Understanding the Complexity of Child Labor Experiences in the Global South : A Survey of Kaduna Metropolis-Nigeria

This study argues that understanding the complexity of child labor experiences in the developing countries like Nigeria is a sine-qua-non for sustainable development of the societies. It posits that a distinction needs to be made between child labor and child work. More so, until and unless we comprehend the background of families, the state of welfare, the potency of state mechanisms of control along political will, as well as the motives of the victims in relation to the consequences on the victims and the society in general, we cannot deal with the menace of child labor in the global south. This empirical study surveyed 311 child laborers in Kaduna MetropolisNigeria; conducted key informants' interviews; and utilized content analysis to generate the findings of the research. The data illustrate that the dynamics of child labor in the area of study is relatively common to children from poor and difficult parental backgrounds. It shows multiple consequences of such activities on schooling and general well-being of the children. It highlights the tendency for the children's future to be compromised with antecedent consequences such as increasing anti-social behaviors and the tendencies for transition from delinquency to criminality in the metropolis. Conversely, the data indicate that government is relenting on implementing measures to curb the problem. The study therefore recommends improved welfare provision by the state government, enhanced public private partnership (PPP), as well as private initiatives as collaborative efforts for empowerment. These efforts should be a bottom-top approach for the general well-being of notably the less-privileged in the metropolis.


Introduction
Issues related to children have been the most thoughtful to all civilizations and cultures in human history.Child has become synonymous to family which no doubt is the foundation of societies and nations and the insignia of the stability of families especially in developing societies and countries.In developing countries and societies on the African continent, the coming of children into families are herald with elaborate preparations, cultural and religious rituals and ceremonies often occasion by gift given to the celebrants (families).This is as governments most time, institute policies and programs that cater and support pregnant women and thus encourage safe deliveries.This is as the society sees children as its glitz, future hopes and strength.Children the plurality of the word child is amorphous in every sense of the word as the diversity of the world we reside in.This is as Mills and Richard [1] illustrated: children as innocent; children as apprentice; children as persons in their own; children as members of a distinct group; children as vulnerable; and children as animals.By these varied composite expression of the concept children, the delicateness of the phrase becomes more astute specifically in relation to the global south and Nigeria in particular.This is, as it is further illustrated, shows that children have the potentials as well as the tendencies, to grow up as conformist or deviant members of their own societies depending on the opportunities, situation, and circumstances [2].
For most social science literature, the word children with reference to the global south, resonates with such phenomena as abandoned and neglected children, child abuse, child soldier, child-trafficking and child labor.The issue of child labor world over, continuous to be a disturbing phenomenon.International Labor Organization-International Program on Elimination of child labor ILO-IPEC [1] posits that up to 168 million children worldwide are in child labor, accounting for almost 11percent of the child population as a whole.Again, children in hazardous work that directly endangers their health, safety and moral development make up more than half of all child laborers, numbering 85million in absolute terms.Furthermore, the largest absolute number of child laborers is found in the Asia and the Pacific region but Sub-Saharan Africa continues to be the region with the highest incidence of child labor with more than one in five children in child labor.Aderinto [3] asserts the above means that child labor activities are very rampant in West Africa owing to the traditional sub-Saharan African culture of socialization into adult work and the wide spread poverty which has characterized the whole sub region.
The literature on child labor sometimes talks about the phenomenon vis-à-vis the developed versus the developing countries.Visser [4] refers to developing countries as a popular term used to collectively describe nations that have relatively lower per capita incomes and are relatively less industrialized.While maintaining that his definition is consistent with UNDP [5] and World Bank's positions on the subject.United Nations (UN) statistics division [6] classified the world into the developed regions, made up of North America, Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.The developing regions

