By Joan Nwagwu
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) and Federal Government say they are set to release survey on evidence-based data on child labour and forced labour in the country.
Ms Vanessa Phala, the ILO Country Director for Nigeria and Ghana said this at the National Child Labour and Forced Labour Survey Validation workshop in Abuja on Monday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the workshop was organised by the ILO in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour and Employment, the ACCEL Africa Project, funded by the Netherlands Government and the National Bureau of Statistics.
According to Phala, after 22 years, Nigeria will eventually be able to comprehensively state its situation of child labour.
“For the very first time in Nigeria, we will be having data on the prevalence of forced labour, ‘’she said.
She said the last global report on child labour released by ILO and UNICEF, indicated that the number of children in child labour has risen to 160 million worldwide.
The country director noted that there was an increase of 8.4 million children compared with the last report with millions more at risk due to the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic.
“In Nigeria, you will agree with me that eradicating child labour and forced labour requires the development of monitoring infrastructure to determine and measure its magnitude, distribution, dimensions and characteristics at the national and sub-national levels.
“For this reason, the ILO through its ACCEL Africa and Map 16 projects, supported the Government to conduct the National Child labour survey.
“The National Bureau of statistics with technical support from the ILO and participation of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment have gone to the field and it’s time to see the figures,’’ she said.
Phala noted that for over the past 20 years, the ILO continued its collaboration with Nigeria, through the Ministry of Labour and Employment and other ministries, agencies and departments to eliminate child labour and protect children within the legal working age.
According to her, so many children in Nigeria are trapped in slavery, forced labour and trafficking, they are forced to participate in community conflicts; used for prostitution, pornography or in illicit activities, exploited domestic workers, among others.
“We must act urgently to protect the rights of our dear children and restore their childhood as the detail of this survey is of concern to all stakeholders.
“That is be it government, employers. workers, civil society organisation, academia, international organisations, donors. UN Agencies, parents, individuals, including the children themselves.
“We should start envisioning that change we intend to see in the next two years or seven years before the end date of the SDGs,’’ she said.
She charged all to contribute their quota to ensure that the evidence-based data on child labour and forced labour inform policy review, programming and implementation of various interventions.
Ms Daju, Kachollom, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment commended stakeholders for the conduct of the survey and their relentless efforts and commitment in the advocacy for the betterment of the Nigerian child, and the elimination of child labour.
“In Nigeria, child labour has become a scourge. Several children find themselves on the streets, forced to make a living with others employed in industrial complexes and hazardous environments.
“This is attributable to various factors such as poverty, ignorance, unemployment, absence of social security for the vulnerable, misinterpretation of cultural and religious beliefs and weak institutional framework.
“Statistics reveal that there are no fewer than 15 million child workers in Nigeria; this is according to the ILO, with the UN warning that the absence of mitigating strategies could see an exponential increase in the number of children engaged in child labour.
“As a country, however, we take pride in stating that giant strides 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, adopted by 35 state governments and the FCT,’’she said.
She noted the review and the validation of the National Policy on Child Labour and the National Action Plan on the Elimination of Child Labour, Prohibition and Elimination of Forced Labour, Modern Slavery, and Human Trafficking in workplaces, amongst other achievements.
She, therefore, urged all to remain steadfast in the fight to eliminate child labour and to achieve the Alliance 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and eliminating Child Labour in all its forms by the year 2025.
Mrs Nike Ajala, the Abuja Office Liasion Officer, Nigerian Employers Consultative Association (NECA) said NECA would continue to played a critical role in the fight for the elimination of the worst forms of child labouring the country.
Ajala said that NECA had been engaging in tripartite discussions on the issue of child labour, providing inputs into legislation and encouraging the implementation of ILO child labour conventions’ principles at national, state and enterprise levels.
“Going forward, we will continue to seek deeper collaboration with other social partners in Nigeria.
“We will also continue advocating to our employers to improve their Corporate Social Responsibility.
“This is especially to ensure that children remain in school and encouraging companies to create policies to ensure that their suppliers operate responsible businesses without child labour among others.”(NAN)