By Kemi Olatunde

In order to establish an effective prevention and response mechanism to reduce the risk and mitigate the consequences of child labour in communities in Ondo State, the Community Child Labour Monitoring Committee (CCLMC) has been inaugurated.

Speaking at the establishment and training of the CCLMC in ACCEL Africa Phase II project communities in the state on Tuesday in Akure, the representative of the Director, Inspectorate Department, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, and Deputy Director, Labour, Mrs Grace Adeleye, stated that the committee would coordinate child labour prevention and response and also identify child labour issues in communities.

While lauding the International Labour Organization (ILO) for its commitment and relentless technical support in combating child labour in Nigeria, and the Ondo State Government for its support in implementing the project, she criticised the rate at which children are being used for hazardous work, especially in mining activities and farming.

“A situational analysis of child labour in cocoa farming communities in Ondo State conducted during the first phase of the project discovered that 98.5 percent of children surveyed were engaged in cocoa production activities, including hazardous work (ILO 2021). A value chain analysis of Nigeria’s artisanal gold mining sector also found that children are extensively used in various aspects of mining activities, including working as miners, transporters, millers, washers, errand boys, vendors, and operators of bellows in smelting, according to the ILO report,” she said.

Representative of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Director, Country Office Abuja, and Project Coordinator, Accel Africa II, Celine Oni, stated that global estimates reveal that 160 million children are engaged in child labour worldwide, with 79 million in hazardous work.

Noting that Nigeria has the highest number of child labourers in the ECOWAS region, with four in ten children trapped in child labour, she revealed that 24.7 million children between the ages of 5 and 17 years are in child labour, with 14.3 million engaging in hazardous work in the country, according to the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics in the recently launched Nigeria Child Labour Survey report.

Describing child labour as any work that deprives a child of their education and is detrimental to their physical, moral, and developmental growth, she explained that economic and social factors contribute to the prevalence of child labour, such as poverty, limited access to education, and cultural and social norms.

She stated that the country has made efforts to eliminate child labour through the ratification of ILO conventions and the establishment of a national action plan, which provides a clear framework for addressing it.

Speaking on the Accel Africa Phase II project, which was funded by the Government of the Netherlands to tackle child labour in some Nigerian states, including Ondo State, she noted that communities in the state benefited between 2018 and 2023 and assured continuity in the second phase in the state.

She called on community leaders to accelerate action for the success of the project to positively impact children in the communities by empowering them to become educated, healthy, and free from child labour exploitation.

She urged CCLMC members to increase awareness about child labour through stakeholder collaboration to promote children’s rights, among other actions.

Speaking on the child labour situation and the federal government’s efforts to address the issue, Ondo State Controller of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Mrs Olanike Mogboruko, stated that the government has provided an enabling environment for the fight against it.

She listed poverty, cultural and religious factors, a poor education system, inadequate social protection systems, misconceptions about the effects of child labour, and misinterpretation of the Almajiri system as some of the challenges in eliminating child labour, forced labour, and human trafficking, noting that tackling these issues requires concerted efforts on all fronts.

She stressed the need for united efforts between the government and other stakeholders in adhering to national laws and contributing to the attainment of all fundamental principles and rights at work, including the elimination of modern slavery and child labour.

She also urged businesses to strengthen governance, compliance, and transparency standards throughout their supply chains.