Further results from the poll revealed that most of the participants (86%) said they saw children who were engaged in physical labour often in their communities. 72 percent of the participants said poverty was the root cause of the high rates of child labour/ slavery in Nigeria.
In proffering suggestions to eradicating child labour in Nigeria, 34 percent cited free and compulsory basic education; 27 percent said creation of more job opportunities and 19 percent said creation of poverty eradication programmes and youth empowerment schemes. These measures, the participants believed, would improve the livelihoods of Nigerians and in turn reduce reliance on child labour for survival.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) defines child labour as "work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development. This refers to work that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children; interferes with their schooling by depriving them of the opportunity to attend school, obliging them to leave school prematurely or requiring them to attempt to combine school attendance with excessively long and heavy work".
The ILO further explains that the most extreme forms of child labour involves children being enslaved, separated from their families, exposed to serious hazards and illnesses and/or left to fend for themselves on the streets of large cities mostly at a very early age.
Participants in the poll were asked five questions:
In your opinion, how prevalent is the issue of child labour in Nigeria?
Most of the participants (80%) stated that there was a high prevalence of child labour in Nigeria. 14 percent felt that child labour was moderately prevalent; five percent felt that prevalence was low and one percent said child labour was not at all prevalent in Nigeria.
Based on geopolitical zones
The North-West zone, with 83 percent, had the highest number of participants who believed that there was a high rate of child labour in Nigeria; the South-West zone had the second highest with 81 percent and the South-East zone had 80 percent. The North-Central zone had the highest number of participants who believed that child labour in Nigeria was moderately prevalent.
Personally, do you see children engaged in physical labour or jobs in your locality?
Most of the participants (86%) said they often saw children engaged in physical labour while 14 percent said they did not.
Based on geopolitical zones
The South-South zone (91%), followed by the South-East zone (90%), had the highest number of participants who said they frequently saw children engaged in physical labour and jobs in their locality. The North-East zone, with 24%, had the highest number of participants who said they did not see children engaged in physical labour often in their locality.
This question was directed at the 86 percent who claimed to have seen children engaged in physical labour and jobs: what type of labour or jobs do you see children engaged in?
Most of the participants (68%) said street hawking was the most common type of labour that the children engaged in; 31 percent said street begging/roaming and house-servants; 26 percent said farm related tasks. For other child labour jobs, 14 percent said cargo loading/ offloading and other manual jobs; and 12 percent said bus conductors.
Based on geopolitical zones
The South-South zone, with 89 percent, had the highest number of participants who listed street trading as the most common job children were engaged in. The North-West (38%) and North-Central (37%) zones had the highest number of participants who said street begging/roaming. The North-Central zone, with 35 percent, had the highest number of respondents who selected Cargo lading/offloading and other manual jobs.
In your opinion, what is the main reason for the incidence of child labour in Nigeria?
Most of the participants (72%) blamed poverty as the main cause of the high rate of child labour/slavery in Nigeria. 12 percent blamed illiteracy, five percent blamed poor parenting and parental neglect; and four percent blamed poor access/high cost of education.
Based on geopolitical zones
Most of the participants who believed that poverty was the main cause of child labour in Nigeria were from the South-East zone (82%). The North-West zone, with 19 percent, had the highest number of participants who believed illiteracy was the major cause of child labour in Nigeria. The North-East zone had the highest number of participants who believed that stated poor parenting and parental neglect.
What suggestions do you have for eradicating/reducing child labour to the barest minimum in Nigeria?
Most of the participants (34%) said free and compulsory basic education would go a long way in ridding the nation of child labour. 27 percent said creation of more job opportunities, 19 percent said creation of poverty eradication programmes and youth empowerment schemes; this 19 percent added that making such provisions would improve the livelihood of most Nigerians and in turn, reduce the need to rely on children for survival. Another 18 percent said creation of awareness on family planning and child labour and education. Five percent suggested law enforcement on child labour, child rights and child bearing; another five percent suggested the provision of basic infrastructure/amenities.
Based on geopolitical zones
The South-East, with 39 percent, and the North-East, with 38 percent, had the highest number of participants who suggested free and compulsory basic education. The South-South zone (37%) had the highest number of participants who suggested the creation of more job opportunities. The South-West zone (25%) had more respondents who suggested the creation of poverty eradication programmes and youth empowerment schemes to eradicate child labour and slavery in Nigeria.
The NOIPolls stated that this survey became important because, "Despite several measures to combat child labour, it continues to remain of great concern in Nigeria. The Nigerian Child's Rights Law, which took into account the rights guaranteed in the United Nations' Convention on the Rights of the Child, was passed in 2003. 10 years after its incorporation in the Nigerian law, the child labour situation has worsened as millions of children are still engaged in child labour activities.
In line with this, the International Labour Organisation estimates that about 25% of Nigeria's 80 million children under the age of 14 are involved in child labour. Also recently the CNN world's child labour index featured Nigeria amongst the top ten worst countries for child labour."
According to the NOIPolls report, during the survey, a significant number of the people people called during the course of the survey hung up out of fear that the organisation was a regulatory body that was trying to "identify culprits of this social menace".
The report emphasises the need for all stakeholders on Nigeria to be more active and increase efforts to tackle the issue of child labour in Nigeria. "We recommend an increased commitment by policy makers and stakeholders to eradicating the issue of child labour in our society," the report stated. "Also, their strategies to combating this menace should be aligned with those of international organisations such as UNICEF, ILO who have consistently shown keen commitment to combating child labour all over the world."
The survey was carried out from November 4 to November 6, 2013, and involved telephone interviews with 1,017 randomly selected phone-owning Nigerians of legal age, from the six geopolitical zones in the country.
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