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Conspectus of 2025 World Day against child labour celebration and attitude of Federal Government to child education -Failure of FCT and its Area Councils
By Comrade Gbenga Olowoyo milr fcia fimpa JP
This year 2025 theme of international day against child labour is *”Let us speed up efforts! End child Labour!”* which is a pointer to the fact that the action of government to give every child a pride of place is lacking.
In my Perspective *”Child laborers during the Industrial Revolution often worked long hours in dangerous conditions for very little pay, with little opportunity for education or a normal childhood. They faced exploitation, physical dangers, and health risks, highlighting the harsh realities of their lives.”*
World Against Child Labour Day is marked on Jun 12, every year. This year theme for 2025 in more elaborate way is “Progress is clear, but there’s more to do: let’s speed up efforts”. Also, the goal of ending child labour by 2025 has missed the target outrightly.
The sacrosanct goal of World Against Child Labour Day 2025 is to raise awareness about the need to create a world free of child labour and ensure that every child enjoys the right to education and a childhood free from exploitation.
The staggering revelation made by UNICEF, revealed that child labour still affects over 138 million children globally, with 54 million of them involved in dangerous occupations, this is a critical challenge that has attested to the fact that leaders around the world have abandoned their responsibilities of ensuring that every child is entitled to decent life and unhindered access to qualitative education .
Despite any attempt or snail efforts, millions of children still require accelerated protection. To do this, it is essential: to increase community awareness, improve access to education, and enforce the law that will promote child’s interest more strictly.
The theme for this year, highlights the fact that millions of children are being exploited, despite the fact that many nations have successfully decreased the number of child labour cases.
Now, World Day Against Child Labour 2025 urges unambiguous, coordinated, and persistent actions to guarantee that every child has access to education, and a safe childhood.
For the purpose of inference, in 2002, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) established the inaugural World Day Against Child Labor. The programme was a component of a larger worldwide effort to eradicate child labor.
This observance has developed over time into a major worldwide occasion that highlights current facts, highlights best practices, and inspires new initiatives from communities, employers, and governments. With two important conventions, the ILO has long promoted worldwide Labour norms to safeguard children:
• ILO Convention No. 138 founded the minimum age for employment.
• ILO Convention No. 182 bans the worst forms of child labour.
World Against Child Labour Day 2025.
The 2025 World Day Against Child Labor is a strong call to action. This day is significant because of the various reasons below:
• Global Awareness: It brings the persistent problem of child labour and the pressing need to defend children’s rights to the attention of the world community.
• Policy Focus: Promotes the strengthening of laws, regulations, and enforcement systems by governments in order to eradicate child labor.
• Stakeholder Mobilization: Stakeholder mobilization brings communities, businesses, NGOs, and governments together to work together to end child labor.
• Child-Centered Advocacy: This advocacy highlights children’s rights to education, safety, and dignity by providing a forum for their views to be heard.
• Progress Evaluation: Provides an opportunity to assess progress, exchange best practices, and coordinate with international objectives such as SDG Target 8.7, which aims to eradicate child labor by 2025.
World Day Against Child Labour 2025
As of today, Nigeria still faces significant problems with child labor with over 65 million Nigerian
children between the ages of 5 and 17 are working as child laborers, many of them in dangerous settings and locations across the country
However, on Wednesday, the eve of World Day Against Child Labour, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and UNICEF revealed the data. In 2024, about 13.8 crore children worked as children worldwide, with at least 5.4 crore doing dangerous jobs that could endanger their development, safety, or health. However, the global goal of ending child labor by 2025 has not been met yet.
In Nigeria, children are employed in industries like mining, construction site, agriculture, carpet weaving, , restaurants etc.
At the 113th Session of the International Labour Conference, the high-level event marked the World Day Against Child Labour 2025 with the launch of the ILO-UNICEF joint report on the latest global estimates of child labour.
The event brought together ILO constituents and partners to discuss the implications of the new global estimates and trends in child labour, and the steps needed to accelerate progress.
This high-level event provides an opportunity to reflect on the progress made and the urgent need for stronger action to meet global goals.
It is a cheering news that “On this World Day against Child Labour, the ILO calls for the full ratification of ILO Convention No. 138 on the Minimum Age and the implementation of ILO Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour.
Their effective ratification and implementation remain essential to achieving the goals set by the Durban Call to Action, which urges strengthened prevention, protection, and partnerships to eliminate child labour.