Statement of the Research Problem
The International Labor Organization (ILO) aimed at eliminating all the worst forms of child labor by 2016.The most current child labor estimates show that real advances have been made in the fight against child labor, particularly over the last four years illustrating governments, workers and employers organizations, and civil society are on the right track and moving in the right direction toward addressing the phenomenon [1].According to Dankampani [7] millions of Nigerian children have dropped out of school due to families' financial constraints, and are forced to work under extreme and hazardous conditions to earn less than $1USD a day.He alerted that the menace is on the increase unless the exploitation is stopped or minimized.Child labor is unanimously the opposite of child work [8][9][10].A sociologically relevant distinction is made here, on child work and child labor.As Nieuwenhuys [10] rightly argued, "child labor" is a complex phenomenon, whose meaning and policies should consider societal cultural values.As such, many modern societies have failed to appreciate children's agency in the creation and negotiation of values, especially in the developing countries.
Against the above background, Nieuwenhuys [11] argues that many policies are inadequate and fail and therefore need a revisit.Many resonate with the perceived relationship of the basic principle and tenets of child socialization in most African countries that are beneficial, promoting or enhancing a child's development without interfering with schooling, recreation and rest, in contrast to work that is simply destructive or exploitative in the sense of child labor.There are vast areas of activity between these two poles of child work and child labor.For historical, socio-economic demographic and cultural exigencies, the city of Kaduna in the northern part of Nigeria provides an ample ground to understand the dynamics and implications of child labor in relation to the socio-economic and institutional frameworks of that condition and attempt at addressing the phenomenon.
The Nigerian National Bureau of Statistics [12] reported that about 1.5 million children of primary school age were not attending any school.The number represents 8.1 per cent of the population of children 6-14 years of age.As the result shows, there is a little gap in the number of male and female children, but there is a wide gap in those for urban and rural areas.The results of the survey further reveal that over a million children dropped out of school during the reference year.This represents about 3.2 percent of the population of children currently attending primary schools.In Kaduna metropolis, it is widely observed in popular streets, traffic junctions, malls and markets, clearly people below 18 years engaging in activities that are in every sense detrimental to their social and emotional well-being, especially school attendance.
The above children's situations are in some sense a little above destitutes'.Aside there are perceived serious implications on a child attempts at wiping a moving car windscreen at a junction, for money or selling of wares to passengers inside a moving commercial vehicles with the antecedents recklessness of drivers in Nigeria.More so, there is an increase in child scavengers of iron and aluminum scraps for local recycling in the two metal and aluminum trashing, trading and smelting locations (Old and the New Panteka).Evidence from many studies highlight the particular need to continue to reinforce actions in the four broad policy areas mentioned above: legislation and enforcement mechanisms on minimum age and prohibited work for children, accessible, relevant, and meaningful education and skill development, social protection floors and expanded decent work opportunities for youth above the minimum age for admission to employment and parents [1].But who sets the standards for the "minimum age?" How relevant are they to the developing societies?How compatible are they to their values and norms?What about the children's agency: what do they do, what do they think of while doing, what are their repertoires for everyday life?Answers to these questions pose a puzzle to social scientists.

Research Questions and Research Objectives
In line with the identified problems above, this research addresses the following questions: 1) What factors predispose children to child labor in Kaduna metropolis?
2) Of what benefits are the child laborers that engage in the act especially in the study area?
3) How is the phenomenon perceived in the study area and how is it controlled?4) What factors could aid in addressing the menace in Kaduna metropolis?
In order to provide nuanced explanations to the phenomenon under discussion, the research objectives include to: • Examine the spread of the child labor in Kaduna metropolis; • Demonstrate the causes and effects of the phenomenon in the metropolis; • Identify the social and economic consequences associated with the phenomenon vis-à-vis the victims in the study area, which therefore shifts the blame from blaming the victim; and • Examine the instruments put in place to address the menace in the metropolitan Kaduna.By these steps it: • Provides room for increasing awareness on the dynamics of child labor in Kaduna metropolis; • Highlights the dangers associated with metropolitan child labor experiences in our urban centers; and • Demonstrates the future consequences of the menace on the victims and the societies in general.

Significance of the Study
The study is important as it investigates the backgrounds of other urban spaces of child labor in the developing countries.Most established perceptions are that the experiences of child abuse are in factories, industries or precisely in the informal sector.Therefore, debates on the issue will be expanded.The study also serves as a source for testing some established perceptions of the phenomenon -a ground to see how sustained some of those arguments can be in respect of the data sought.Thus, the study adds to existing literature on the significance of the phenomenon to the development of children in developing countries.It equally serves as a ready-made tool for policy-making: government agencies, civil societies, town planners, donor agencies and international bodies concerned with addressing and preventing child labor, abuse and exploitation.

