The country may not be classified as a developed nation by 2020 if the country fails to tackle child labour.
This was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of a three-day workshop on elimination of child labour in Nigeria organised by the International Labour Organisation, International Programme on Elimination of Child Labour, IPEC, for media professionals.
The National Bureau of Statistics had in 2000 estimated that more than 15 million Nigerian children were involved in child labour consisting of 7, 812,756 males and 7, 214,856 females.
The ILO, however, said “Nigeria may not be classified as a developed nation by 2020 if predisposing factors are not addressed by stakeholders.”
The communiqué called for intensified reportage from the med
on the causes and dangers of child labour, urging the media to bring child labour issues to the front burner.
It urged the media to hold government at all levels accountable on their commitment to protect children as contained in the National Policy on Child Labour and National Action Plan.
The communiqué also counseled government on the need to implement policies and enforce extant laws aimed at eliminating child labour as well as fund MDAs working on such.
It urged NGOs and government agencies working on child labour to be more accessible to media personnel, make available relevant facts on child labour, collaborate with the media and intensify advocacy.
The communiqué described child labour as a factor hindering the development of an individual child, the family and the nation at large. NAN