These positions were amplified by both; Manuela Tomei
Assistant Director-General – Governance, Rights and Dialogue, International Labour Organization (ILO) and Catherine Mary Russell, Executive Director, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to ensuring that every child has a pride of place across the globe
In Nigeria, is a country with a large and youthful population. Almost half of the Nigerian population, or 46%, is under the age of 15.
The above percentage equates to roughly 83 million children under 15. Specifically, there are approximately 31 million children under the age of 5. Additionally, around 18.3 million children are not in school.
In a more detailed statistical breakdown; let us consider as follows:
Children under 15: Approximately 83 million.
Children under 5: Around 31 million.
Out-of-school children: Approximately 18.3 million.
Children out of school (primary & secondary): About 18.3 million.
Children born annually: At least 7 million.
As sensitive as child labour is concerned across the globe, the ITUC calls on the global community to act with renewed urgency as the world is dangerously off-track to meet the 2025 deadline under Sustainable Development Goal 8.7.
Officially, New ILO-UNICEF global estimates revealed that nearly 138 million children are still trapped in child labour – 54 million of them in hazardous work. Behind every number is a child denied their right to education, safety and a future..
ITUC General Secretary Luc Triangle said: “Child labour is a symptom of deeper injustice. It reflects a decent work crisis. When adults are underpaid, unprotected, or unemployed, their children pay the price.
Poverty wages, informal work, and lack of social protection force families into impossible choices.
“The international community has committed under SDG 8.7 to end child labour by 2025, and yet we are not on track. This is not a failure of resources.
. Ending child labour is a test of justice, of accountability, and of political will. It cannot wait. We must act now, with laws, with budgets, with union power to end this injustice and give every child a future.”
The ITUC demands urgent action from governments and employers:
Guarantee living wages and decent work for all.
No family should be forced to choose between hunger and sending a child to work.
Deliver universal social protection for all.
Child benefits, income support and healthcare are proven tools to prevent child labour. Governments must fund this, especially in low-income and rural communities.
Enforce ILO Conventions 138 and 182.
Child labour laws must be backed by adequate labour inspection and penalties for violations, and workplace union access.
The recruitment of children in armed conflict must be fully prohibited with support for their reintegration into society.
Invest in quality, public education and just transition.
Free, quality public education systems must reach all children, especially girls, migrant children, and those in remote or conflict-affected areas. Employers must support just transition strategies that formalise work, uphold labour rights and reinforce communities, not exploit them.
As we move toward the UN World Social Summit in Doha this November, governments must make solid commitment to ensure that every child is in school, every worker has a living wage, and no child is left behind in crisis .
The 6th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour in Morocco next year must deliver a roadmap with real accountability from governments, corporations and international institutions to deliver structural change through binding rules, fair supply chains, and enforcement of labour standards.
We support initiative like Alliance 8.7 to strengthen coordination and knowledge sharing among countries. Such international cooperation has to amplify the voice of local actors in civil society, survivor-led movements, trade unions and communities themselves. We need more investment into south-south collaboration to co-create solutions and to continue expansion of Child Labour Free Zones (CLFZs) and community-based monitoring programs.
*Failure of FCTA and Area Councils*
The above advocacy suggestions are in contrast with what is playing out in Nigeria especially in Abuja , where primary school teachers and other stakeholder unions have been on strike since March 2025 due to non payments of New National Minimum Wage among other requests to all Area Councils workers including primary school teachers which is backed by law enacted in 2024 and signed into law by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
It is no longer news that primary school teachers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja have been on strike since March, 2025, repeatedly, pushing the limits of endurance in pursuit of their rights: the right to a decent wage.
For too long, our Local Education Authority (LEA) teachers in Abuja have been battered, bruised, and betrayed by a system that refuses to reward their selfless service.
Many well-meaning Nigerians have lent their voices for the government to address the disarray in the Abuja council education ecosystem.
Stakeholders urged President Bola Tinubu to do everything possible not to allow the crisis fester further.
“Abuja as a seat of power. If justice is broken here, the rest of the nation will learn to normalise injustice. The intervention facilitated the April salary implementation. a special intervention committee be set in place to reconcile and settle all outstanding arrears across area councils.
“This is no longer just a strike. It is a symptom of systemic failure. We cannot afford another academic year ruined. We cannot afford another healthcare crisis. We cannot afford another round of avoidable hardship for those who serve us at the lowest levels.
