Niger govt reiterates commitment to eliminate child labour

Niger State Government has reiterated its commitment to protecting the dignity of children through the elimination of child labour and forced labour in the state.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Mineral Resources, Alhaji Abubakar Idris disclosed this during a meeting with the officials of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment in conjunction with a team of Non-Governmental organisations (NGOs) at the ministry’s headquarters in Minna recently.

The Permanent Secretary who received the team discussed the forthcoming flag-off programme of Child Labour Elimination beneficiaries in Shiroro and Suleja Local Government Areas of the State.

He said the exposure of children to forced labour and other dangerous activities called for concern and described it as totally unacceptable, emphasising that the government under the leadership of Governor Abubakar Sani Bello was poised to support programmes aimed at curbing the challenge.

He directed the team to forward an Executive Summary of the intervention programmes, highlighting that it was important for the development partners to articulate a defined role the government would play in the oncoming programmes with a view to adding to the number of beneficiaries from the starter- packs.

Earlier, the leader of the team and Controller Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Niger State, Inuwa Yakubu said they were at the ministry to intimate the Permanent Secretary on the ongoing intervention programmes on the elimination of child labour and to seek the state government’s participation in the forthcoming empowerment of trainees as well as explore areas of further collaboration.

He noted that the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Federal Ministry of Labour were set to the flag-off distribution of starter packs to trainees in various skills acquisitions, including tailoring, hairdressing, and barbing among others which according to him, will hold on the 14th and 15th September 2022 stressing that the aim was to eradicate poverty and take children off mining sites with a view to mentoring them.

The Controller further informed the Permanent Secretary that ILO programme interventions in the state started in 2019 and will end in April 2023 and therefore, called on the state to take ownership of the Programme to ensure its sustainability.

Representative of Raise Foundation, Mr Okama Moses said Accelerating action for the elimination of child labour in supply chains in Africa (ACCEL AFRICA) is a Dutch-funded project adding that the programme started with the distribution of Back-to-School kits where 500 children were presented with customized school bags, books among others and enrolled in schools under Shiroro and Suleja LGAs.

Mr Moses disclosed that an arrangement has been concluded to further empower 500 parents and youths on the 14th and 15th of September and therefore, stressed the need to take ownership of the project and ensure its sustainability in the state.

It would however be recalled that the ACCEL Africa Project is focused on the elimination of all forms of child labour and forced labour from Nigeria particularly Niger State, from its Artisanal Gold Mining, where the practice is most prevalent.