Enforce laws to eradicate child labour — NLC

The Lagos State Council of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) says enforcement of laws against child labour is critical to eradicating the menace in the country.

Its Chairman, Mrs Funmi Sessi, told our reporter on Monday in Lagos, that perpetrators of child labour should also be brought to book.

“People should respect the law of the land, and perpetrators should receive severe punishment to serve as a deterrent to others who may want to use underage children for child labour,” Sessi said.

The chairman stressed that ensuring children are educated would get them off the streets and guarantee their future.

She said that NLC had made much effort to tackle child labour through advocacy and reporting to the appropriate authorities including the Federal Ministry of Labour.

Sessi, therefore, called on the government to transmit the Labour Standard Bill to the National Assembly without further delay to safeguard the future of the youths.

“The National Assembly should also speedily pass the bill into law so that it will enable more actions against child labour.

“Then, there will be definite and better prospects for the children and the youths.

“Government should also support parents or guardians and empower them to be gainfully employed to be able to train their children,” the chairman said.

According to a child labour report by the National Bureau for Statistics (NBS), Nigeria, with a population of 216 million, has 30.3 per cent of its population aged 17 years or below.

The 2022 NBS report revealed that 50.5 per cent of Nigerian children are in economic activities while 39.2 (24.6 million) are in child labour.

It equally states that 22.9 per cent of Nigerian children are involved in hazardous work.