Oscarline Onwuemenyi
13 June 2017, Sweetcrude, Abuja – Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, has stressed that the 8th Senate was committed to working with the International Labour Organisation, ILO, to eliminate all forms of child labour in the country.
Speaking, yesterday, in Abuja when the Country Director of ILO, Mr. Dennis Zulu, visited him as part of activities to mark the World Day Against Child Labour, Saraki reassured the ILO Director that the Senate attached particular importance to the fight against child labor.
Saraki, who commended the United Nations agency for its fight against child labour, said: “We all must do more to eliminate the use of children for forced labour. As you are aware, some states are yet to domesticate it, and we made some commitment to them, hoping that the states that are left will work hard to see that before the next Children’s Day, they will see that this Act is domesticated in their states.
“It is important to promote universal basic education to support the National Child Labor Policy and the National Action Plan the ILO developed with the Federal Government,” he said.
Meanwhile, the ILO Director complained about weak enforcement of legislation on child labour in the country and poor coordination among the different Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, MDAs, of government dealing with issues of children.
He noted that the overall lack of advocacy limited greater understanding about the issue. For this reason, he said he hosted a Children’s Day roundtable discussion with States Assembly on the Child’s Rights Act of 2003 to raise awareness about the ILO’s obligation to defend the rights of children.
