500 children, 100 youths, 200 adults get startup kits in Ondo

About 500 children of cocoa farmers, 100 youths and 200 adults in ten communities of Idanre and Ifedore Local Government Areas of Ondo State are to get start-up kits after they have been engaged in vocational skills training, courtesy of Child Labour Education and Resilience (CLEAR) project of the Lutheran World Relief.

The ten affected communities where the beneficiaries were drawn are Ofosu, Ita-Loorun, Gbalegi, Bajare/Olofin, Ala-Elefosan, Ikota, Molete, Ajebamidele, Ipogun, and Ibuji.

Nene Akwetey-Kodjoe, the Chief of Party, Lutheran World Relief, in his introductory remarks during the distribution of the kits, held at Ita-Loorun Idanre, said the skills acquisition was very important for the young nowadays and it should not be taken for granted to reduce the prevalence of child labour practices among cocoa farmers in Ondo State.

Akwetey-Kodjoe, who was represented by Foluso Wilson, Human Resource Manager, Lutheran World Relief, noted “we need to eradicate using of children for labour, what we are saying is that hard-labour is not allowed, we need to do it right, we need to engage our children in different vocational skills training.”

He, however, charged the beneficiaries who had been trained on how to repair phones, make soap, build shoes and tie Gele (local headgear).to make use of the kits judiciously.

“This programme has started in January, a series of training has gone and this week now we had a lot of training on vocational skills on how to make shoes, gele, and how to do some other things and we are giving them a start-up kit that they can just start the business with.

“The issue we are tackling is child labour practices among cocoa farmers in Ondo state, so this is to tell our parents that these children can do or use their time for a better thing than going to the farm with their father or mother.

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“These children can use their time for more useful things where they can get more money rather than being thugs on the street and the rest. So the Lutheran World Relief is saying that in Idanre and Ifedore local government areas of Ondo state, we must eradicate this issue of child labour practices among our cocoa farmers.

“We advise these children to take the vocational skills and the startup kits seriously, because the Lutheran World Relief has given them something to leave on and legacy that other people don’t have. I think government can also look at the way we are doing it and do something similar too to ensure that the communities are more empowered in the State”, he said.

Olanike Mogboruko, the Ondo State Controller, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, who also spoke at the distribution of the kits said; “this is something that is very needed at this time of our economy because it would be useful for these children and parents will not have any excuse of using their children in child labour.”

Mercy Ayodeji, the Headmistress, LA Primary School, Ita-Loorun Idanre said; “I give glory to God that my pupils have this great opportunity for given them kits and I’m appealing to our parents to help us monitor these children to make use of the kits very well, they should not sell it so that it can be a profitable to them.”

BusinessDay reports that the vocational skills training was funded by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture in partnership with the Ondo State Government, Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria (CFAN), Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment and International Labour Organisation (ILO).