FOMWAN seeks prohibition of hawking by children

THE Federation of Muslim Women’s Associations in Nigeria (FOMWAN) has urged government at all levels to prescribe penalties for parents and guardians who put their children to hawking on the streets.

The association blamed the idea of engaging children to sell wares on the street or from door to door on extreme poverty in the country which, it said, had also led to a high rate of school dropouts among girls.

Speaking at a programme to commemorate the International Day of the Girl-child, the Ameerah (president), FOMWAN, Lagos State chapter, Dr Halimah Egberongbe, said the celebration of the girl-child was to remind the society of the need to educate female children.

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“Educating the girl-child will build their social and economic compatibility and it will bring them out of ignorance, empower them and make them to be among those who are impacted positively among humanity,” Dr Egberongbe stated.

She lamented that the sight of children hawking goods was so commonplace in Nigeria that many had accepted it as a normal way of life, even when “while hawking goods, girls are exposed to sexual assaults and other forms of violence.”

While describing the education of the girl-child as a way of eradicating poverty, she urged governments to prohibit hawking by children by prescribing penalties for the parents and guardians who make their children engage in it.

“The government should enforce law banning the girl-child from hawking and also ensure that any child caught hawking, the parents will be prosecuted and face the wrath of the law. By so doing, parents will desist from sending children to hawk and we will have more girls who will grow up as responsible women in the society,” Egberongbe said.

Nigerian Tribune