By Hameedah Oladimeji
World Child Labour Day is observed on June 12th every year to raise awareness about the plight of millions of children around the world who are forced into labour at a young age.
This coincidentally falls Democracy Day in Nigeria to restore the commemoration of Democracy in 1999. In Nigeria, child labour remains a pervasive issue despite the existence of laws and regulations aimed at protecting children’s rights.
Child Labour, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, refers to work for which children are either too young or that may be physically or
psychologically injurious to their health and well-being.
This prevents them from having a normal childhood experience and even education.
Child Rights ACT (2003) prohibits child labour and sets the minimum age for employment at 15 years. However, the implementation of this law has been lacking, leading to widespread violations of children’s rights in the country.
According to a report by the International Labour Organization (ILO), Nigeria has one of the highest rates of child labour in Africa, with an estimated 15 million children engaged in various forms of work.
The Nigeria Child Labour Survey 2022 after a thorough examination of the variables surrounding child labor in the nation. With 16,418 houses covered and coordination with key stakeholders, the survey finds that 30.3% of Nigeria’s population, or approximately 62.9 million children aged 5 to 17, reside in the country.
The poll highlights the complex connection between education, child labor, and children’s wellbeing.
Although a considerable proportion of children between the ages of 5 and 14 attend school full-time, an alarming 35.3% of them balance employment with their studies.
The percentage of 15 to 17-year-olds who are only employed increases to 21.9%, highlighting the difficult obstacles Nigeria’s youth face in getting access to school and being shielded from exploitation.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in its report titled, Nigeria Child Labour and Forced Labour Survey 2022″ says about 50.5 per cent of Nigerian children, aged between 5 and 17, are engaged in economic activities.
According to a research carried out by the bureau, over 24 million Nigerian Children are working as minors with an estimate of about 14.3 million of them doing risky jobs.
In a report published by Tribune Online in April, 2024 on the list of Top 10 States in Nigeria struggling with child labour, Cross Rivers states topped the list with 67.4% of children involved in Child labour, this is followed by Yobe state with 62.6% of children engaged in child labour, followed by Abia State with 60.1%, Plateau with 58.9%, Taraba with 58.6%, Ebonyi with 56.2%, Imo with 64.2%, Kogi with 54.4%, Bauchi with 53.3%, and finally Akwa Ibom ranking 10th with 52.5%.
Even though the Child Rights Act was established in 2003 in Nigeria, only 24 out of 36 states have adopted this act as a state law.
On 19th of December, 2023, Kwara State which had adopted the act in 2009, inaugurated the Child Right Implementation Committee to protect Child rights in the state.
One of the most common forms of child labour in Nigeria is domestic servitude, where children are forced to work in households under exploitative conditions. Many of these children are subjected to physical and emotional abuse, denied access to education, and forced to work long hours without proper compensation.
In some cases, children are trafficked from rural areas to urban centers and forced to work in hazardous industries such as mining and agriculture. In February, 2022, a woman was arrested by the Kwara State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC for allegedly involved in human trafficking and child labour.
The 58 years old Modupe Bello was arrested in her residence in Bacita, in Edu Local Government of Kwara State for being in possession of three teenagers who were not her children. One of the Children, Damilola was reportedly missing after Modupe visited her parents and asked them to release their daughter to her, a request she was denied.
The command also found in her possession, photographes of other children, suspected to have been trafficked by Modupe.
A more recent example is the case of eighteen children who were recently rescued on the 2nd of April, 2024, after they were abducted and trafficked from Kwara State to Lagos state by the Leader of a syndicate for child labour.
The Children were between eight and fourteen years of age. Investigations revealed that the Leader of the syndicate, a woman called Alimot Haruna had illegally brought in Forty-two children from Kwara State to Lagos for child labour without the consent of their parents and had been on the radar of the police since January, 2024 before she was arrested
.
One of the most common child rights abuse in Kwara State is the use of children to hawk different products, depriving them from having access to good education. Although, the present administration of Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq has been working towards reducing out-of-school children.
At the 2023 United Nations General Assembly in New York, the Governor said the learning deprivation in Kwara public schools has reduced from 70.8% to 51.6% due to the establishment of KwaraLEARN.
Kwara LEARN is a data-driven solution aimed at digitally transforming the educational sector in the state. This is an initiative which every State Governor in Nigeria should adopt and ensure every child in the Country gets access to standard education.
To address the issue of child labour in Nigeria, the government must take concrete steps to enforce existing laws and regulations, increase awareness about the rights of children, and provide support services for victims of child labour.
Civil society organizations and international partners also play a crucial role in advocating for the rights of children and holding perpetrators accountable for their actions.
On this World Child Labour Day 2024, let us renew our commitment to protecting the rights of children in Nigeria and around the world.
Every child deserves the chance to grow up in a safe and nurturing environment, free from exploitation and abuse. It is our collective responsibility to ensure that all children have the opportunity to reach their full potential and lead fulfilling lives.
