The International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) Nigeria has expressed sadness over the number of child labourers estimated to be about 15 million in the country.
Relying on the report of the International
Labour Organisation (ILO), FIDA said
with the figure, Nigerian has the highest
recorded rate of child labour in West
Africa.
FIDA said this in a statement
commemorating the 2021 edition of
World Day Against Child Labour.
“This type of neglect leads to an
extremely dangerous environment that
often results in bodily harm, severe
trauma and even death.
“It’s sad to note that child labor is still
on the rise, Africa ranks highest among
regions both in the percentage of
children in child labor — one-fifth — and
the absolute number of children in child
labor — 72 million.
“Estimates determine that the current
number of child workers in Nigeria is 15
million according to the International
Labor Organization (ILO). At a
staggering 43% of the total population
of minors, it is the highest recorded rate
of child labor in Western Africa,” the
statement signed by FIDA’s Country
Vice President/National President,
Rhoda Tyoden and National Publicity
Secretary, Eliana Martins, read in part.
The group said despite extant provisions
in the labour laws, “Nigeria does not
actively enforce safety regulations or
preventative measures in the
workplace.”
Plight of child workers in Nigeria
In expressing its stand against child-
labour, FIDA noted that children working
on the streets are prone to violence and
kidnapping.
“If a child suffers harm on the job, help
or compensation does not extend to the
family, leaving them to face the
repercussions alone,” it said.

It added that “children who are
especially vulnerable, such as orphans,
are more at risk for human trafficking
and forced labor than adults, with their
rate being estimated at 58 per cent.”

FIDA said rate of child-labour has not
abated in Nigeria despite the signing of
the UN convention on the rights of the
child 1999, the African Charter on the
Rights Welfare of the Child 2001, and the
Child Right Act 2003.
It lamented that the rights of most
Nigeria children are violated due to
poverty, illiteracy, ignorance, polygamy
and high demand for cheap and
submissive labour.
‘World Day Against Child Labour’
This year’s World Day Against Child
Labor focuses on action taken for the
2021 International Year for the
Elimination of Child Labor.
It is the first World Day since the
universal ratification of the ILO’s
Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms
of Child Labour, and takes place at time
when the COVID-19 crisis threatens to
reverse years of progress in tackling the
problem.
The International Year was adopted in
the 2019 United Nations General
Assembly.
The main aim of the year is to urge
governments to do what is necessary to
achieve SDG Target 8.7, which is to
“Take immediate and effective
measures to eradicate forced labor, end
modern slavery and human trafficking
and secure the prohibition and
elimination of the worst forms of child
labor, including recruitment and use of
child soldiers, and by 2025 end child
labor in all its forms”.

FILE PHOTO: Children running errands
during school hours in Northern Nigeria[
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