FG

The National Economic Council said on Thursday in Abuja that it has decided that the gasoline subsidy should “not be removed” as originally anticipated for June 2023.

This was revealed to State House reporters by Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, the Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, just after the final Council meeting, which was presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and held in the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

The Council, according to Ahmed, agreed that further debate of the matter was necessary, and he added that the FG, as well as the states and representatives of the new administration, need more preparation.

She said, “Council agreed that the timing of the removal of fuel subsidy should not be now. But that we should continue with all of the preparatory works that need to be done and that this preparatory has to be done in consultation with the states and other key stakeholders including representatives of the incoming administration.

“Council agreed that the fuel subsidy must be removed earlier rather than later because it is not sustainable. We cannot afford it anymore. But we have to do it in such a way that the impact of the subsidy is as much as possible, mitigated on the lives of ordinary Nigerians. 

“So, this will require looking at alternatives to the fuel subsidy that needs to be planned for and subsequently put in place. But also what needs to be done to support the people that will be most affected as a result of the removal.” 

In addition, Ahmed said that between now and June 2023, the FG will collaborate with state officials.

“We have a plan that we will start working on, putting the building blocks towards the eventual removal of the first subsidy. 

“And if I may remind this forum that the budget for 2023 has a provision for fuel subsidy only up to June 2023 and also the Petroleum Industry Act has a provision that requires that all petroleum products must be deregulated 18 months after the effective date of the PMS removal and that that period is also up to June 2020,” the minister explained.

According to the Federal Government, at least 15 million children are employed as child laborers throughout the nation.

Even as the ILO bemoaned the approximately 160 million children who were actively working as minors around the world.

Kachollom Daju, the permanent secretary of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, said the government was not resting on its oars in its efforts to see that the fight against child labor and forced labor was reduced to the bare minimum, if not entirely eradicated, after learning that 15 million children were working as children.

In the interest of the nation, she noted, children who were viewed as future leaders shouldn’t be exposed to such practices at a young age but should instead be loved and given proper care.

Daju stated, “Child labour is a multi dimensional development concern. It cuts across various lines: economic, social, religious, cultural and regional divides. 

”The worst forms of child labour constitute exploitation and gross violation of human rights for both boys and girls, causing physical, emotional, and mental consequences for the child. Such violations take place at the household level, community level, institutions, and business areas.

“In Nigeria, child labour has become a scourge. Several children find themselves on the streets, forced to make a living, with others employed in industrial complexes and hazardous environments.

“This is attributable to various factors, such as poverty, ignorance, unemployment, absence of social security for the vulnerable, misinterpretation of cultural and religious beliefs and weak institutional framework.

“Statistics reveal that there are no fewer than 15 million child workers in Nigeria; this is according to the ILO, with the UN warning that the absence of mitigating strategies could see an exponential increase in the number of children engaged in child labour.”

“This, of course, will certainly have massive implications for the future.

“As a country however, we take pride in stating that giant strides have been made in dealing with this menace, most notably the adoption and ratification of ILO Conventions 138 and 182 on Minimum Age and Worst forms of Child Labour respectively; the passage of the Child Rights Act into law to domesticate the Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted by 35 state governments and the FCT; the review and the validation of the National Policy on Child Labour and the National Action Plan on the Elimination of Child Labour, Prohibition and Elimination of Forced Labour, Modern Slavery, and Human Trafficking in workplaces spearheaded by the Federal  Ministry of Labour and Employment, amongst many other achievements.”

Similar to this, the International Labour Organization (ILO) condemns the approximately 160 million children who are currently working as children worldwide.

At a stakeholders meeting over the weekend in Abuja, Ms. Venessa Phala, Director of the ILO Country Office for Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Liaison Office for ECOWAS, stated that children have a right to better lives rather than being subjected to forced labor practices just to supplement their parents’ income.

The ILO Convention on the World of Work, according to Phala, is violated by the practice of employing minors as laborers.

She said, “We all know that the number of children engaging in child labour has risen to 160 million worldwide, which is represents an increase of 8.4 million children when compared with the last report.

“In eradicating the scourge of child labour and force labour in Nigeria, concerted efforts are required from all stakeholders, part of which is the development of monitoring infrastructure to determine and measure its magnitude, distribution, dimensions and characteristics at the national and sub-national levels.”