NIGERIAN LEGAL FRAMEWORK ON CHILD LABOUR: CHALLENGES, IMPACTS AND PROSPECTS

Abstract

Child labour is a prevalent issue in Nigeria. According to the National Bureau of Statistics 2017 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, 50% of children in Nigeria are involved in child labour. Children often engage in street hawking and begging, and are also employed as domestic workers in private homes. Child labour often interferes with children’s school work, and is often detrimental to their health and wellbeing. This study examined the Nigerian Legal framework on child labour: challenges and impacts. To unravel the pursuit around the topic, the paper begins by comprehensively discussing the international legal frameworks ad thereafter examined the position of law on child labour in Nigeria. The study adopted a doctrinal research methodology with the primary sources including; the Labour Act NAPTIP Act and many more. The secondary sources include journals, articles, and internet materials to trace the challenges and impacts of child labour to the socio-cultural heritage of the Nigerian people and the economy. The Study finds that there are inadequate laws on the protection against child labour in Nigeria, it also discovered the challenges of religion, culture and proper institutional structure impeding the implementation of many of the existing laws in the country. The study concludes by exploring the impacts of child labour and compares the situation in Nigeria to what transpires in other jurisdictions. Finally, the study recommends some prospects with the existing legal framework, though lacking in enforcement and navigation of socio-cultural policies that could make a child just be a child and not subjugated to labour.