plight of children all around the world remains a frontline topic at big and small conferences, in the families and at different institutions. In all countries that are ravaged by war or civil, religious as well as ethnic strife, women and children are the foremost victims. According to the National Agency for Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and other Related Matters, NAPTIP, an estimated 180 million children around the world are being enslaved through child labour.
In the words of the Enugu Zonal Coordinator of the agency, Mrs. Nkiruka Micheal, employers exert such inhuman control over the unfortunate children. “Those subjected to child labour are under the control and mercy of their employers, as they rarely have access to education and are subjected to physical, sexual and psychological abuse. These children are too young to do the jobs assigned to them; they are engaged in long hours while doing the jobs but are paid too little for their services. They are subjected to dangerous working environment, among others,” she stated during the 2013 Women General Assembly for the Southern Senatorial Zone.
The level of wickedness meted out to children under this condition is unspeakable. Often, parents are lured with fictitious promises by guardians. This is aptly captured by Mrs Michael: “The exploitation comes in deceptive forms which include promises to sell in big supermarkets, hair dressing salons in the city, marriage abroad, become models abroad, promise to play for foreign football clubs, among others,” she said.
In December 2003, a survey conducted by the Federal Office of Statistics, FOS, supported by the International Labour Organisation stated that out of the then 120million Nigerian population, more than 15 million Nigerian children below the age of 14 work under hard conditions to take care of the cost of going to school and related needs. It showed that out of this figure, 7.8 million were boys while 7.2 million were girls. Further breakdown of the figure showed that out of the 15million, eight million were in school; six million of the working children were not in school at all (51 percent girls and 49 percent boys).
late year, the ILO again raised alarm over what it described as the worsening case of child labour in Nigeria and other sub-Saharan African countries. At a press conference in Geneva to mark the World Day Against Child Labour, the director, ILO’s International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour, Constance Thomas stated that, “There are worsening situation of child labour in Nigeria just as in other African countries. Child labour is a general problem in Nigeria and Africa percentage wise and there are some countries in Africa where one out of four children is in child labour and many of those are in child domestic work” doing “cleaning, ironing, cooking, gardening, collecting water, looking after other children and caring for the elderly.”
Culture, tradition, religion, illiteracy, poverty and gender are the spring boards encouraging the activities that create the platform for child labour to thrive. Mrs. Michael was right after all: “Children in this category go through untold trauma and depression, loss of childhood and education, unwanted pregnancies, early motherhood, stigmatisation, high risks of contracting Sexually Transmitted Diseases, among others”.
This is a challenge to government at all levels, traditional and religious institutions in the country. There is an urgent need to address this menace through necessary legal framework, better economic policies and refined cultural practices.