US embassy cable - 02ABUJA2976

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 002976 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB, ETRD, EIND, PHUM, SOCI, NI, AID 
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: UPDATE OF THE CHILD LABOR INFORMATION FOR 
TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT ACT (GSP) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS 
 
 
REF: SECSTATE 168607 
 
 
1.  Laws and Regulations Proscribing the Worst Forms of Child 
Labor:  In 2002, President Obasanjo signed the instruments of 
ratification for ILO Convention 182, Worst Form of Child 
Labor, Convention 138, Minimum Age for Employment, and 
Convention 111, Equality of Occupation.  Some form of 
legislation prohibiting child labor has existed in Nigeria 
since colonial times.  Nigeria's 1974 labor decree prohibits 
children under 15 years from working in commerce and industry 
and restricts other child labor to home-based agricultural or 
domestic work.  Federal law further stipulates that no person 
under the age of 16 may be employed more than eight hours per 
day. Most states have also adopted laws proscribing child 
labor practices, namely street trading, in the past decade. 
Youth apprenticeship is permitted under specific conditions. 
Primary education is compulsory, and the minimum age 
requirement is consistent with the age for completing 
educational requirements. 
 
 
2.  Forced or compulsory labor is also outlawed by the 1974 
decree.  The national labor code addresses hazardous forms of 
work for all workers.  Draft legislation was under review in 
the National Assembly in 2002 that would make trafficking in 
persons (including children) a crime; however, no action has 
so far been taken by the legislature. 
 
 
3.  Laws and Regulations for Implementing and Enforcing 
Proscriptions against the Worst Forms of Child Labor:  Legal 
remedies available to government enforcement agencies include 
criminal penalties and civil fines.  Enforcement provisions 
have not been applied successfully and do not deter 
violations.  Where child labor abuses coincide with other 
criminal offenses, such as rape, authorities may investigate, 
prosecute, and punish the responsible party for the non-labor 
violation. 
 
 
4.  Formal Institutional Mechanisms to Investigate and 
Address Complaints Relating to the Worst Forms of Child 
Labor:  There has been slow but noticeable progress in 
improving GON capacity to investigate and address abusive 
child labor practices.  The National Labour Advisory Council 
(NLAC) is responsible for enforcing federal regulations and 
for receiving and investigating child labor complaints.  In 
2000, the government exchanged a Memorandum of Understanding 
with the International Programme on Elimination of Child 
Labour (IPEC) to fund and develop implementation plans for C. 
182 provisions.  NLAC, IPEC and UNICEF are coordinating 
efforts to develop enforcement strategies, the focus of which 
is awareness and official training activities.  The Ministry 
of Employment, Labour and Productivity recently established a 
special office for child labor issues. 
 
 
5.  Despite increased institutional momentum and 
organization, no child labor violation inspections or 
investigations have resulted in fines, penalties, or 
convictions to date.  A recent trial to prosecute a prominent 
suspected child trafficker was dismissed when material 
witnesses failed to testify about the children's identities 
or the nature of their relationship to the suspect.  The 
extent to which prosecutors investigated the witnesses' 
motives for their unwillingness to cooperate is unknown. 
 
 
6.  Social Programs Implemented to Prevent the Engagement of 
Children in, or Assist in Removing Children from, the Worst 
Forms of Child Labor:  Extended school participation is 
generally acknowledged as the best means to deter child 
labor.  Although primary education is compulsory, this 
requirement is not rigorously enforced and many primary 
school aged children work when they should be in the 
classroom.   A source with extensive academic and work 
experience on child labor issues believes the government's 
commitment to improving educational access is genuine, 
although the results of its initiative have not been 
evaluated.  Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) frequently 
criticize the government for failing to fund their programs, 
which they argue could help reduce child participation in the 
workforce. 
 
 
7. Comprehensive Policy or National Program Aimed at 
Eliminating the Worst Forms of Child Labor:  The collective 
body of domestic labor laws and international conventions 
ratified this year provides a solid legal foundation to 
address child labor problems. 
 
 
8.  Progress Toward Eliminating the Worst Forms of Child 
Labor: Since returning to civilian rule in 1999, Nigeria has 
made progress addressing child labor abuses.  Twenty years 
ago, child labor issues were virtually ignored by 
academicians and government officials alike.  Within the past 
decade, awareness of the issue has spread.  In the past three 
years, Nigeria's liberalized political atmosphere has allowed 
NGOs to grow and more adequately address child labor and 
other social issues. Recognizing that more needs to be done, 
new ideas and more energy are being directed to address the 
most egregious child labor problems.   Several high-profile 
political personalities, including the wife of the President, 
wife of the Vice-President, and the wives of several State 
governors, have campaigned on behalf of children, and against 
prostitution, child labor and trafficking in children. 
 
 
9.  The challenges to progress are formidable.  The sixteen 
years of military rule prior to 1999 left a legacy of 
increasing child labor practices with limited capacity for 
governmental enforcement of existing laws.  Military 
enforcement of child labor laws consisted of periodic sweeps 
and dragnets to arrest child workers but little was done to 
regulate or deter law-breaking employers.  These sweeps 
usually resulted in an increased number of new child laborers 
taking the places of those who had been arrested, which had 
the unintended effect of increasing child labor 
participation. 
10.  Increasing poverty and the need to supplement meager 
family incomes has forced many children into the employment 
market, which is unable to absorb their labor due to high 
levels of unemployment.  The use of children as beggars, 
hawkers, etc. in the informal sector is widespread in urban 
areas.  Some families rely exclusively on child breadwinners 
to survive. In 1999, one study found approximately 100 
locations in Lagos with two to three regular child workers. 
Surveys over the past decade estimate that the number of 
children working after school has increased from one out of 
three to two out of three.  The average age of child workers 
has also dropped.  Quality of child worker training has 
decreased as younger workers are trained increasingly by 
peers nearer their own age rather than by experienced adult 
laborers.  This in turn has increased the risks associated 
with work. 
 
 
11.  Historical perceptions about social mobility also impede 
efforts to end child labor.  Many rural parents believe that 
sending their children to work for wealthy urban 
professionals will significantly improve both their immediate 
and future living standards.  Traditional practice in this 
respect does not regard child labor as exploitative. 
 
 
12.  Few statistics were available to quantify the success of 
ongoing anti-trafficking campaigns.  Meaningful studies of 
the extent of child labor are lacking in Nigeria due to 
several barriers.  Accurate measurements take time and 
resources are unavailable to domestic NGOs or academic 
researchers.   Researchers find it difficult to establish a 
rapport with working children necessary to investigate their 
conditions.  Child laborers in Nigeria fear the motives of 
child labor researchers and are a "moving target" for 
census-takers.  Thus, comprehensive analysis of child labor 
in Nigeria remains elusive. 
 
 
JETER 
JETER