Nigeria’s First Lady, Dr Aisha Buhari, has regretted that more victims of child labour are being recorded in Nigeria despite her intervention through her Future Assured Project.
The First Lady, who made this known in Abuja on Tuesday at the National Children Conference in commemoration of the 2022 World Day against Child Labour, said that the circumstances leading to child labour still exist in the country.
Represented by the First Lady of Kwara State, Olufolake Abdulrazaq, Mrs Buhari said that the
eradication of child labour required a systemic approach and effective policies to strengthen social protection systems, education, and decent work opportunities for parents and caregivers to address the conditions that drive child labour.
She said, “Child labour remains a major threat to child development in Nigeria, in spite of legislative measures taken by the government at various levels to curb it.
“In its efforts to reduce incidence of child labour, the government is implementing vigorously the National Children School Feeding Programme which is the major plank of the battle to fight Child Labour, increasing children school enrolment and preventing children dropping out of schools.
“Worthy of note too is the adoption of the child rights law and other protective laws by governments at the state level as also playing a critical role in militating against child labour.
“My Future Assured as you know has done very much in this regard, especially through advocacy. I call on us all to do more because we are getting more victims and also the circumstances leading to child labour still subsist.
“The eradication of child labour however requires a systemic approach and effective policies to strengthen social protection systems, education, and decent work opportunities for parents and caregivers to address the conditions that drive child labour.”
She said that the event was an opportunity to call for increased investment in social protection systems and schemes to establish solid social protection floors and protect children from child labour.
