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"headline": "Legal Frameworks for Child Labour Prevention and Enforcement in Nigeria",
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"description": "This article examines Nigeria\u2019s legal framework for preventing child labour, focusing on statutory inconsistencies, enforcement gaps, constitutional challenges,...",
"abstract": "This article evaluates the legal, structural, and adjudicative mechanisms for preventing child labour in Nigeria. Despite Nigeria's ratification of core International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions and the enactment of domestic legislation such as the Child's Rights Act 2003 and the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act 2015, millions of Nigerian children remain engaged in hazardous work, forced domestic servitude, street trading, and agricultural exploitation. Utilizing a doctrinal legal methodology, this study critically diagnoses the substantive weaknesses of the Nigerian legal framework, focusing on the statutory friction between the outdated Labour Act 2004 (which permits child employment from age 12) and modern rights-based statutes, the constitutional non-justiciability of socio-economic rights under section 6(6)(c) of the 1999 Constitution, sub-national domestication disparities, and severe informal economy enforcement vacuums. Furthermore, the paper provides an original analysis of recent adjudicative developments before the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) pursuant to section 254C of the Constitution, evaluating landmark judgments such as The People of Plateau State v Victoria Ugwu and The People of Plateau State v Rita Agboeze regarding human trafficking disguised as informal adoption. Incorporating comparative perspectives from South Africa and India, the study advances targeted proposals for legislative harmonisation through the Labour Standard Bill, the expansion of inspectorate mandates, and education-linked social protection nets.",
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"keywords": "Child Labour, Child's Rights Act 2003, Labour Act 2004, National Industrial Court of Nigeria, Human Trafficking, ILO Conventions, State Responsibility",
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"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[1] Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), s 34(1)."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[2] Child's Rights Act 2003, s 28."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[3] National Bureau of Statistics and UNICEF, Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2021: Survey Findings Report (NBS 2022) 112."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[4] International Labour Organization, Child Labour and Hazardous Work in Nigeria: Statistical Report (ILO 2023) 45."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[5] International Cocoa Initiative, Child Labour Legislation in Nigeria: Sectoral Analysis in Agriculture (ICI 2023) 14."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[6] United States Department of Labor, 2022 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor: Nigeria (USDOL 2023) 3."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[7] Adetutu A Adewole, 'Nigerian Legal Framework on Child Labour: Challenges, Impacts and Prospects' (2025) 8(1) Redeemer's University Nigeria Law Journal 194, 198."
},
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"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[8] Chinyere Nwakaego Dinwoke, 'Prohibition of Child Labour in Nigeria: The Gap Between Legislation and State Practice' (2026) 4(7) African Journal of Legal Research 32, 36."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[9] Labour Act 2004, Cap L1 LFN 2004, s 59."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[10] Obraori Nmabunwa Peters Adiela and Mabel Otivbo Izzi, 'Examining Child Labour in Nigeria from the Lens of Human Rights' (2025) 19(1) Journal of Jurisprudence, International Law and Contemporary Legal Issues 1, 5."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[11] YK Abdul, IAU Wala and A Afolabi, 'The Role of the Judiciary in Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants Cases' (2024) 8 African Journal of Law and Human Rights 106, 110."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[12] Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act 2015, s 13."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[13] Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), s 254C(1)(i)."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[14] The People of Plateau State v Victoria Ugwu (Unreported Suit No NICN/JOS/01C/2025, Judgment delivered 6 July 2026 per Galadima J)."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[15] Terry Hutchinson, Researching and Writing in Law (4th edn, Lawbook Co 2018) 42."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[16] Evidence Act 2011, s 135."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[17] Alliance 8.7, Pathfinder Country Report: Nigeria Implementation Progress (Alliance 8.7 2023) 8."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[18] International Labour Organization Convention No 138 concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment (adopted 26 June 1973, entered into force 19 June 1976) 1015 UNTS 297 (ILO Convention No 138) art 2."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[19] International Labour Organization Convention No 182 concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour (adopted 17 June 1999, entered into force 19 November 2000)"
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "21 33 UNTS 161 (ILO Convention No 182) art 3."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[20] Child's Rights Act 2003, s 28(2)."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[21] Adewole (n 7) 201."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[22] ILO Convention No 182, art 3."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[23] ibid art 3(a)-(d)."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[24] International Labour Organization, Global Estimates of Child Labour: Results and Trends 2020-2024 (ILO 2024) 22."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[25] ILO Convention No 182, art 4."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[26] Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Hazardous Child Labour Activity Framework for Nigeria (FMLE 2013) 10."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[27] International Cocoa Initiative (n 5) 18."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[28] USDOL (n 6) 5."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[29] National Action Plan on the Elimination of Child Labour in Nigeria 2021-2025 (FMLE 2021) 16."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[30] United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (adopted 20 November 1989, entered into force 2 September 1990) 1577 UNTS 3 (UN CRC) art 32."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[31] ibid art 32(1)."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[32] ibid art 32(2)."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[33] African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (adopted 11 July 1990, entered into force 29 November 1999) OAU Doc CAB/LEG/24.9/49 (ACRWC) art 15."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[34] ibid art 15(1)."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[35] ibid art 15(2)."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[36] ILO Convention No 138, art 2(1)."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[37] ibid art 2(3)."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[38] ibid art 7."