Eradication of Child Labour  Starts with Mothers-NAWOJ Chairperson

As the world marks the day against child labour, the chairperson of the Nigerian Association of Women Journalists, Lagos state chapter Comrade Adeola Ekine called on government both at the state and federal  levels to make more stringent laws to curb child labour and put effective implementations in place.

Comrade  Ekine in an interview to mark Year 2021 “World Day Against Child Labour” said the eradication of Child Labour Starts with Mothers. “If mothers stop employing under aged children as helps this will go a long way in putting a final stop to the issue of Child Labour in the country.

While she noted that some families engage under aged children as house helps and workers under the guise that such children will be sent to school and or paid, “A child is a child no matter what and they should not be deprived of their childhood.

“Every Child deserves education, right to health care, family life and recreation, adequate standard of living and the right to be protected from any forms of abuse and harm”.

Ekine emphasized the need for female journalists to spread the awearness of the hazards of Child Labour and as mothers discourage people from employing under age children as helps in homes and shops.

“Child Labour is the exploitation of children through any form of work that deprives children of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful to a child. It interferes with their schooling, preventing them from attending or concentrating, it may involve them being enslaved, separated from their families, and exposed to serious hazards and illnesses”.

She reiterated that this year’s theme, “Act Now, end Child Labour” is aimed at spreading awareness about the illegal practice of child labour that still prevails in our society with the objective of eradicating it completely across the globe.There is no reason or excuse, child labour is  child abuse