ILO Raises Alarm, Says Over 24 Million Nigerian Children Engaged In Child Labour

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has said that the country is witnessing an upsurge in child labour activities.

Quoting current statistics, the organisation said that Nigeria has over 24 million children engaged in one form child labour or the other.

According to ILO’s child labour situation index in Nigeria, 31,756,302 million children representing 50.5% are involved in economic activities, while 24,673, 485 million children, representing 39.2 percent are engaged in child labour practices.

The index also showed that 14,390, 353 million children representing 22.9 percent are engaged in hazardous labour.

Citing a 2021 Global child labour report released by ILO and UNICEF she said it showed a global increase of child labour prevalence by 8.4 million reaching a staggering 160 million.

Country Director of ILO in Nigeria, Vanessa Phala who was represented by the National Project Manager of ILO’s programme initiative – Action Against Child Labour in Agriculture in West Africa (ACLAWA), Dr. Agatha at a 4-day Media Training Workshop on Child Labour eradication organised by ACLAWA in Akwanga in Nasarawa state that ended over the weekend, said that child labour has unfortunately been woven into the fabric of rural life in Nigeria, particularly within agricultural communities.

She said the scourge of child labour is being driven by poverty, as families often rely on children to contribute to the family’s well-being and survival.

Phala said that children are increasingly exposed to harsh experiences of life as their parents find it difficult to provide their needs.

The ILO director said that on a national scale Nigeria has more boys (12,689,663) than girls (11,983,822) exploited in the workplace, but when accessed by place of residence, we have more girl victims in the urban and more boys in the rural areas.

According to Phala, “Nigeria has 30 percent of the population of children aged 15-17 that are out of school while 22.4 percent of children aged 5-14 are also out of school.

“When asked reasons for being out of school: 9.5 percent stated that education is not considered important, 12.6 percent could not afford it, 16.2 percent not interested in school, 19.1 percent reported their families does not allow, 24.6 percent reported that they do not have school in their communities or that the schools are too far or that they do not have teachers in their schools.

“Agriculture remains the branch of economy with the highest child labour prevalence at 56.8 percent followed by services at 25.8 percent and industry at 17.4 percent.

“Children from poorer families and whose household head are less educated are more likely to be in child labour”.

While speaking on the reason for the training workshop, Kolawole said that statistics on the prevalence of child labour in Nigeria showed an alarming increase.

She said the implementation of ACLAWA project is being supported by the United States government through Department of Labour to assist Nigeria in tackling the incidence of child labour.

“Based on the report that child labour in the agricultural sector is the highest in Nigeria, the project was targeted at engaging farmers on ways to curb the menace.

She said that ILO believes that the media is playing a very critical role in reaching out to the general public and trying to ensure behavioural change regarding child labour.

According to her, the media is also expected increase public awareness on the hazards of child labour especially at the community level.

Kolawole further said that the Media is being encouraged to help target our policy makers and government leaders swiftly on need for the enactment of the Labour Standards Bill. 

The ACLAWA Project Manager said that there is an urgent need to have a legal framework that meets the international standards, adding that there are gaps in current Labour Act which should be addressed.

“In 2012, the National Steering Committee conducted a hazardous child labour list survey, identifying the various factors attached to child labour and some certain jobs that children actually do. Based on the recommendations of the ILO convention, there should be a Hazardous Child Labour List, backed up by law for enforcement,” she said.

According to Kolawole, the existing Labour Act does not have such provisions, hence the need for the new Labour Standard Bill.

When asked to give assessment of the efforts being made by various governments, she said a lot more needs to be done especially by state governments to eradicate child labour in the country.

Head, Child Labour, Forced Labour, Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery Unit, Inspectorate Department of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Mrs. Tessy Odoh, said that Nigeria is hoping to at least drastically reduce child labour occurrence if not eliminate it by 2025.

Highlights of the training workshop included an evaluation of government efforts and policies for the elimination of Child Labour and various challenges.

Also, participants undertook a field work where they went into the streets of Akwanga and identified some children involved in various aspects of child labour, including hawking, Vehicle mechanic, motor cycle repairs and metal wielding.

Onyebuchi Ezigbo

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