Opinion
By Chris Chikelue
ANAMBRA State Government has said that engaging a child in harsh labour that prevents him or her from acquiring basic formal education and developing physically, mentally, morally and socially is an offence punishable by the law.
This was the message at a road walk, kick starting a 3-day event to mark this year’s World Day Against Child Labour in Awka.
The event which is tagged ‘Social Justice for All, End Child Labour’, was spear-headed by the Ministry of Information in collaboration with the Ministry of Women and Social Welfare cum Beecharity Outlook Foundation, a Non Governmental Organization, NGO.
While commenting on the viability of the walk as well as the event, the Chairman of the event and Commissioner for Information, Sir Paul Nwosu said that every child deserved to be loved and that it is improper to engage a child of a certain category in a particular labour.
“Children are to be cared for, they are not to be enslaved; children are to be educated, they are not to be used as house helps.
“Not that house help is actually wrong but do not maltreat them or starve them. The other day the commissioner (of Women and Social Welfare) had to travel all the way to Lagos to intervene for a child, a domestic abused child and an under-aged.
“These are what we want the people to understand, that it is improper and that they should begin to care for children and treat children differently.’’
The Women and Social Welfare Commissioner, Mrs. Ifeyinwa Obinabo while commenting on the walk said, “we are creating awareness so that people will know that it is illegal to labour any child, whether your biological child or anybody else’s child.
“We are saying no to child labour, stop abusing children; stop maltreating the children you are living with; we want to make Ndi-Anambra to be aware of the legal implication of labouring any child’’.
She added that the government of Professor Chukwuma Soludo has stood out to help the children, and to see that nobody would abuse any child again and go unpunished in the state.
The walk kicked off from the Aroma Junction and culminated in the visit of a victim of domestic labour/brutality who is receiving treatment at the Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital, COOTH, Amaku.
The three-day event will continue on June 12 and 13 with Media Engagements and a Public Lecture respectively. The lecture will hold at the Dora Akunyili Women Development Centre from 10 am. (MOI)
***Chris Chikelue is of the Anambra State Ministry of Information.
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Tags: Chris Chikelue End Child Labour’ Mrs. Ifeyinwa Obinabo Mrs. Ifeyinwa Obinabo . Professor Chukwuma Soludo Social Justice for All
