About 100 children from three Local Government Areas of Ogun State are to benefit from an empowerment project to be sponsored by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Programme on the Elimination Child Labour (IPEC). The project is one of the measures being put in place to address issues bordering on different forms of child labour in the society. Zonal Commander of the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and other Related Offences (NAPTIP) in Lagos, Mr. Joseph Famakin dropped this hint when he led other officials of the agency on a courtesy visit to the Management of the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development in Abeokuta. Famakin explained that all arrangements had been concluded to organize the empowerment programme scheduled to take off within the next two weeksHe described human trafficking as a criminal act that involved the movement of persons from one place to another for the purpose of exploitation and molestation, adding that the need to stop this ugly trend informed his agency’s decision to seek further partnership with its development partners, like the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development. Mr. Famakin noted that the Ministry had been partnering with NAPTIP to combat the menace of child trafficking, calling for further collaboration to make it a thing of the past in the State. ”The partnership is where the Ministry is needed; this is an integral part of success. It is a crime that cannot be tackled by a single agency, single organization or by single country, but through collective effort by all development partners”, he stated. Responding, Commissioner in charge of the Ministry, Mrs. Elizabeth Sonubi assured that the State Government would be unrelenting in the fight against human trafficking and continue to partner with NAPTIP and other developmental partners towards eliminating child labour across the State. The Commissioner charged NAPTIP to involve the Ministry in the process of selecting the three Local Governments and the vulnerable children to benefit from the programme, saying that it possessed relevant data on the different categories of children and their needs.Meanwhile, Mrs.Sonubi had reiterated that the Ministry would continue to reward hard work and celebrate excellence. Sonubi stated this at a send forth put together to honour eight staffers that retired and four other others that were transferred out of the Ministry. Describing them as valuable Officers who had made meaningful contributions to the attainment of the social development pr/ogramme of the Ministry, the Commissioner explained that the programme was organized to acknowledge their sterling quailities and urged others still in service to emulate them.
Via: Ogun State Government - Official Press Release