Nigerian children on Tuesday held their National Children’s Conference in commemoration of the 2022 World Day Against Child Labour.
Addressing the gathering, the President of the National Children’s Parliament, Abdulkadir Abba disclosed that 65 percent of vulnerable children in Nigeria go through child labour.
He called on relevant authorities in the country to put child labour prevention mechanisms in place for children to reach their potentials.
According to a 2020 report, 15 million children are in child labour in Nigeria. This also means that this number of children who are supposed to be in school are not.
However, the Nigerian government says it has put several measures in place to address the situation though expressing concern over the high incidence in the country, warning that it would have massive implications in the near future if not properly handled.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, while addressing the conference, recalled that in 2015 world leaders gathered and adopted the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Target 8.7 in form of a call to end child labour in all its forms by 2025.
The call sought to take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour and modern day slavery, human trafficking, secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour including the recruitment and use of child soldiers.
The Minister, however, regretted that global estimates had shown that child labour was on the increase from 152 million to 160 million between 2016 and 2020.
Out of this global number. Sub-Saharan Africa recorded 19.6 percent of all African children in child labour, and a possible nine percent in hazardous work, in contrast to the continued progress being made elsewhere in the world.
“In Nigeria, child labour has become a scourge. Several children find themselves on the streets, forced to make a living with others employed in the industrial complexes, and hazardous environments.
“Statistics revealed that there are about 15 million child workers in Nigeria as at 2020, according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), with the United Nations (UN) warning that the absence of mitigating strategies could see an increase in children engaged in Child Labour by the end of 2022. This, of course, will certainly have massive implications in the near future,” the Minister said.
He noted that Nigeria had made considerable efforts in dealing with the menace with the adoption and ratification of ILO Conventions 138 and 182 on minimum age and worst forms of child labour.
Other efforts by the Nigerian government to address the situation is the passage of the Child Rights Act into law to domesticate the convention on the rights of the child, with adoption by about 30 State governments, the implementation and enforcement of National Action Plan on Child Labour, Prohibition and Elimination of Forced Labour, Modern Day Slavery and Human Trafficking in workplaces.
“Also the National Steering Committee, as well as State Steering Committees, and Desk Officers on Child Labour, were established at all levels of government and institutional levels to translate the provisions of the 5-year Plan. In spite of all these, we require more collaborations and partnerships to confront the task ahead of us”.
Dr Ngige described this year’s theme, “Universal Social Protection to End Child Labour” as essentially a call for more investment in social protection systems in order to create a strong protection base that would help keep children away from the scourge.
In a message, the wife of the Nigerian President, Mrs. Aisha Buhari advocated for a systemic approach and effective policies to strengthen social protection systems, education, and decent work opportunities for parents and caregivers to address the conditions that drive child labour.
According to Mrs. Buhari, while the event stands primarily to celebrate these children, it also provides the avenue to call for increased investment in social protection systems and schemes to establish solid social protection floors and protect children from child labour.
The Country Director of the international Labour Organisation ILO, Ms Vanessa Phala, said that 1.5 billion children worldwide, between the ages of 0-14, receive no family or child cash benefits and more than 160 million children are still engaged in child labour.
“Going by the to the 2020 Global Estimates of Child Labour, 160 million girls and boys will remain in child labour, with half of that number in hazardous work if we do not listen and act now.
“Although most children engaged in child labour are found in Agriculture (I.e 112 million) worldwide, there is evidence to show that the recruitment of child soldiers continues; and that from 2016-2020, child labour increased by 8.9 million, among children aged 5-11.
“Beyond the statistics, child labour is a real and present danger to everyone.
“Last year, as we launched the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour (IYECL) in Nigeria, our children, through their representatives at the first National Children’s Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour – the National Children’s Parliament, shared their expectations for the days, months, and indeed the years to come,” she said.
Among the requests made by the children were the eradication of hawking during school hours and a passage of the Labour Standard Bill criminalizing the list of hazardous child labour, Social Intervention Programmes to vulnerable households, the inclusion of child labour issues in the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives of private businesses, Child representation and participation among others.
In an address of welcome, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Ms. Chachollum Daju, said that the Nigerian Child, like his colleagues all over the world, has the inalienable right “to survival, to develop to the fullest, to protection from harmful influences, child molestation, child abuse, emotional abuse and exploitation, and to participate fully in family, cultural and social life” as enshrine in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
She said that the theme for this year’s World Day Against Child Labour (WDACL) “Universal Social Protection to End Child Labour” is coming at no better time than now when parents, and vulnerable people are in dire need of social protection as a result of present economic hardship and insecurity in the country.
According to Daju, “It is a globally accepted fact that Social Protection programmes reduce family poverty and vulnerability, thereby diminishing key drivers of Child Labour. It helps families to cope with economic and health shocks, reduces Child Labour and facilitates schooling.
“In the light of this, it is our sincere hope and desire that the theme and activities lined up for this year’s commemoration of World Day Against Child Labour, would stimulate and drive passion and collective action towards improving the future of Nigerian children through enhanced Social Protection”.
Appreciating Teachers for their role in molding children, the Permanent Secretary said that Teachers not only impart knowledge, but help with character building as well.
Teachers are also responsible for shaping a child’s future and making him/her a better human being. “If you can write your name, thank your teacher! Teachers, we really appreciate you”, she said.
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