Labour Ministry frowns at underage mine workers
Labour Ministry frowns at underage mine workers
Child labour
By Tosin Kolade
Abuja, July 30, 2019 (NAN) The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Mr William Alo, has expressed concern over continued use of children as mine workers in some parts of the country.
Alo, who said the Federal Government would no longer tolerate such, expressed Nigeria’s commitment to the elimination of child labour in the country.
The permanent secretary was speaking at the Validation Meeting for the National Plan of Action for the Accelerating Actions for the Elimination of Child Labour in the Supply Chain (ACCEL Africa) project.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting was organised by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Abuja.
ACCEL Africa project is targeted at accelerating actions in the elimination of child labour in some supply chains in Africa. It is being piloted in six countries of Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Malawi, Mali and Nigeria.
Alo was represented by the Deputy Director, Inspectorate Department of the ministry, Mr Dauda Ajuwon.
The permanent secretary also called for more innovative ways to tackle child labour in the global supply chains, stressing the need to strengthen public policies to end the scourge.
Alo said there was a need for community empowerment as well as strengthened partnership with the private sector in the country.
“I want to assure you of Nigeria’s commitment to the elimination of child labour in the country, while we are not yet there, Nigeria has made a significant progress in this direction in recent times.
“Only last week, we had a symposium as part of activities in commemoration of the World Day against child labour.
”Earlier, there was a street and market rally to create awareness and sensitise the public on the evils of child labour in the society,” he said.
He recalled that at the strategic meeting held three months ago, participants identified various outcomes, outputs and activities as work plan for the implementation of the ACCEL Africa Project in Nigeria.
He, however, said the task at the meeting was to fine-tune review and finalise the work plan to become instruments for collective actions and basis for a more coordinated and pragmatic approach in harmonising roles and scaling up interventions.
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, Mr Mua’azu Abdulkadir, represented by Mr Patrick Ojeka, said child labour cuts across all sectors, with mining and agriculture being part of the worst form of child labour.
He said it was no longer acceptable for children to work in hazardous conditions such as in mining, agriculture and construction.
According to him, the future of a country lies in the development and capacity building of its children.
“Consequently, the insurgents have been ravaging some parts of the country and the continent at large; a lot of children who are now displaced have found themselves in mining and agriculture.
“While majority of them are from within the country, some migrated across countries seeking for survival and ended up in hazardous jobs especially mining,” Abdulkadir said.
He said the ACCEL Africa project in Nigeria had its focus on eliminating child labour in supply chains in Artisanal Gold Mining and Cocoa.
He said that the ministry had just started its campaign project tagged ‘Eliminating Child Labour through Women Empowerment’.
Abdulkadir said the campaign was focused on returning children in mine host communities to schools by providing mine host community schools with conducive environment for learning.
He, however, urged ILO to extend the project to other ministries and other states of the federation, saying that child labour menace cut across and can be found in the 36 states including FCT.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Mohammed Umar, represented by Deputy Director of Human Resources, Mrs Amina Kangiwa, said the Ministry was ready to collaborate with ILO and other stakeholders to move for the implementation of ACCEL Africa.
The Director of ILO, Country Office, Mr Dennis Zulu who was represented by the National Project Coordinator, Mrs Agatha Kolawole said the meeting was a follow up and finalisation to the national and states consultations held in May in Abuja, June in Akure and Minna.
He said the outcomes, outputs and activities identified in May and June would be developed into a draft plan of action to be presented for validation.
NAN recalls that in 2010, unregulated small-scale mining in the northern state of Zamfara gave rise to an epidemic of childhood lead poisoning, with at least four hundred children under the age of five dying within a six-month period.
Despite the efforts of development, medical, and environmental experts both nationally and globally, lead contamination continues to afflict large numbers of children. (NAN)
TAK/IAA/AFA
Edited by Isaac Aregbesola/Felix Ajide
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