Geneva, Switzerland - In a report to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Trade Review of Nigeria, issued here Monday, the global labour group International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has condemned the alarming level of child labour in Nigeria and anti-trade union violence in the country. The report said some 15 million children are at work, many in dangerous jobs, in Nigeria. “Nigeria’s restrictions on workers’ rights to organize unions are allowing severe exploitation of workers, including in the country’s export processing zones where start-up companies are guaranteed a strike-free workforce up ten years or more.

'Massive legal loopholes and poor enforcement mean millions of kids are at work instead of at school, damaging the Nigeria’s social fabric and economic prospects,” the report quoted ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow as saying.

The report also reveals that restrictions on union organising and collective bargaining rights are compounded by intimidation and violence by employers; women earn just 68% of men’s salaries for equivalent work; and, police rarely allow unions to hold public demonstrations, and routinely use force to disperse protesters.

“WTO members have pledged to uphold the core labour standards of the International Labour Organisation, but Nigeria has failed to live up to this,' Burrow said.

'Many Nigerian workers live in fear of employer and police violence. This failure not only hurts Nigerians– it also undermines efforts by other governments to uphold decent employment standards in the globalized economy,” the ITUC official added.

Pana 28/06/2011