UNESCO Read and Earn Federation (UNESCO REF) has called on President Bola Tinubu to engage genuine education stakeholders to curb the menace of child labour.

President of UNESCO REF, Abdulsalami Ladigbolu, made the call in a statement on Monday as Nigeria joins other parts of the world to celebrate International Child Labour Day.

“As a concerned citizen and strong believer and supporter of smart intellectuals, I urge President Tinubu to take stronger action and strategic dynamics to address the issue,” he said.

Mr Ladigbolu spoke of the need for the president to be pragmatic in addressing the issues at stake in child labour.

Stating that child labour was a global issue, he decried that it had prevailed despite its hazards.

“An estimated 250 million children are working worldwide. This is important to remind us of the need for a collective effort to address this problem because the majority of the children undergoing these circumstances are meant to be in school.”

Mr Ladigbolu said it was essential to study the factors contributing to child labour in various states/communities so that open and holistic action plans could be designed to address the fundamental causes of Child labour in Nigeria.

”This issue of child labour in Nigeria keeps increasing and changing in pattern, putting into consideration the generic factors and issues contributing to the children scrambling for purchasing power to cater to their immediate needs,” he said.

(NAN)