By Cross Udo, Abuja
Nigeria’s First Lady, Aisha Buhari, yesterday lamented that the country is getting more victims of child labour despite her intervention through her Future Assured project.
Speaking in Abuja at the National Children Conference in commemoration of the 2022 World Day against Child labour (WDACL), the First Lady said the circumstances leading to child labour still subsist in the country.
Buhari, who was represented by the First Lady of Kwara State, Olufolake Abdulrazaq, said that the eradication of child labour required 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 her, “Child labour remains a major threat to child development in Nigeria, despite legislative measures taken by the government at various levels to curb it.
“In its efforts to reduce the incidence of child labour, the government is implementing vigorously the National Children School Feeding Programme which is the major plank of the battle to fight Child Labour, increasing children’s school enrolment and preventing children dropping out of schools.
“Worthy of note too is the adoption of the child rights law and other protective laws by governments at the state level as also playing a critical role in militating against child labour.
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“My Future Assured as you know has done very much in this regard, especially through advocacy. I call on us all to do more because we are getting more victims and also the circumstances leading to child labour still subsist.
“The eradication of child labour however requires 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.”
She said that the event provided 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.
In his keynote address, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige said that Nigeria has made remarkable efforts in dealing with the menace of child labour.
He said, “As a country, we take pride in stating that considerable efforts have been made in dealing with this menace.
“Most notably the adoption and ratification of ILO Conventions 138 and 182 on Minimum Age and Worst forms of Child Labour respectively; 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 Slavery, and Human Trafficking in workplaces spearheaded by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment.
“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 National Action Plan.
“Despite all these, we require more collaboration and partnerships to confront the task ahead of us.
“Therefore, this year’s theme tagged ‘Universal Social Protection to End Child Labour’ is essentially a call for more investments in social protection systems to create a strong protection base that will keep children away from Child Labour.
“As we reflect on the progress being made so far, let us also not lose sight of the importance of providing safety nets for children in vulnerable conditions.
The Minister, who appreciated the Social Partners and development partner the International Labour Organisation, ILO, for their continued support and commitment, noted that global estimates have shown that child labour is on the rise; with an increase from 152 million to 160 million between 2016 and 2020.
Ngige said inadequate social protection strategy was being addressed through empowerment Programmes such as the provision of soft loans to cooperative societies by the Central Bank of Nigeria, the National Directorate of Employment, and other organisations.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Kachollom Daju in her opening remarks informed that the gathering was the third and the grand finale of the year 2022 commemoration of WDACL.
She urged the children, to flee from all actions that promote violence that can compromise the security as a people and as a nation.
In her welcome remarks, the Director, ILO Country Office for Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Liaisons Office for ECOWAS, Vanessa Phala, said 1.5 billion children worldwide between the ages of zero to 14 receive no family or child cash benefits and that more than 160 million children are still engaged in child labour.
