal of providing scholarships to the less privilege in the state.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benin City</span> Capital city of Edo State, Nigeria

Benin City is the capital and largest city of Edo State, Nigeria. It is the fourth-largest city in Nigeria according to the 2006 census, after Lagos, Kano, and Ibadan. It is situated approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) north of the Benin River and 320 kilometres (200 mi) by road east of Lagos. Benin City is the centre of Nigeria's rubber industry, and oil production is also a significant industry.

With respect to human trafficking, Saudi Arabia was designated, together with Italy, Japan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Germany, Greece, Croatia, Israel, Iceland, Norway, and Angola, as a Tier 2 country by the United States Department of State in its 2021 Trafficking in Persons Report required by the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 on which this article was originally based. Tier 2 countries are "countries whose governments do not fully comply with the TVPA’s minimum standards, but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards". The 2021 report shows some effort by the Kingdom to address the problems, but continues to classify the Kingdom as a Tier 2 country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edo State</span> State of Nigeria

Edo, commonly known as Edo State, is a state located in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. As of 2006 National population census, the state was ranked as the 24th populated state (3,233,366) in Nigeria. The state population figures is expected to be about 8,000,000 in 2022. Edo State is the 22nd largest State by landmass in Nigeria. The state's capital and city, Benin City, is the fourth largest city in Nigeria, and the centre of the country's rubber industry. Created in 1991 from the former Bendel State, is also known as the heart beat of the nation. Edo State borders Kogi State to the northeast, Anambra State to the east, Delta State to the southeast and southsouth and Ondo State to the west.

Lucky Nosakhare Igbinedion was the governor of Edo State in Nigeria from 29 May 1999 to 29 May 2007. He is a member of the People's Democratic Party (PDP).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Idia</span> Mother of Esigie

Idia was the mother of Esigie, who reigned as Oba (king) of the Edo people from 1504 to 1550. Historians do know that Idia was alive during the Idah war because she played a role that led to a great Benin victory. It has been argued that Idia, therefore, was the true power behind the throne of her son. She played a significant role in the rise and reign of her son, being described as a great warrior who fought relentlessly before and during her son's reign as the Oba (king) of the Edo people. Queen Idia was instrumental in securing the title of Oba for her son Esigie following the death of his father Oba Ozolua. To that end, she raised an army to fight off his brother Arhuaran who was supposed to be the Oba by right and tradition but was subsequently defeated in battle. Esigie’s mother became the 17th Oba of Benin.

Turkey is a top destination for victims of human trafficking, according to a report produced by the UNDOC. Source countries for identified victims of trafficking in 2008 included Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Romania, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Indonesia, and Morocco. Notably, Russian organized crime syndicates engage in trafficking of women for prostitution, and Russian and Ukrainian women have turned up in many European countries, including Turkey. U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons placed the country in "Tier 2" in 2017.

Zimbabwe is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. Large scale migration of Zimbabweans to surrounding countries—as they flee a progressively more desperate situation at home—has increased, and NGOs, international organizations, and governments in neighboring countries are reporting an upsurge in these Zimbabweans facing conditions of exploitation, including human trafficking. Rural Zimbabwean men, women, and children are trafficked internally to farms for agricultural labor and domestic servitude and to cities for domestic labor and commercial sexual exploitation. Women and children are trafficked for domestic labor and sexual exploitation, including in brothels, along both sides of the borders with Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa, and Zambia. Young men and boys are trafficked to South Africa for farm work, often laboring for months in South Africa without pay before "employers" have them arrested and deported as illegal immigrants. Young women and girls are lured to South Africa, the People's Republic of China, Egypt, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada with false employment offers that result in involuntary domestic servitude or commercial sexual exploitation. Men, women, and children from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia are trafficked through Zimbabwe en route to South Africa. Small numbers of South African girls are trafficked to Zimbabwe for domestic servitude. The government’s efforts to address trafficking at home have increased with the introduction of the National Action Plan (NAP) as well as the 2014 Trafficking in Persons Act. In addition, the trafficking situation in the country is worsening as more of the population is made vulnerable by declining socio-economic conditions.

Chief Gabriel Osawaru Igbinedion is a Nigerian businessman and traditional aristocrat from Okada Town in Edo State. He holds the chieftaincy title of the Esama of the Benin Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edo College</span>

Edo College is a secondary grammar school in Benin City, Nigeria, the oldest in the Mid-Western Region. It was established in February, 1937 and started as the Benin Middle School with forms, I, II and III. In April 1937, the school, with a total student enrollment of 76 pupils, moved from its temporary site at the old Government School, Benin City to a permanent site, the present Idia College premises. In 1973, the school further moved from Idia College premises to its present site along Murtala Mohammed Way, Benin City. Edo state in the federal Republic of Nigeria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ovia North-East</span> LGA in Edo State, Nigeria

Ovia North-East is a Local Government Area of Edo State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Okada.

