The problem of human traffick-
ing on a global scale is still
staring us in the face. We in
Nigeria are poignantly aware of this
fact. Hardly any week passes that we
do not read or hear news of some hap-
less Nigerians, men and women, be-
ing repatriated from Libya, Italy and
other parts of Europe. One is painful-
ly aware that many Nigerians are be-
ing trafficked to other countries in the
Middle East and Asia.
I wish to place on record the fact that
many governmental and non-govern-
mental agencies in Nigeria and abroad
have been working tirelessly and
round the clock to tackle what Pope
Francis calls the “scourge” of human
trafficking. Those agencies deserve
our appreciation and commendation.
The prayer of the Pope in his mes-
sage is that “each one of us would feel
committed to being to being a voice
for our brothers and sisters who are
being humiliated in their dignity. That
is to say, all of us Nigerians who are
mercifully not victims of human traf-
ficking should spare a thought for
those who are and join forces with the
agencies that are working to remove
the scourge from the human land-
scape. That is one of the purposes that
the yearly celebration of Bakhita Day
is meant to serve; namely, to bring to
our consciousness the enduring plight
of human trafficking on our world and
the need for all hands to be on deck to
eradicate it. One thing that most of us
Nigerians can do is to pray.
Most of us Nigerians profess faith in
God and efficacy of prayer in dealing
with our problems and challenges.
Later in the year, about the middle of
the year, there will be a rally against
human trafficking.
St. Josephine Bakhita was born in
Sudan in 1869. She was kidnapped
and sold into slavery. Sold in the mar-
kets of El Obeid and Khartoum, she
experienced the physical and moral
humiliations and sufferings of slav-
ery. Bakhita was bought by an Italian
Consul Calisto Legnani. For the first
time since the day she was kidnapped,
she realized with pleasant surprise
that no one used the lash when giving
her orders, instead, she was treated
with love and cordiality.
She was later taken to Italy by the
Consul and Providence led her to the
Canossian Sisters of the Institute of
Catechumens in Venice. It was there
that Bakhita came to know about
God, whom “she had experienced in
her heart without knowing who He
was” since she was a child.
After her baptism, she experienced
the call to be a religious and to give
herself to the Lord in the Institute of
St. Magdalene of Canossa. St. Jose-
phine Bakhita died on 8th February
1947 at the Canossian Convent in
Schio surrounded by the sisters. She
was beautified on 17th May 1992 and
canonized on 1st October 2000.
