CHILD LABOUR AS ‘INDECENT WORK’

The Child Rights Act should be enforced

As Nigerians join the rest of the world to mark the 2024 Labour Day with the theme, ‘Social Justice and Decent Work’, it is important for the authorities to pay attention to the findings from the latest survey by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on child labour in the country. Four out of every 10 children in Nigeria, according to the NBS, are trapped in child labour which cannot be described as ‘decent work’. The report, ‘Nigeria Child Labour Survey 2022,’ done in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) noted that over 24 million out of the 62.9 million children between five and 17 years were engaged in child labour, while 617,503 people were in forced labour with no opportunity to exit.

The report established that children aged five to 14 years accounted for 39.7 per cent of the incidents, while those aged between 15 and 17 years accounted for 37.3 percent of minors in forced labour. Child labour is prevalent among boys, and predominant in the agriculture sector followed by services and industry. Besides, the prevalence of child labour is higher in rural areas, with the Southeast and Northeast regions recording the highest incidents. We urge the relevant authorities to pay attention to this malaise that threatens the future of our children.

Unfortunately, most of the children engaged in child labour are deprived, and from poor homes. Indeed, poverty is the underlining reason for child labour, forced or otherwise. Some 133 million Nigerians out of a population of about 200 million live below the poverty line and most of them are children. More than 20 million children are out of school, just as many are stunted and underweight because of poor nutrition. They are forced into the farms or streets to eke out a living. In a recent survey by the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), six out of every 10 Nigerian children suffer some forms of physical, emotional, or sexual violence before attaining the age of 18.

More worrisome is the fact that the situation will likely worsen because of the prevailing economic crisis in the country. Many parents are out of jobs while those who are working are also finding it increasingly difficult to meet the needs of their children. The social disharmony in many Nigerian homes has become a veritable threat to the survival of the family institution. Even though the Child Rights Act has been domesticated in almost all the states, its provisions are hardly enforced. Child marriage, child trafficking, child labour and rape of underage boys and girls are on the increase in many parts of the country. This crisis is exacerbated in the North-east of the country by the insurgency that has lasted more than a decade. With many of their parents killed or maimed, children resort to anything, including begging to survive.

With the UN setting a target of eradicating extreme poverty by 2030, there are questions for the authorities in our country. What can Nigeria do to ensure that extreme poverty among the populace is reduced drastically? Are the relevant stakeholders worried that in this age and time Nigeria is topping the list of countries with malnourished children aside from the fact that most of them are increasingly becoming victims of modern-day slavery, prostitution, and dangerous forced labour?

As we salute Nigerian workers and the tremendous contributions they have made to the development of the country, government, at all levels, must review the subsisting poverty reduction policies within Nigeria and elsewhere, and design a strategy that would steer the nation towards the World Bank goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030. We must also put an end to child labour in Nigeria.

 We wish all Nigerian workers happy May Day