BY OLUFISOYE ADENITAN
As Nigeria joined the rest of the world to mark the 2024 World day against child labour, the National Bureau of Statistics , NBS says 39 percent of Nigeria children are into Child labour.
With this development, stakeholders are calling for deliberate efforts to tackle this menace through the political will of government at all levels.
Olufisoye Adenitan in this special report examines the impact of child labour on children.
Over the past years, conflicts, Crisis, and COVID 19 Pandemic have plunged families into poverty and forcing millions of children into child labour.
Economic policies put in place have been counter productive affecting many families and communities and making children vulnerable to child labor
With the adoption of the sustainable development goals of Target 8 and 7, the international community says it is committed to the elimination of child labor in all its forms by 2025.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics with the support of ILO In Nigeria, More than 62.9 million children representing 30.3 percent of the population living in rural communities are vulnerable to child labor.
On the gender dynamic, 62.2 percent of girls are more compelled to hard labor through performing household chores compared to 50.8 percent of boys
This reflected how four in 10 children are trapped in child labor .
In Ondo state, the Child Rights Act has been domesticated while guardians and parents are expected to be aware of the consequences of engaging children in child labor.
In a submission, the Country Director of, Westminster Foundation for Democracy, Mr. Adedamola Olorunmola identified poverty as the greatest single force driving children into the workplace .
Mr Olorunmola pointed out that the recent upturn in the economic situation in Nigeria had also pushed more children into the streets to fend for their families,a situation he described as criminal and gross abuse of human rights
Similarly, the executive director , global Awareness for Healthy Living initiative Mrs Margaret Adebayo called on the government at all levels to Complement policies that would punish parents forcing their wards into child labour while education should be made affordable and accessible .
An Akure based legal practitioner, Mrs Bolanle Afolabi disclosed that the Vapp law had been domesticated to address gross abuses of the rights of persons, especially children.