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Minister for women affairs, Uju Kennedy advocates child labour for urban development, says ‘they can produce toothpick’

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Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, minister for women affairs, says children should participate in the country’s urban development.

Kennedy-Ohanenye spoke on Thursday at the 2023 Anambra investment summit.

According to the minister, children in other parts of the world like China engage in production which is the reason for the country’s high urban development.

“I am pleading for us to look into more production of some of these things in our societies, especially the necessities like the matchbox, the toothpick, the cotton buds, the sanitary pads and stuff like that,” she said.

“Let us introduce urban development in the schools, if we can think about using Fridays as free for our children to start producing things just like they do in China. In China, even young kids get involved in production.”

The minister said she has already spoken to the president of the Traders Union Association who is ready to partner on the initiative so that “when they produce these things, they carry it and market it within our country”.

Kennedy-Ohanenye said the move would check the high unemployment rates in the country and curtail drug abuse among children.

“They will school and they will equally do some production to start earning money on time. It will equally curtail the insecurity in our society,” she added.

“Let us help ourselves. If we are hoping on government to do it all, it will never happen.”

CHILD LABOUR IN NIGERIA

The federal ministry of women affairs and social development which Kennedy-Ohanenye heads is also mandated to see to protecting the development and rights of children in Nigeria.

However, the minister’s recent comments have raised concerns about child rights violations as the children may be exposed to child labour if her idea sails through.

The child rights Act 2003 defines acts that constitute child labour and also stipulates some penalties for defaulters.

According to the Act, any person or group of persons:

Who subjects a child to any form of exploitative or forced labour;
Who employs a child to work in a capacity other than domestic or light agricultural and horticultural work as a family member;
Who asks a child to carry, lift or move heavy items which could pose negative effects on the child’s social, physical, moral, spiritual, and mental development;
Who employs a child as a domestic help outside the child’s family environment or home;
Who employs a child in an industrial undertaking other than required and duly supervised technical work in schools or other approved institutions; is deemed guilty of child labour in Nigeria and liable for conviction and imprisonment for 5 years or the payment of a fine not exceeding N500,000 (five hundred thousand naira). Depending on the gravity of the crime, the defaulter can be made to serve the term and also pay the fine.

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Okpebholo orders freezing of ALL Edo government accounts

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Monday Okpebholo, governor of Edo, has ordered a freeze of all bank accounts belonging to the state government.

Okpebholo issued the directive on Thursday through Fred Itua, chief press secretary to the governor.

He asked commercial banks, ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) to immediately comply with the order or face severe consequences.

“All bank accounts in all the commercial banks have been frozen. Commercial banks must comply with the order and ensure that not a dime is taken out of the coffers of Government until further notice,” the statement reads.

“Heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies must comply with this order without further delays.

“After the necessary investigations and reconciliations, the Governor will do the needful and decide on the way forward. For now, this order stands.”

Okpebholo also directed relevant agencies to reverse the naming of the ministry of roads and bridges to the ministry of works — a nomenclature changed during the Godwin Obaseki administration.

“It is funny how you can call a Government institution Ministry of Roads and Bridges,” the statement reads.

“Ironically, no single bridge was built by the same administration. Not even a pedestrian bridge

“In the coming days, we will look at more actions taken by the previous administration and more decisions will be taken that will be done in the best interest of the state.”

The development comes days after Okpebholo took over the reins of power in Edo.

The governor had earlier ordered an indefinite suspension of revenue collection in the state — including at motor parks.

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NESREA seals two facilities in FCT, Kogi for violating environmental regulations

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The National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) has sealed two facilities in Abuja and Kogi for breaching environmental laws.

The facilities are Geld Construction Limited, located in Abaji, FCT, and Arno Energy, a charcoal production company in Okaba, Kogi.

In a statement on Wednesday, Amaka Ejiofor, NESREA’s spokesperson, said the companies were sealed for failure to conduct their environmental impact assessment (EIA).

Ejiofor noted that the facilities also failed to provide important environmental documents, including an air quality permit, an environmental audit report, and a waste management permit, necessary for maintaining standards in companies.

“The EIA provides guidance on mitigating the negative impact of a facility’s operations on the environment,” the statement reads.

“Their failure to do so led to the closure of the facilities to save human health and the environment.”

The NESREA’s spokesperson added that the facilities were also operating in an environmentally harmful manner, resulting in negative impacts on the host communities and the environment.

She said procedural measures, including the issuance of compliance notices, had been taken to force the facilities to address and rectify their violations.

Innocent Barikor, the director-general of NESREA, urged industry operators to ensure their activities and operations follow the stipulations of the law.

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Federal high court to commence Christmas vacation December 16

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The federal high court says it would go on break from December 16 to mark the Christmas holiday.

In a circular, John Tsoho, the court’s chief judge, said the Abuja, Lagos, and Port-Harcourt judicial divisions would remain open to the litigating public during the break.

Tsoho added that the court would resume proceedings on January 6, 2025.

“The vacation is pursuant to the provisions of order 46, rule 4 (c) of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules, 2019 (as amended),” the circular reads.

“Only matters relating to the enforcement of fundamental rights, arrest or release of vessels and matters that concern the vacation judges shall entertain dire national interest.”

The notice added that Emeka Nwite and M. S. Liman would be judges at the Abuja division during the vacation, while Akintayo Aluko and Isaac Dipeolu would sit at the Lagos division of the court.

P. M. Ayua and A. T. Mohammed would be the adjudicators at the Port-Harcourt division pending the resumption of complete court activities.

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Bodex F. Hungbo, SPMIIM is a multiple award-winning Nigerian Digital Media Practitioner, Digital Strategist, PR consultant, Brand and Event Expert, Tv Presenter, Tier-A Blogger/Influencer, and a top cobbler in Nigeria.

She has widespread experiences across different professions and skills, which includes experiences in; Marketing, Media, Broadcasting, Brand and Event Management, Administration and Management with prior stints at MTN, NAPIMS-NNPC, GLOBAL FLEET OIL AND GAS, LTV, Silverbird and a host of others

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