THUR, JUNE 27 2019-theG&BJournal- The menace of child labour in Nigeria has indeed become a front burner issue in the country which requires urgent attention from all and sundry. Of utmost concern are the implications and the devastating effects of child labour on both the child and the society which is better imagined.
NOIPolls, Nigeria’s leading pollster issued this statement following their recent survey on Child Labour which showed that 84 percent of Nigerians believe that the issue of child labour is prevalent in the country.
The new public opinion poll was conducted in the week commencing June, 3rd, 2019.
In Nigeria, many children are seen on a daily basis undertaking one form of labour or the other in order to make a living. Due to certain cultural and religious beliefs, some parents subject their children to child labour as a way to augment their income, others are of the opinion that it is as a result of high rate of poverty and unemployment bedevilling the country.
‘’It is worrisome that most parents are ignorant of such implications while others see it as the new norm for children to beg or hawk on the streets,’’ NOIPolls said in apparent surprise to the extent at which the issue is ignored by the authorities and families as well.
The poll showed that 8 in 10 Nigerians claimed that they normally see children engage in various forms of labour in their respective localities.
The poll revealed that children are often seen engaged in street hawking (58 percent), domestic work (11 percent) and street begging (10 percent) amongst other labour activities within their localities.
Perception on street hawking showed that it is most predominant in the Southern region (79 percent on the average) than in the Northern region (43 percent on the average). However, opinions revealed that street begging and domestic work are highest in the Northern region than in the Southern region.
Interestingly, Nigerians blamed the prevalence of child labour on poverty (58 percent), parental neglect (16 percent) and bad economy (10 percent). Moreover, most of the respondents (27 percent) from the poll recommended that more jobs should be created as the rate unemployment in the country could be a contributing factor in the issue of child labour. In addition, 21 percent suggested that government should improve the economy, 18 percent advocated for free education amongst other recommendations.
‘’It is therefore, important that the government and concerned stakeholders’ work together to tackle the issue of child labour by implementing more programmes to eradicate poverty and improve the conditions of workers. Government should also create an enabling environment for small scale businesses to thrive in Nigeria in order to improve the economy and increase the employment opportunities,’’ the pollster said.
NOIPolls noted that data from International Labour Organization (ILO) reported that the number of working children under the age of 14 in Nigeria is estimated to be 15 million.
According to the Country Director of the ILO, Dennis Zulu, during a two-days’ workshop on ACCEL Africa on Friday May 3rd in Abuja, statistics revealed that about 43 percent of children in Nigeria aged between 5 to 10 years were involved in child labour.
Some activities like street hawking, domestic work, street begging, cargo loading, bus conductor, labourers, family business, farming, auto mechanic etc. done by children below the age of 18 years in order to survive are all termed as child labour
The Child Rights Act which was passed into law in 2003 defines a child as one who is below the age of eighteen years and it categorically provides that such a child’s best interests shall remain paramount in all considerations.
Sixteen years after being incorporated into Nigerian law, the child labour situation has remained a major issue as millions of children are still engaged in child labour activities.
Trend analysis showed that the proportion of Nigerians who mentioned street hawking increased from 47 percent in 2016 to 58 percent in 2019 whereas, there is a decline in the number of those who cited domestic work (from 16 percent in 2016 to 11 percent in 2019).
Poverty (58 percent), parental neglect (16 percent) and bad economy (10 percent) were the top three factors mostly blamed for the incidence of child labour in Nigeria. While poverty seems to be the major factor Nigerians attribute to the prevalence of child labour, Trend analysis revealed that this perception has declined in 2019 when compared to 2013.
Perceptions on how to curb the incidence of child labour in the country were gauged and a larger share of the respondents (27 percent) believe it is by creating more jobs. This will go a long in reducing poverty across the country, thereby reducing the need for children to compliment family income. 21 percent suggested that the government should improve on the economy while 18 percent recommended free education.
The poll clearly showed that the incidence of child labour is grossly under reported as 82 percent of the respondent are not aware of the reporting channels.
‘’Therefore, it is important for government agencies and concerned stakeholders to embark on an intense awareness campaign on the various ways to report the incidence of child labour.’’
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