DEBORAH TOLU-KOLAWOLE writes on the struggles of underage out-of-school children who work as refuse collectors, popularly referred to as bola-bola on the streets of Kano, the Kano State capital
For many children in Nigeria, even before they are old enough to embrace the beautiful feelings that come with childhood, they are forced to become adults. Having to make important decisions and take responsibility. One of the culpable culprits responsible for the theft of childhood is child labour.
The government also created a new programme to provide vulnerable households with seed capital to fund new businesses in areas with high rates of child labour. Though the “job” seemed not harmful, our correspondent observed that these underage children mostly between the ages of eight-17 years who were meant to be in school worked mostly during the mornings.
“My father sells traditional medicine while my mother sells food. I am the first of six children. I work because I want to help my mother and my father. I have not acquired Western education but I go to Islamiyah in the evening. My mum and I attend the same Islamiyah in the evening.” Abubakar knew his guns in the refuse collection business. A few minutes after speaking to our correspondent and the interpreter, he moved on to a potential customer. After a few minutes of haggling, he was paid N200 to carry a pile of refuse. Though the pile seemed too much for an 11-year-old, he seemed excited to have been able to negotiate a good deal with his customer.
The reason for that is not far-fetched, the Nigerian law does not recognise that working children from 12-18 are engaged in child labour. In fact, the Child Rights Act of 2003 section 59 sets the minimum age for child employment at 12, this negates the international labour law which says that the minimum age for employment is 18 years.
When asked to share the “modus operandi” of the refuse collection business, he said, “When we collect the refuse, we take it to the dump site, we drop it and the people there burn the refuse and then we go and take refuse again and return them. I have not started school but I go to Islamiyah”, “I am just coming from where we throw the refuse that we picked up”. Though she did not share more details, she pointed towards the refuse dump.
At the dumpsite, our correspondent was able to talk to more children. For instance, nine-year-old Haruna explained that he was working to fend for his family. Haruna, who also held a broom in his hands while talking to our reporter, did not seem bothered about the situation around him. He had a sack of refuse on his head and went straight to the dumpsite to upload the waste.
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