The Federal Government said it spent about $100 million in
feeding 10 million pupils under the National School Feeding Programme.
This was part of efforts to eliminate the scourge of child
labour in the country.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, said
this when he received the US Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Leornard and officials
of the Department of State, on a courtesy visit on Friday in Abuja.
This is contained in a statement issued by the Head of Press
and Public Relations in the ministry, Olajide Oshundun.
Ngige said that the Nigerian government had introduced the
school feeding programme under its social security programme, to lure children
engaged in child labour, back to school.
He said the Federal Government also introduced social
protection programmes to fight poverty, which is the major contributory factor
to the prevalence of child labour in Nigeria.
According to him, “we have introduced the national school
feeding programme under our social security, to lure children back to school.
“As of today, we are feeding 10 million children across the
country. We have spent nearly $100 million on this.
“We have also taken more schools into the areas prone to
child labour and made education free in the whole country through the Universal
Basic Education and the Child Rights Acts.
“For the people with disability, we introduced Disability
Peoples Commission, to give them full and comprehensive aid.
“This is so that they will not feel that they have any
disability. If you don’t support someone with a disability, it is outright
poverty,’’ he said.
The minister, however, commended the US Government for the
recent technical assistance of the Department of Labour to West Africa.
He said that this was in the area of fighting violence and
harassment at work under Convention 190 of the International Labour
Organisation.
“Nigeria and Liberia
are listed there and the fund is $5 million, estimated to be spent on the
project. We think that it is a step in the right direction.
“Just last week, we got information of another $4 million
for anti-child labour activities in Nigeria.
“Ondo State was chosen as the pilot state for the fight
against child labour in the area of cocoa farming. We think this is a good step
in the right direction.
“Because over the years, from the time we visited for
African Growth and Opportunities conference under the Department of Labour and
Trade in Washington in 2017, we had made it clear that the US Government has to
take practical steps for us to follow,” he said.
Ngige added, “we can’t be mouthing child labour and we leave
it unattended to when we know that most of those engaged in it are those trying
to make up for family needs.”
The minister also said that vulnerable families send their
underaged children to work in cocoa farms, mining sites, street hawking and
petty trading.
“This is because the family income is not enough, owing to
underemployment or unemployment,’’ he said.
The minister explained that advocacy alone cannot reduce the
scourge, adding, “it would be difficult to retain the audience of a hungry
person.”
Ngige reiterated his proposal at the AGOA conference that
the US must assist Nigeria in fighting child labour in the area of capacity
building and logistics, among others.
Earlier, Leonard said the US Government was worried to see
that Nigerian children were subjected to the worst forms of child labour in
quarries, granite and other mining sites.
She assured that her country would continue to work with the
Nigerian Government in addressing the scourge and appealed to the remaining
seven states yet to domesticate the Child Rights Act to do so without further
delay.
The Envoy said, ”the US government was pleased to see a new
programme in Nigeria that provides seed capital to vulnerable people to pursue
programmes in areas with a high prevalence of child labour.”
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