Not just a Right Violation: Child Labour is a Crime in Nigeria

                                         Keep them Smiling:Every Child Deserves an Education

Child labour is, “Any work performed by a child which is detrimental to his or her health, education, physical, mental, spiritual, moral, physical or social development.”

It is,“work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to the physical and mental development.”

 

Indicators of child labour

If you wish to determine whether you or a neighbour, friend or relation has engaged a child in your custody in child labour these Indicators may be used to verify the child’s status:-

• The child’s age- if below 18yrs, there is a high likelihood that it is a child labour case
• The nature of work performed by the child as well as the hours, late/long hours
• Conditions at work- look at the dangers involved in what the child is doing; level of dignity
• Level of physical or psychosocial stress created by the child’s work
• Separation from family
• Amount of pay
• Opportunities-or lack of opportunities or prospects that the work offers the child

Prohibitions in the Child Rights Act 2003

The Child Rights Act  prohibits engaging children in the following ways and prescribes a penalty of N500, 000 fine or 5yrs prison term or both for offenders :-

• forced exploitative child labour
• lifting or moving heavy objects and
• work in industrial undertakings.

 The Act also prohibits Buying, selling, hiring or otherwise dealing in children for the purpose of:-

• hawking or begging for alms
• Prostitution
• domestic or sexual labour

 Such acts attract a penalty of 10years imprisonment, with no option of fine.

 

Prohibitions in the Labour Act

In states where there is no Child Rights Law, the courts may resort to the Labour Act.

This law permits children at any age to be engaged in light work in domestic service, or to work alongside a family member in agriculture or horticulture.

This could very well line up with our religious, cultural and social values in child training. If well managed, it enables a child to acquire life skills without depriving him of other childhood opportunities like play, school or rest. But we must be mindful of 2 important points:-

1. Household chores must be age appropriate for all family members including live-in relations. Chores like cooking meals, scrubbing floors, washing clothes, drawing water from well, running errands; going to market, bathing & tending to smaller children, walking them to school must be age appropriate.
2. And again "light work" as envisaged in the Labour Act, is work that does not cause a child mental, physical or psychosocial stress.

VALUING OUR DIFFERENCES

It was a difficult time in Israel. The people had sinned and turned away from God. As a consequence the enemy conquered and plundered the people at will and so they cried to God for help. For fear of the enemy, men like Gideon would hide [in a winepress in the rocks] to thresh the few grains they managed to stow away. The nation was deeply humiliated and Gideon had little or no self esteem. Then one day an Angel of the Lord appeared to him and called him a “mighty man of valour.” [Judges 6]

It’s amazing the way God and Man see things so differently. God, who is omniscient, saw a mighty man of valour, and this aptly describes the man that Gideon evolved to be.

Coming home to Nigeria, we have some lessons to learn from this story. It is usual to note our weaknesses and enumerate them so eloquently in Nigeria. To write ourselves off, belittle our successes is a regular pastime in this country. We rarely recognise the hardworking beautiful people who are holding up the flag. The potentials for greatness that lies in our people and the nation do not often feature in our conversations. Neither have we valued the diversity of tribes, culture, religion, and people in Nigeria, as in very few other countries of the world. Could this be a major reason why we are seeing so little progress?

The diversity of tribes, culture, religion, and people in the hands of visionless leaders has the cause for suspicions, divisions, bloodshed and mindless clamouring for shares of the national cake.  The situation has weakened the structure of the state, promoted mediocrity and injustice, and greatly limited our capacity to fulfil destiny. But this same diversity or so called differences can in the hands of a great leader galvanise the nation to greatness.

I invite us to stop and reflect for a moment in an increasing globalised world, can the north really say to the south I don’t need you or vice versa? Can Muslims businesses rely only on the patronage of Muslims or Christian businesses thrive only on the patronage of Christians? Can we possible view our diversity rather as a blessing and a competitive advantage today and so seek to leverage on the resources of each region? When we recognise that every person is created in God’s image and in His likeness and has been imbued with innate abilities and uniqueness, we will begin to value people regardless of their sex, tribe, religion, age, and status.

I am pretty certain that a leader who receives counsel on the platform of ethnicity or religiosity is soon bereft of life changing ideas. Similarly any organisation would soon grow stale and weak where the chief executive for personal reasons selectively taps the knowledge  and resources of only a few chosen members or staff. Either way everyone loses.

