ODII PROMISES SKILLS CENTRES TO CURB CHILD LABOUR IN EBONYI

The Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate in Ebonyi State, Ifeanyichukwuma Odii, has pledged to tackle child hawking, domestic labour and other forms of child labour if elected governor in 2027. Odii said poverty and unemployment were among the factors pushing some families to send children away from their communities to work as domestic helpers or engage in street trading.

Speaking during an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Tuesday, Odii said his proposed administration would establish skills-acquisition centres across the state as part of efforts to create employment opportunities and reduce household poverty. He said young people would receive practical training in areas such as carpentry, POP installation, tailoring, animal husbandry and fishery, with the aim of equipping them for employment or self-employment.

The PDP candidate said the proposed skills programme would cover all 13 local government areas of Ebonyi State. According to him, each local government would have a skills-acquisition facility capable of accommodating about 3,000 people, which would bring the total number of beneficiaries the centres could accommodate to approximately 39,000 across the state.

Odii also identified education as an important part of his proposed response to child labour, promising to prioritise scholarships and improved learning conditions. He said children should remain in school instead of being pushed into economic activities at an early age, while investments in agriculture, healthcare and job creation would form part of a wider strategy to improve household incomes and address the economic pressures contributing to child labour.

The Ebonyi PDP candidate said the state’s agricultural and mineral resources could be better developed to create jobs and improve living standards. He said his administration would seek to create more opportunities within communities so families would have less incentive to send children away for domestic work or hawking. Odii therefore pledged that, if elected, his government would work to end child hawking and the practice of sending children out as house helps across Ebonyi State.