In Nigeria, the International Children’s Day is marked annually every May 27. This year, Ayodeji Ake, Sunday Ehigiator, and Ozulumba Chiamaka shine the spotlight on underaged street hawkers, who have swapped the classrooms for the streets in a bid to eke a living. Juxtaposing that narrative with the 2006 report on child labour by UNICEF Nigeria, which revealed that a staggering 15 million children under the age of 14 are working across Nigeria, this thus establishes a cycle of child rights violation that must be stopped at all costs
13-year-old Favour John and seven-year-old Gift John are siblings who on a daily basis, excluding Sundays, hawk groundnut the long distance of Ogba to Ikeja then to Oshodi, Lagos, to support their parent’s finances. If Lady Luck shines on them, their trays would have been empty by their 8pm closing time and if not, they have to at least sell to a reasonable minimum.
Their living arrangements, as awkward as it…