With such dynamic, intelligent, awesome, resourceful people and enormous resources east, west, north and south, this blessed land cries for a leader who sees the big picture and can mobilise the people to do same.
Enough of the enumeration and analysis of our problems and weaknesses- great nations have them too. It is time to move forward. And all that we need to fulfil our destiny as a leading nation in the world already exists within us. It is time to let each one emerge. The time is now to place appropriate value on every land area, people, resources, knowledge, skills and aptitudes. When we recognise and value our differences as assets, we give everyone the space to breathe and to excel by developing their resources and natural gifting. Perhaps then, so much of our individual and communal resources will no longer lie waste. When the mighty men of valour wake up, then a country blessed with so much sunlight will no longer sleep in darkness nor run businesses on generators. Then the children will no longer go to bed hungry in a land so vast and fertile. Then in Nigeria as in other climes, ideas will rule our land. It is possible.

Economics of forced labour

Is it any surprise that the cartels are so powerful?
http://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/WCMS_243201/lang--en/index.htm

FOSTER CHILD, HOUSE HELP OR DOMESTIC SERVITUDE

Growing up in the seventies, our home was always crowded with relatives coming and going almost on a weekly basis. Although my parents had only 6 children, several other children, siblings, nieces and nephews of my mum and dad resided with us at various times to gain an education or to search for jobs. Many Nigerians can identify with this experience and it is still a common practise today. What is the status of the children in the home of their relatives? Legally they have not been adopted. Traditionally we may assume that these children are foster children in their new homes. But the Law assumes differently because in the absence of a formal legal adoption of a child who is removed from parental custody, there may be a presumption of child labour, and child trafficking.  

Are you harbouring a child or any person who is below 18years in your home as a house help, or permanently resident relative?  What exactly is the child’s role and the legal status of that child in your house?  Be informed.

The International Labour Organisation’s Convention 189 requires member states of the ILO to fix a minimum age for domestic labour. And although Nigeria is yet to enact a domestic labour bill that would regulate that industry, the Child Rights Act 2003 defines a child as any person below the age of 18years, and prohibits engagement of children as domestic house helps.

Did you know?

Under the Child Rights Act the engaging children in any of the following ways is a criminal offence because it amounts to forced exploitative or hazardous child labour:-

•          Engaging Children as Domestic house helps living outside their own home or family environment

•          Children hawking or begging for alms

•          Children Lifting or moving heavy objects; or

•          Children  Working  in industries

And if the Child Rights Act or its equivalent state laws does not apply in the state where you reside, you need to take a look at the NAPTIP Law which is a Federal law. That law prohibits trafficking in person’s including children.

Child trafficking is the act of either Recruitment; Transportation; Transfer; Harbouring; or Receipt of a child for the purpose of exploitation. A third person or group may have organized these acts for exploitative purposes. Exploitation is not only in clear instances like involving children in forced labour, slavery, prostitution or illicit drug trade. Exploitation takes many forms and exists wherever the child is engaged in:

Ø  dirty, dangerous work

Ø  for little or no pay,

Ø  with inadequate rest time,

Ø  no safety nets like health insurance or social assistance, and

Ø  Often with a degree of force or violence.

 

 And as the definition above implies, everyone involved either as agent, or as harbourer or employer of the child is guilty of the offence of trafficking in persons. Furthermore where a child is trafficked, his/her consent to the transfer, recruitment or harbouring etc for exploitative purposes is irrelevant and does not matter.

The following acts amount to child trafficking, and are criminal offences:

•          Buying, selling or hiring children for any unlawful purposes such as Hawking, begging alms, prostitution, domestic or sexual labour

•          Abduction, unlawful removal and transfer of a child from lawful custody

Does this describe the situation of any child in your house, whether a relative or not? If it does, you are engaged in child labour and possibly child trafficking. And you may not know this but NAPTIP officials have powers to arrest and prosecute offenders.

Child traffickers and child labour offenders are guilty or liable on 1 or more of 4 grounds:

1.      Violating Children’s Rights;

2.      Committing a Criminal act or offence;

3.      Committing Labour, Migration and Exploitation offences as well as,

4.      Perpetrating the Worst forms of child labour.

 

See the Child Rights Act, 2003; States Child Rights Laws; Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Law Enforcement and Administration Act 2003 as amended in 2005.

THE RIGHT TO BE INFORMED: IGNORANCE OF THE LAW IS NOT AN EXCUSE.