Nigeria is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children subjected to trafficking in persons including forced labour and forced prostitution. The U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons placed the country in "Tier 2 Watchlist" in 2017. Trafficked people, particularly women and children, are recruited from within and outside the country's borders – for involuntary domestic servitude, sexual exploitation, street hawking, domestic servitude, mining, begging etc. Some are taken from Nigeria to other West and Central African countries, primarily Gabon, Cameroon, Ghana, Chad, Benin, Togo, Niger, Burkina Faso, and the Gambia, for the same purposes. Children from other West African states like Benin, Togo, and Ghana – where Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) rules allow for easy entry – are also forced to work in Nigeria, and some are subjected to hazardous jobs in Nigeria's granite mines. Europe, especially Italy and Russia, the Middle East and North Africa, are prime destinations for forced prostitution.Nigerians accounted for 21% of the 181,000 migrants that arrived in Italy through the Mediterranean in 2016 and about 21,000 Nigerian women and girls have been trafficked to Italy since 2015.

Women Trafficking and Child Labour Eradication Foundation (WOTCLEF) is an anti-human trafficking organisation that attempts to stop human trafficking and child labor in Nigeria. WOTCLEF's areas of focus are: human trafficking, child labour, abuse of the rights of women and children and HIV/AIDS. The organisation helped create the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking In Persons (NAPTIP) and the Network of Civil Society Organisation Against Child Trafficking, Abuse and Labour (NACTAL).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Osasu Igbinedion</span> Chief Executive Officer of TOS TV NETWORK, Former Nigerian journalist and TV show host (born 1992)

Osasu Igbinedion Ogwuche is the CEO of TOS TV NETWORK, a PanAfrican news network. She is a former Nigerian journalist and TV show host. She is the Chief Executive Officer of TOS TV Network and the former host of The Osasu Show, a syndicated TV show focused on development, business, and politics in Nigeria and the United Kingdom.

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) is a law enforcement agency of the Federal Government of Nigeria, founded on the 14th of July, 2003 by the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act of 2003 in order to combat human trafficking and other similar human rights violations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marty Kemp</span> First Lady of Georgia

Marty Argo Kemp is the first lady of Georgia as the wife of the 83rd governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp. She leads initiatives and advocates for the passing of legislation to combat human trafficking and support youth victims of sex trafficking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slavery in Nigeria</span> Traditional slave trade in southeastern Nigeria

Slavery has existed in various forms throughout the history of Nigeria, notably during the Atlantic slave trade and Trans-Saharan trade. Slavery is now illegal internationally and in Nigeria. However, legality is often overlooked with different pre-existing cultural traditions, which view certain actions differently. In Nigeria, certain traditions and religious practices have led to "the inevitable overlap between cultural, traditional, and religious practices as well as national legislation in many African states" which has had the power to exert extra-legal control over many lives resulting in modern-day slavery. The most common forms of modern slavery in Nigeria are human trafficking and child labor. Because modern slavery is difficult to recognize, it has been difficult to combat this practice despite international and national efforts.

The Edo State Task Force Against Human Trafficking (ETAHT) is a Nigerian task force established by the Edo State Government to tackle human trafficking and irregular migration in the state, as well as the stigma that comes with it, State Task Force against human trafficking, is currently replicated in a host of southern states such as Ondo, Delta, Oyo, Lagos, Enugu, Ekiti States, etc. Prof. Yinka Omorogbe the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Edo State, is also the chairman of the task force. In the year 2017, Mr Godwin Obaseki inaugurated the state task force on anti-human trafficking. The members of the task force were inaugurated at the Government House in Benin City, the state capital. The Edo Task Force Against Human Trafficking is said to have received about 5,619 returnees from Libya en-route Europe from 2017 till date.

Idia Renaissance is a non governmental civil society organization based in Edo State, Nigeria. The organization organize activities around human trafficking, including reception of victims of human trafficking. Idia Renaissance was founded by Mrs. Eki Igbinedion, wife of Chief Lucky Igbinedion, a former governor of Edo State. In 2021, Idia Renaissance partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to create awareness on human trafficking and sexual exploitation of women girls.

The rate of Human Trafficking in Edo State is alarming in this region of Nigeria. Located in Nigeria's Southern region, Edo State accounts for the highest proportion of irregular migrants in Nigeria. Young girls in Edo state are enticed with false promises to leave Nigeria and travel abroad for a better life, by the traffickers. The traffickers in this state also use manipulation, diabolical oath and debt bondage to control their victims and force them into slavery, forced labour, sex trafficking, and organ sales.

References

  1. "Eki Igbinedion returns". Punch Newspapers. 2016-10-08. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  2. "How victims of human trafficking find succor in Idia Foundation". The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News. 2017-12-19. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  3. "IDIA RENAISSANCE || About Us". www.idia-renaissance.org. Archived from the original on 2022-01-02. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  4. Otabor, Osagie (2017-11-26). "How a Nigerian state turns the page for trafficked women". The Hindu. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  5. "Nigeria fights human trafficking with training and awareness programmes". Nigeria fights human trafficking with training and awareness programmes. Retrieved 2022-05-26.