The International Labour Organization (ILO), during its annual conference in 2002 declared June 12, Child Labour Day though its war against child labour began years before then with the creation of the a special unit; the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour ( IPEC).

The slogan " Indifference has a price. My future" developed by IPEC was designed to appeal to the conscience of all and sundry.

In Nigeria, the ILO and its partners have embarked on series of programmes aimed at eliminating child labour. Non- governmental organizations have also organized series of programmes yet the menace of child labour remains with us.

In this edition, we give you an update on the ILO's unrelenting efforts to eliminate child labour.

Early last week, the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour released a new report on child labour . The report stated that "child labour involves one in every six children in the world".

The situation is not however hopeless as IPEC indicates that child labour " can be eliminated and replaced by universal education by the year 2020 at an estimated cost of US $760billion.

The director-general of the ILO, Mr. Juan Somavia, who was present at the launch of the new report advised nations to adopt a good social policy. He said, " What's good social policy is also good economic policy".

Mr. Somavia empha sized: "Eliminating child labour will yield an enormous return on investment and a priceless impact on the lives of children and families".

The IPEC report also indicates that " some 246 million children are currently involved in child labour worldwide. Of these, 179 million -or one in every eight children worldwide ---- are exposed to the worst forms of child labour, which endanger their physical, mental or moral well-being".

Eliminating child labour is not just of social benefit but also of economic benefit says IPEC.

" Reaping the economic value of expanded education depends on countries ability to create new jobs, take advantage of higher levels of human capital and develop economic policies to stimulate growth".

In Nigeria, last year alone, there were reported cases of child trafficking involving more than 500 children. Several cases involving thousands of children are not known to the authorities. Child labour has been on the increase despite the Obasanjo government's universal basic education programme. The UBE itself cannot be said to be successful as majority of the people in the rural areas lack access to basic social facilities and therefore use children to augment their family income.

However, the efforts of the Non-governmental organizations paid off last year. The wife of the vice-president and founder of the Women Trafficking and Child Labour Eradication Foundation (WOTCLEF), Mrs. Titi Atiku Abubakar, sponsored a private bill on the elimination of child labour and got it passed into law. As a result, the government established the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking on Persons to create awareness on the implications of trafficking persons.

Perhaps the efforts would have paid off, if the Child Rights Bill had been passed into law.

Part 111 section 26 of the yet to be passed into law child rights bill states, "Prohibition of exploitative child labour- Forced, exploitative labour, lifting or moving heavy objects, work in industrial undertakings prohibited. Penalty on conviction is N50,000 fine or five years imprisonment or both. Where offender is a body corporate, penalty is N250,000 fine".

Section 28 also states, " Buying, selling, hiring or otherwise dealing in children for the purpose of hawking or begging for alms or prostitution, domestic or sexual labour etc. are prohibited. Penalty is 10 years imprisonment".

Despite the clear evidence of child labour on our roads, the federal legislature has not deemed it fit to pass the Child Rights bill into law.

Thousands of children are engaged in the informal sector in our country. Children are engaged as farm helps in the rural areas where they are paid a pittance for jobs done. In the cities, the middle class engages children as house-helps who are paid to do domestic chores and in most cases, they are denied formal education.

A report of the IPEC/ ILO on Child trafficking in West Africa revealed that " Calabar is a transit port for children to be sent to Gabon or Cameroon and also for children trafficked from Cameroon entering Nigeria".

Four states: "Akwa- Ibom, Abia, Rivers and Cross River have become the targets of modern child trafficking syndicates".

It noted that " Lagos, being the largest city in Nigeria is noted for children coming in from and going out to neighbouring countries like Benin, Togo, Ghana".

Since the release of this IPEC/ ILO report, over 500 children trafficked to Nigeria have been found by the police and returned to the Republic of Benin.

The IPEC/ ILO may have implemented several programmes aimed at eliminating child labour, more is expected from the federal and state governments which from all indications have not considered child labour a threat to the socio-economic development of Nigeria.

It is not uncommon for government officials to argue that there are no cases of child labour in Nigeria. So, there are no efforts being made to eliminate child labour in our society.

The issue is how prepared are the governments in Nigeria to expand education, create new jobs and take advantage of higher levels of human capital as suggested by Mr. Juan Somavia.

Our economic reform package is about higher cost of education, job losses etc. such that many Nigerian children are beginning to consider education a waste of time. They would rather trade than spend so many years in school and end up without jobs.

As a result, rather than eliminate child labour our policies are promoting child labour.

The new IPEC/ ILO report also places emphasis on children's health. The study states that "improvements in children's health, through the elimination of child labour, will bring tangible economic benefits".

The IPEC/ ILO study noted "eliminating child labour would be a generational investment and a sustained commitment to children, both today and tomorrow".

Let's hope our leaders are listening to the voices of children in labour " Indifference has a price: My future."