A well known maxim among lawyers as well as non-lawyers is that “Ignorance of the law is not an excuse”.  It is often cited in reference to persons who commit offences in violation of the provisions of a law which they were totally ignorant of. That you did not know that a law exists, does not exonerate you from penalty for violating the law. Therefore it is in the best interest of everyone to be informed about every law that is relevant to and applies to him/her.

But while it is ‘good practise’ for the legislature to inform and openly consult the public as part of the process of drafting a new law, failure to hold such public consultation does not negate a new law.
Equally also the legislature is not bound to publicise the new law after it is drafted beyond the official gazetting of the law. Besides, the proceedings and all that takes place in the legislative houses are open to the public already. And so once the new law is published in the gazette the duty to publicise is fulfilled and it is left to the media to publicise the content of the law if it interests them.
Incidentally, majority of Nigerians seem to be neither here nor there as far as the need to observe this good practise is concerned even though it has tremendous value. The value of Public consultation/hearings lies in the fact that it creates awareness about the content of the proposed law and also presents an opportunity for citizen’s participation in the legislative process.  In line with another maxim which states that, “two heads are better than one”, public hearings/ consultations with relevant stakeholders who are likely to be affected by a proposed law broadens the scope of person’s involved in vetting the final draft of the law and ensures publicity and subsequent public compliance with the content of that law when it is passed. Besides not every Nigerian has access to the gazettes neither can they engage in a voyage of finding out all the laws [old and new], that are relevant to the individual man or woman. But everyone who gets involved in the process of consultation becomes familiar with the basic provisions of the law and is protected.
A case in point is the Child Rights Act 2003 which applies in the FCT and with slight variations in those states that have a Child Rights Law. Enacted 10 years ago, majority of the public as well as lawyers, judges and law enforcement personnel are totally unaware of the major changes that the law introduces in child justice administration and child welfare in Nigeria. In future posts on this blog page, we shall be examining some of these changes in the Act as well as other laws, of which Nigerians are generally ignorant of, and some false assumptions and presumptions about the law.

Stay posted on this page. It may just be your saving grace in the nearest future. Does a citizen’s right to freedom of information extend beyond placing the laws within his/her reach in the public sphere? I think not. The obligation is that of every citizen to whom a law applies to access the content of the law, and be duly informed because ignorance of the law is indeed not an excuse.
Tara......

WHEN AGE IS JUST A NUMBER

 

We can achieve our dreams at any age particularly in the era of technology. So at 60 a woman can aspire to start a new career or take a new turn in business, pick a new course and acquire knowledge in an entire new area. Yes we can. Nothing seems impossible anymore to the young, the aged, and male, female, black. For us women in particular who have had to keep career in check so as to raise a family. When it’s all said and done and the children are all gone off to live fulfilling lives of their own the woman is free to explore new frontiers of knowledge, skills and perhaps just interests.

If you are so lucky as to be free of financial pressures, then the sky is your limit. With no more worries about school fees, rent, pampers or children’s clothes how do you engage with your time, talent, money and other resources? But even where finances are a bit tight because perhaps you still have some unemployed graduates, it’s time to make out some ‘me’ time. I have some suggestions:-

1.      Pick and complete an interesting online course. It may or may not add monetary value to your family purse but just do it because you are curious or interested in the subject. Some sites offer free courses, like iversity.org and MOOCs4U which offers free academic subjects from professors abroad sometimes with certification. Do a google search to explore free courses even in non-academic areas of interest like cooking, fashion, or health.

2.      Teach a skill from the comfort of your home. Women in the neighbourhood or from church will be interested in learning from a pro, how to make speciality edikan ikong, kunu, moimoi with leave, poultry, or fish farming. You can actually start an entrepreneurship or skills mentoring program and who knows where or how far this may take you to.

3.      Mobilise the women, or youths/children in the community to form a club for the advancement of knowledge or to solve a community problem like waste disposal, water sanitation, or high rates of childhood diseases and mortality. In other words we need to bring our knowledge and skills to bear in favour of the communities where we live.

4.      Set up a library in a corner of your home and promote an after school reading club in your community. You can arrange to teach the children singing or art with the aid of some interested young mothers in the area.

5.      Join a political party and make a difference. At the ward level you do not need to seek patronage of any godfather. Expectedly you should be welcomed as a respected elder in the community who has much to offer in helping to transform the community.

 but I do wonder, are there age specific dreams or should a 70, 80 year old aspire to lead the country at a time like this?