By Joan Nwagwu
Abuja – Federal Government says it will continue to champion the renewed fight against child labour, modern slavery, human trafficking and forced labour in the country.
Mr Bolaji Adebiyi, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment said this in a statement signed by Mr Samuel Olowookere, Deputy Director, Press in the ministry.
Adebiyi, who stated this at the strategy meeting of the National Steering Committee on Child Labour, affirmed the readiness of the ministry to ensure best practices in line with emerging global trends in labour administration.
“Let me acknowledge that one of the emerging global trends in labour administration is the renewed fight against child labour, modern slavery, human trafficking and forced labour as encapsulated in the Alliance 8.7.
“Nigeria as a signatory to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations should not be found behind but rather, be at the forefront of the pursuit of these objectives,’’ he said.
He said that the fight against the scourge of Child Labour would require the innovation and collaboration of stakeholders as the Federal Government cannot do it alone.
He said that the eradication of child labour would only be accelerated through leveraging expertise across diverse fields.
“Hence, Target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals and Alliance 8.7 emphatically requests stakeholders in the fight against the scourge of child labour to work together in new innovative and collaborative ways, ‘’he said.
The permanent secretary, while setting the agenda for the meeting, said that the meeting should among others, ensure awareness creation and sensitisation on the Reporting Template for the Elimination of Child Labour in Nigeria.
Adebiyi said consequently, a national registry of High-Level Desk Officers on Child Labour in all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) would be established.
He added that there will be immediate commencement of the usage of the validated Reporting Template on the Elimination of Child Labour in Nigeria.
Earlier in his remarks, Mr Solomon Ajibola, Director Inspectorate in the ministry, commended the Federal Government’s resolve to support efforts geared towards eradicating child labour in Nigeria.
Ajibola said there was the need to engage preventive measures toward eradicating the scourge of child labour in the country.
“We just have to look inwards, our primary focus is the reporting aspect of the programme and we want to come up with a National all-embracing Child Labour Report during the first quarter of the year, ‘’he said.(NAN)
