‘S/East highest in Nigeria’s 39.2% toll of children in forced labour’

A Nigeria Child Labour survey conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has disclosed that about 39.2 per cent of children in Nigeria are trapped in forced labour.

The report noted that child labour is endemic in Nigeria across all age groups with 39.7 per cent between five and 14, and 37.3 per cent within the age of 15 and 17 age groups.

Overall, the survey’s findings reveal that 39.2 per cent of children between the ages of five and 17 years old in Nigeria are involved in child labour.

It also found that the prevalence of child labour is higher in rural areas, where 44.8 per cent of children are engaged in the activity compared to 30.0 per cent in urban areas.

The NBS noted that understanding where child labour is most prevalent is a crucial consideration when planning interventions to mitigate it.

While the report espouses the community and household factors related to child labour, its findings indicated that child labour is more common in poorer households and in those in which the household heads are less educated.

Further breakdown of the report indicated that nearly 94 per cent of the children are engaged in own-use production of goods, while only 24.2 per cent are in the form of work of employment, while 11.3 per cent are in unpaid trainee work.

About 56.8 per cent of the children are concentrated in the agriculture sector, followed by 25.8 per cent in services and 174 per cent in industry.

The report also found that children in child labour are less likely to be in school than those not in child labour.

It stressed that child labour puts children’s health at risk. Of children five to 17 years old in child labour, 53.3 per cent have been exposed to at least one workplace hazard and 16.3 per cent have experienced a direct injury in the workplace.

Speaking at the launch of the report in Abuja yesterday, the Director of International Labour Office (ILO) Country Office for Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone and Liaison Office for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Vanessa Phala, who lauded the report, said that after 22 years, Nigeria would eventually be able to present the state of child labour accurately and comprehensively in the country.