ILO - NEWS AGENCY OF NIGERIA

Ismail Abdulaziz
Jun, Fri, 2025

ILO calls for collective action against child labour

226 total views today

By Rita Iliya

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has called for collaborative efforts to eliminate child labour, particularly in the cocoa farms and artisanal mining sectors.

Dr Phala Vanessa Country Director of the ILO Office for Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone, made the call during a programme to commemorate the 2025 World Day Against Child Labour in Minna on Thursday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the 2025 World Day Against Child Labour is, “Progress is Clear, But there’s More to Do: Let’s Speed Up Efforts!, End Child Labour.

The 2025 event was sponsored by the Government of the Netherlands.

It was implemented by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, in collaboration with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC).

Vanessa was represented by Mrs Celine Oni, National Coordinator of Accelerating Action for the Elimination of Child Labour in Supply Chains in Africa (ACCEL Africa) Project.

Vanessa said that child labour was a breach of the fundamental human rights of children: boys, girls, adolescents and youths.

“We must work to accelerate efforts to institute zero tolerance for child labour in our cocoa farms, in artisanal mining and in our society,” she said.

She disclosed that ILO and United Nations Children’s Fund on June 11, released a new global estimate on child labour, revealing a significant decline in the number of children engaged in child labour and hazardous work.

She said the new research showed that child labour had decreased from 160 million to 138 million in four years, adding that all regions showed progress with notable declines in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa.

According to her, child labour prevalence dropped from 9.6 per cent to 7.8 per cent, saying Latin America saw a drop of 11 per cent while Sub-Saharan Africa saw a 10 per cent drop.

”There is need for strict measures against child labour and priorities for high-risk sectors like cocoa farms and artisanal mining and stakeholders collaboration to end child labour, ” Vanessa said.

Also speaking, Hajiya Hauwa Zakariya, Niger State Controller, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, expressed gratitude toward the partners in the fight against child labour.

She urged stakeholders to take charge of efforts to combat child labour in Niger state and the country at large.

Also, Hajiya Hadiza Sheru, Permanent Secretary, Niger Ministry for Women Affairs and Social Development, said that all hands must be on deck to eliminate it.

Similarly, Mr Ibrahim Gana, Chairman of Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, who represented the organised labour, said every child deserved a chance to strive and grow in a safe environment.

He noted that the protection of rights and wellbeing of children were crucial for a better future.(NAN)

Edited by Esenvosa Izah/Joe Idika

ILO: NSITF commits to improved social security, health, safety

Ismail Abdulaziz
Jun, Thu, 2025

Foreign

ILO: NSITF commits to improved social security, health, safety

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By Joan Nwagwu

Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) says the Federal Government is committed to improving social security, health and safety of Nigerian workers at workplaces.

Mr Oluwaseun Faleye, NSITF Managing Director, said this at the ongoing 113th session of the International Labour Conference (ILC) in Geneva, Switzerland.

He said that the Fund was currently embarking on Occupational Health and Safety (OSH) audits at workplaces to ensure safety of workers in line with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) convention.

“That’s why we collaborate with employers to make workplaces safe and further deepen all of the issues regarding health and safety in the workplace.

“That is why we are at the forefront of undertaking Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) audits in relevant organisations and creating the awareness.

“Of course, the way it works for us here when we come to a platform like this is to further broaden our knowledge and our capacity in bringing cutting-edge standards relating to Health, Safety and Environment (HSE).

“So that we can take it back home and further engage within that ecosystem,” he said.

He said that the NSITF has been making efforts to ensure that the workplace was conducive and workers who suffer injury at work can also get a reprieve on time.

He said that decent work was within the mandate of NSITF and related to its responsibilities under the HSE.

“So for us, promoting decent work is really doing more within that core mandate of HSE and that of course takes us to the other issue of employees’ compensation itself when there are injuries.

“The synergy between a decent and safe working environment also impacts on employee injury and the threshold about that.

“So, when we improve HSE components within workplaces, you see that injuries and all of that come relatively down.

“We’re also very open and responsible to our mandate regarding prompt payment of compensation, and we’ll continue to do that,” he added.

Faleye said that the Fund was making efforts at integrating the informal sector under the scheme as enormous opportunities abounds there, noting that the responses from the sector has been great.

Faleye said that the ILO conference has been a great platform to share ideas, deepen capacity, and enhance further collaboration with the ILO.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Ismail Abdulaziz

ILO: Participants urge FG to apply convention resolutions

Ismail Abdulaziz
Jun, Tue, 2025

Foreign

ILO: Participants urge FG to apply convention resolutions

147 total views today

Joan Nwagwu

Some participants at the ongoing International Labour Conference (ILC) has called on Nigerian government to ratify resolutions reached at the various conferences.

Mr Olusoji Oluwole, National President of Association Senior Staff of Banks Insurance Financial Institutions (ASSBIFI) said this on Tuesday at the ongoing 113th Session of the ILC in Geneva, Switzerland.

Oluwole said that it was imperative that the Federal Government’s delegates, led by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Alhaji Mohammed Maigari, ensured that the resolutions reached were implemented to better the lives of workers.

According to him, Nigeria should not just attend as a country, but endeavor to ratify all the resolutions that have been reached at the conference.

“What we found is that you find conventions being done, the country being signatories, but those conventions are not being implemented back in the country.

“It very, very important, that if we spend so much time discussing, negotiating, and coming to these agreements. I think it is just right that Nigeria should go back and implement these things.

“So that we know that the time that has been spent here is not actually wasted,” he said.

On contract staff, Oluwole clarified that it was not just financial industries that was dominant on the issue in the labour markets in Nigeria among others.

He said that the former Minister of Labour and Employment. Sen. Chris Ngige, had came up with a document on how to deal with the issue of casualisation, basically working with the employers and the providers of the services.

“It was agreed that staff who comes in as contract workers would have a means of transiting to becoming core staff.

“We are also aware that a number of organisations have actually started implementing it,” he said.

Also, on artificial intelligence taking over the job of its members, Oluwole desired it as an enabler rather than a replacer.

According to him, what we found is that AI is more of an enabler rather than a replacer, where it can become a replacer, is a situation where the organisation or our members do not upskill.

“A number of people we know may not be so savvy in the area of AI auditisation and what we keep encouraging them to do is to go ahead to improve themselves educationally in that area.

“We also encourage organisations to train their stuff in, support them, provide some kind of subsidy, give them room to be able to educate themselves in that regard,” he said.

Also, Mr Charles Okere, President of Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Imo State, advised the government not to renege on their commitment on resolutions reached.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the conference started on June 2 and ends June 13.

The conference has representatives from government, employer and workers delegates from the ILO’s 187 member states.

It will address important world of work matters such as possible new international standards on the protection of workers against biological hazards in the working environment, decent work, among others.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Ismail Abdulaziz