I heard of slavery in Libya and people's reaction towards the ugly development. The question is 'has slavery actually been eradicated?'
If your answer is yes, then you are WRONG. Having keenly observed the magnitude of human resources abuse in the banking sector of the Nigerian economy, I have come to realise that Africa's most dreaded enemy of so many centuries ago (slave trade), still dwells among us.
The unfortunate and unprecedented increase in unemployment rate in this geographical entity called BUHARILAND, orchestrated by corruption and bad leadership has given so much opportunities to some greedy and self seeking individuals (in the guise of banking) to take advantage of our promising, vibrant but desperate job-seeking graduates in order to actualize their selfish financial desires. Do you call it brain - drain? That's your choice of words.
Ponder on this scenario:
In a typical branch of a certain commercial bank in Nigeria, out of between 25- 30 staff (depending on the size of the branch) only 4 are full-time employees of the bank, popularly referred to as CORE staff. I call them slave masters. The rest are 'Neo-slaves'. These are closely supervised and regimented amidst constant threat of sack, even with their strong university degrees. A neo-slave works from 7am till 7pm, Mondays to Fridays, sometimes Sundays and must submit his/her mobile phones before clinching his/her work cubicle.
They are put through the rigour of work as their failure is tantamount to the failure of the entire bank. They are on the driving seats of the bank's operations and services across all branches and their performance is used to measure the performance of their masters. If a 'Neo-slave' fails on his/her duties, the effect is felt even in the head office of the bank. This is an indication that this category of staff are the very tools the bank uses to achieve her fundamental corporate goal---profit maximisation.
Ironically, and most unfortunately, neo-slaves are paid a salary package that is only enough to feed a family of two for 15 days. A peanut, an onion salary - you grab it, you open it and you cry. The same way a slave (in the ancient times) would be given a quantity of food just enough to keep him strong to till the master's field. The same way a dog would be given a "chop" of the very meat it brings from the bush. They are major stakeholders in times of planting and foriegners in times of harvest.
Monkey dey work, baboon dey chop.
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