We are not asking for luxury. We are asking for justice. We are asking for dignity. We are asking that you, our leaders, act with urgency, compassion, and commitment,” he added.
It is expected that the authorities will address the demands of the aggrieved workers which among others include :
the N70,000 minimum wage arrears for eight months amounting to over N16 billion.
,40 percent peculiar allowance implementation
25 percent, and 35 percent salary increase implementation, and arrears.
Others are N35,000 wage award for six months
annual increments, promotion arrears, upgrade of teachers underemployed since 2018 and health insurance scheme for teachers among others.
It is expedient that the area council chairmen address these issues and other entitlements owed to teachers.
A fact remains that education is considered the best legacy a government can leave because it empowers individuals, fosters economic growth, and strengthens society.
More importantly, experts believe early childhood education lays the groundwork for future learning; consequently, keeping these children at home further amounts to mutilating their future.
Nigerians must learn to arise against impunity in governance, just the way and manner the citizens rose against JAMB; without collective efforts, the leaders will continue to take the citizens for granted.
One would wonder why the minister of education is yet to utter a word against the injustice met on the children, teachers and Nigerians by these council chairmen.
What actually is Nysom Wike, Minister of FCT doing ? These children must return to classrooms and the teachers must be happy doing their work.
Charles Ogwo of Business Day newspaper wrote a challenging piece which should have stirred up solutions from political leaders but the critical issue remains unattended to.
Is it not a mere rhetorics when Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, expressed deep concern over the persistent issue of child labour in the country, describing it as a practice that robs millions of children of their dreams and future.
This was exactly what she expressed n a statement issued by her office to mark the 2025 World Day Against Child Labour, observed on June 12, the First Lady called for stronger laws to combat child labour, increased support for families, and greater investment in quality education for every Nigerian child.
“Today, we raise our voices for millions of children whose dreams are stolen by the harsh reality of child labour,” she wrote. “It is unacceptable that children are still forced to work instead of going to school, pursuing their dreams, and learning how to grow into productive members of society.”
She urged all stakeholders to intensify efforts to eradicate child labour, emphasizing the need for a united national response.
“Let us speed up efforts to end child labour in all its forms by strengthening our laws, supporting families, and investing in quality education for every child,” she said.
“I urge us to work toward building a country where every child is free to thrive, dream, and reach their God-given potential. God bless our precious children!”
My candid opinion is that the first lady should talk to the ear of her beloved husband to intervene in the lingering crisis in Abuja Area Councils where workers have been on strike and has affected all critical sectors: primary schools, primary Health care and Area Council administration generally.
It is appalling that blame game concept is radiating among the stakeholders in Abuja administration.
How fathomable is it that N4.1 billion approved and released to implement New National minimum wage disappeared as allegedly revealed by the National Treasurer of Nigeria Union of Teachers which was claimed to be for “signature allowance”
It is time to see good reasons why governance should be seen as public responsibility and not for show of self ego by all the key players in the Federal Capital Territory FCT; President of Nigeria Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not concerned, Minister of education is not concerned, Minister of Labour is not concerned, Minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike is not concerned, parents are not showing concern, Civil Societies are not showing concern general public are not concerned : why the total docility and ineptitude.
Nigerians are waking from their slumber with the statement issued by Sowore where he accused Nyesom Wike of waging “a war on the poor and the future of the innocent primary school pupils in Abuja” by allocating billions of naira to lavish, non-essential infrastructure projects, while public education and local governance in the nation’s capital remain paralyzed.
Public schools and area councils in the FCT have been shut for three months, leaving teachers unpaid and local government workers abandoned.This is not governance; it is a war on the poor and the future,” Sowore posted,
In the same vein, it is gratifying to hear that THE JOINT UNION ACTION COMMITTEE FCTA/FCDA HAS MANDATED ITS MEMBERS AND AFFILIATE UNIONS IN THE FCTA TO COMMENCE PROTEST to express the unhappiness of workers’ to their present predicament in the Federal Capital Territory
At this juncture enough of insensitive and “heaven will not fall” attitude is enough
We both celebrated world Children’s day and international day against child Labour still non of our leaders was reasonable and responsible enough to spare a concerned thought for these innocent and hapless children.
Where is their future? Posterity will judge.
Comrade Gbenga Olowoyo milr fcia fimpa JP
A Trade Unionist and industrial relations practitioner 08033570338
gbengaolowoyo3@gmail.com
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