“Nigeria Witnessing Rising Cases , Aisha Buhari.
By Paul Akalonu.
Despite legislative steps made by the government at various levels to combat child labour, it has remained a major danger to growth and the fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Nigeria.
On Tuesday 21, September, at the celebration of the National Children Conference held at the Banquet Hall State House Abuja, the wife of the president, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, and the minister of labour and employment, Senator Chris Ngige, made this announcement.
Mrs. Buhari in her speech, urged more funding and investment in social protection systems and schemes to develop stable social protection floors and protect children from child labour.
She stated that, as part of its efforts to limit the prevalence of child labour, the government was implementing the National Children School Feeding Programme, which is a crucial in the fight against child labour, increasing children’s school enrollment and preventing children from dropping out of school.
The First Lady stated that the purpose of the celebration was to honor children and that it also served as a platform to urge for increased funding for social protection programs and schemes in order to create strong social protection foundations and safeguard children from child labour.
The minister of labour and employment, Senator Chris Ngige, on his part, expressed alarm about the rising number of child labour cases in Nigeria.
He said that child labor had become an epidemic, with many children swarming the streets and being forced to work in dangerous environments and industrial complexes.
