The Federal Government has raised the alarm over the growing trend of child labour in the country.
The government raised the concern during the celebration of the 2023 World Day Against Child Labour (WDACL) when it dropped a staggering figure of 43 percent as the number of Nigerian children that are engaged in child labour.
The revelation has since become a talking point in certain quarters, with some people equating the scourge to modern day slavery.
The development also calls to mind the humanitarian work of a British crusader, William Wilberforce, who championed the campaign against slave trade in the early 19th Century.
His regard for the sanctity of human life was the driving force behind his campaign to end slavery at that time. Slavery reduced humanity to nothingness and human lives were valueless.
In fact, the society was a quintessence of the famous English philosopher, Thomas Hobbs’s picture of life in a state of nature – short, nasty, poor and brutish. So, in 1807, when an Act for the abolition of slave trade came into force, it was a big relief to most African countries, especially those that were under the British colony.
But, human beings in their wicked nature would not give up so easily. They quickly cashed in on the high level of poverty among Africans, particularly Nigerians to begin to exploit children by engaging them in chores and works meant for the adults.
The practice became so rampant that it began to assume the dimension of slavery. It may not be an outright sale of human beings for cheap labour but it has the entire semblance of that. It could be said to be slavery in disguise.
And to address the evolving ugly trend, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in 2002, declared June 12 as the WDACL. It was to focus attention on the global extent of child labour, the action and efforts needed to eliminate it, and ever since then, it has been a yearly event across the world.
Child labour deprives children of education and opportunity and stacks the odds against them securing a decent income and stable employment as adults. The celebration is intended to serve as a catalyst for the growing worldwide movement against child labour.
So, when the Federal Government, through the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Daju Kachollom, dropped the bombshell that an estimated 43 percent of Nigerian children between the ages of five and 11 actively participate in economic activities, including the worst kinds of child labour, it immediately called to mind the ugly days of slavery.
Describing child labour as a serious issue that impacts millions of young people globally, Kachollom equally noted that it violates the fundamental rights to education, health, mental and moral growth of children, as well as a childhood free from all sorts of exploitations.
The 2023 celebration, themed: “Social Justice for All. End Child Labour,” was intended to reawaken consciousness of the problem and to re-energise international movement for social justice and the abolition of child labour.
She reiterated the government’s commitment to eliminating the dangers of child labour, noting that 39 percent of the children engaged in child labour work in dangerous industries like mining, granite quarrying and building construction, as well as engage in commercial sexual exploitation, armed conflict and occasionally, becoming victims of trafficking.
Analysts are of the view that there is an urgent need to review the national policy on child labour and the national action plan on the elimination of child labour.
This, they argued, would mainstream child labour into the Labour Standards Bill, including the adoption of 15 years as the minimum age for employment of children among others.
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