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[39] ILO Convention No 182, art 1."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[40] Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), Cap C23 LFN 2004."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[41] Dinwoke (n 8) 38."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[42] Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), s 46(1)."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[43] ibid s 34(1)."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[44] ibid s 34(1)(a)-(c)."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[45] Abdul, Wala and Afolabi (n 11) 108."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[46] Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), s 46(2)."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[47] ibid s 42(2)."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[48] Adiela and Izzi (n 10) 8."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[49] Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), s 35(1)."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[50] ibid ch II."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[51] ibid s 17(3)(f)."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[52] ibid ss 17(3)(b), 18(1)."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[53] ibid s 6(6)(c)."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[54] ibid."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[55] Dinwoke (n 8) 40."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[56] Compulsory, Free Universal Basic Education Act 2004, Cap C8 LFN 2004, s 2."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[57] Adewole (n 7) 205."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[58] Adiela and Izzi (n 10) 12."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[59] Child's Rights Act 2003, Cap C50 LFN 2004."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[60] ibid pt I."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[61] ibid s 28(1)."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[62] ibid s 28(2)."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[63] ibid s 30(1)."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[64] ibid s 30(3)."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[65] ibid s 31."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[66] Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), sch 2 pt II."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[67] Dinwoke (n 8) 42."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[68] National Human Rights Commission, Annual Report on Child Rights Domestication in Nigeria (NHRC 2022) 15."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[69] USDOL (n 6) 6."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[70] Adewole (n 7) 208."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[71] NHRC (n 72) 18."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[72] USDOL (n 6) 7."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[73] Abdul, Wala and Afolabi (n 11) 112."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[74] Labour Act 2004, Cap L1 LFN 2004."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[75] Dinwoke (n 8) 45."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[76] Labour Act 2004, s 59(1)."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[77] Child's Rights Act 2003, s 28."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[78] International Cocoa Initiative (n 5) 22."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[79] Adewole (n 7) 211."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[80] Labour Act 2004, s 91."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[81] Dinwoke (n 8) 47."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[82] Labour Act 2004, s 59(6)."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[83] ibid."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[84] Alliance 8.7 (n 18) 12."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[85] Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act 2015."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[86] ibid s 1."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[87] ibid s 13."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[88] ibid ss 22, 23."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[89] Compulsory, Free Universal Basic Education Act 2004, s 2(1)."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[90] ibid s 2(2)."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[91] ibid s 2(3)."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[92] Adewole (n 7) 215."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[93] Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (adopted 23 May 1969, entered into force 27 January 1980) 1155 UNTS 331 (VCLT) art 26."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[94] ibid art 27."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[95] Malcolm N Shaw, International Law (9th edn, Cambridge University Press 2021) 112."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[96] Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), s 12(1)."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[97] ibid."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[98] Abacha v Fawehinmi [2000] 6 NWLR (Pt 660) 228."
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"text": "[99] ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations, Direct Request concerning Convention No 138: Nigeria (CEACR 2023) 2."
}
],
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"text": "\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n[151] Mahlangu v Minister of Labour (2021) 42 ILJ 269 (CC).
\r\n\r\n\r\n[152] Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 1986 (as amended).
\r\n\r\n\r\n[153] Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 (India), s 3(1).
\r\n\r\n\r\n[154] Ibid.
\r\n\r\n\r\n[155] MC Mehta v State of Tamil Nadu (1996) 6 SCC 756 / AIR 1997 SC.
\r\n\r\n\r\n[156] Ibid.
\r\n\r\n"
},
"articleBody": "This article evaluates the legal, structural, and adjudicative mechanisms for preventing child labour in Nigeria. Despite Nigeria's ratification of core International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions and the enactment of domestic legislation such as the Child's Rights Act 2003 and the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act 2015, millions of Nigerian children remain engaged in hazardous work, forced domestic servitude, street trading, and agricultural exploitation. Utilizing a doctrinal legal methodology, this study critically diagnoses the substantive weaknesses of the Nigerian legal framework, focusing on the statutory friction between the outdated Labour Act 2004 (which permits child employment from age 12) and modern rights-based statutes, the constitutional non-justiciability of socio-economic rights under section 6(6)(c) of the 1999 Constitution, sub-national domestication disparities, and severe informal economy enforcement vacuums. Furthermore, the paper provides an original analysis of recent adjudicative developments before the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) pursuant to section 254C of the Constitution, evaluating landmark judgments such as The People of Plateau State v Victoria Ugwu and The People of Plateau State v Rita Agboeze regarding human trafficking disguised as informal adoption. Incorporating comparative perspectives from South Africa and India, the study advances targeted proposals for legislative harmonisation through the Labour Standard Bill, the expansion of inspectorate mandates, and education-linked social protection nets.",
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