The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has said the state government’s investments in education and the enforcement of the Child Rights Law will ensure the protection of children from abuses, especially child labour.
The governor said this in commemoration of the 2022 World Day Against Child Labour, marked every June 12, by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), and observed across the globe.
He said, “In commemoration of the World Day Against Child Labour, we will continue to commit ourselves to the protection and welfare of our children, through programmes and policies that bequeath them with basic social and technical skills required to actualize their dreams.
“As a government, we will continue to invest in education which is critical to the development of a child. We are transforming our school system, offering every Edo child the requisite knowledge and skills to compete with their peers in a technology-driven 21st century.
“We have expanded the Edo Basic Education Sector Transformation (Edo-BEST) programme to give more children the opportunity to get quality basic education. Our commitment to technical and vocational education will ensure the construction of 20 more technical colleges that will allow children to acquire technical skills as part of our drive to promote industrialisation.”
Obaseki said the state government will not fail to prosecute parents and guardians of out-of-school children, as it will deploy necessary steps to take all children off the streets and improve access to education.
He noted, “The implementation of the Violence Against Persons (VAP) law also protects our children from all forms of abuse which include the use of children for cheap labour.”
According to the United Nations, “the 2022 theme of the World Day Against Child Labour calls for increased investment in social protection systems and schemes to establish solid social protection floors and protect children from child labour. While significant progress has been made in reducing child labour over the last two decades, progress has slowed over time, and it has even stalled during the period 2016-2020.”
