From Right: Chizoba Ogbeche, Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) Vice President, Zone D; Betty Abah, Founder of CeeHope,Annah Daniel, NAWOJ Trustee, Zone D; Nkeiru Okeke. Secretary, NAWOJ FCT Chapter, during a Consultative Meeting with the Media on Domestic Workers’ Rights Campaign in Abuja on Thursday.
By Chesa Chesa
Stakeholders in the media and civil society have called for stronger collaboration to protect the rights and welfare of domestic workers in Nigeria, as concerns grow over widespread abuse, child labour and the absence of formal labour protections for the sector.
The call was made on Thursday in Abuja at a one-day Media Consultative Meeting on the Domestic Workers’ Rights Campaign, organised by the Centre for Children’s Health Education, Orientation and Protection (CEE-HOPE Nigeria) in collaboration with the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), Zone D.
The meeting focused on the critical role of the media in advancing the human and labour rights of domestic workers, including advocacy for their unionisation and integration into Nigeria’s mainstream labour movement.
Speaking at the meeting, the Executive Director of CEE-HOPE Nigeria, Ms Betty Abbah, said the organisation had been engaging key stakeholders on the Domestic Employers and Workers Documentation and Protection Bill, which has already been passed by the Senate.
“We have been consulting widely on the bill and are hopeful that the House of Representatives will also pass it. That is why we decided to interact with the media, which greatly influences society,” Abbah said.
She described domestic workers as the most abused category of workers in the country, noting that Nigeria has an estimated four million domestic workers, the largest number in Africa.
“Many of them are under 18 years of age. Some are as young as seven years and work 24 hours a day, unlike in some climes where domestic workers work nine to five,” she said.
Abbah stressed the need for domestic workers to organise and form unions to enable collective bargaining, improved wages and better welfare conditions.
“South Africa has a domestic workers’ union. There is a need for domestic workers in Nigeria to have unions for collective pay bargaining and other welfare considerations. We are creating consciousness around this, and we are succeeding,” she said, adding that CEE-HOPE Nigeria also campaigns strongly against child labour.
In her remarks, the National Vice-President of NAWOJ, Mrs. Chizoba Ogbeche, said women must be at the forefront of the campaign because the majority of domestic workers are women and girls.
“Unfortunately, many of them are abused by fellow women and girls. This needs to change, bearing in mind that these people grow into adults with a psyche of abuse,” she said.
Ogbeche lamented that media reports on abuses against domestic workers are often not followed through, with prosecutions stalled or abandoned.
She urged journalists and the public to go beyond trainings and workshops and see themselves as advocates for change.
“Mindsets need to change. Domestic workers are not slaves,” she said, calling on religious leaders to also use their influence to promote respect and dignity for domestic workers through their sermons.
Participants at the meeting agreed that sustained media engagement and public advocacy are essential to ending abuse, promoting legislative reforms and ensuring decent work conditions for domestic workers across Nigeria.