Theoretical Frame of Reference
Several aspects of social life have been speculated upon within the sociological enterprises.Desfor and Edless [13] categorically summed these up as bordering on nature of capitalism, the bases for solidarity or cohesion, roles of authority in social life, the intricacies of bureaucracy, the dynamics of gender and racial oppression and the nature of self.Similarly, Ritzer [14] argues that as social change and globalization continued to avail, new fronts to the spheres of human life were emerging and affected.With these considerations, this study found it relevant in aiding to explain child labor in the developing countries using the Structural functionalism as espoused by Talcott Parsons and rectified by Robert Merton's' Dysfunctionalism.This is as apt, poverty as aspect of Social inequality theorized by Richard Tawney.

The Structural Functionalism
The Structural functionalism as a sociological explanation is based on the late 18th century functional explanation of social facts such as suicide, deviance and religion.It views many social actions as rational and useful, crucial and integral aspects of social existence, as popularized by Emile Durkheim, though modified afterward.By early 1950s, the sociologist Talcott Parsons popularized insights into functionalism, with emphasis on the nature of specific social structures such a as roles, social systems, actions as a process in times and expenditure of effort or energy, personality and interrelatedness of actions and structure [14].These tendencies can therefore illustrate for example families, education, agency, and ministries in cities like Kaduna in northern Nigeria.These roles are reinforced by cultural and situational expectations from children when viewed from the child labor phenomenon.Definitely, children engaged in child labor are performing some section of duty assigned to them by either the sociocultural, economic or political structures of their societies.Viewed from structuralism therefore, the notion of the socio-economic, political and regulative ideals of the phenomenon could be explained in perceived "dysfunctional"-a similar important concept by Merton to show that structures, systems and roles such as child labor could be inimical to the societies or structures in question.Thus, adopting the ideas of Latent and Manifest functions of human actions will adequately demonstrate the experiences associated with child labor.

The poverty and social inequality theory
One feature generally acknowledged of the developing countries like Nigeria is poverty and social inequality [15][16][17].The extent of poverty therefore becomes crucial to understanding social phenomena.According to Giddens [18] sociologists and researchers have favored two different approaches to poverty via the Absolute (universalistic) and Relative (specificity) sense of the meaning of the word.Accordingly, it is summed to explanatory stance, the 'blame the victim' and the 'blame the system' approaches, championed by Murray and Tawny.Tawny is particularly relevant to this position as he believes that economy, society and culture explain each other.Tawny's arguments as espoused by Giddens [18] perceives that poverty is produced and reproduced by the structures in societies, could most arguably illustrate the circumstance relating to children's social roles.Poverty is an aspect of social inequality, as social inequality led to extreme wealth and poverty and both are dehumanizing, similar to child labor.Most significant is as the position clearly demonstrates that "the key to tackling poverty was therefore to reduce structural social inequality, not simply to blame individuals for their situation" [18].

Reviewing Related Literature: Perspectives on Child
Certainly, everyone is a child of some person but not everyone can rightly be regarded as a child [16].The above assertion illuminates physical, psychological and environmental considerations into the intricacies of understanding the phenomena of being a child and its multiple implications to the individual and the society.These perceptions raise the significance of culture, religion, societies, and with contemporary global trends in politics and economy.Multilateral and bilateral organizations as well as civil rights groups all sanctify the concept of child, making it more confusing.In most of the sub-Saharan African traditional value system, a child is the most treasured object and constitutes the focal point in life.Some people view life without a child as meaningless, and to this effect somehow something must be done to have a child, even if it means increasing the number of wives, consulting traditional healers, and so on [19].Alubo further illustrates the significance of child in this regard in relation to their roles as bearers and transmitters of the family name.This could be manifested in viewing the human child as weak and could not survive without care and protection, which are to be performed by the family.
Accordingly Kalagbor argued that a child occupies a unique, privileged and strategic position in every existing human society.Shanalingigwa [20] who buttressed similar view point observed that in many developing societies, especially Africa, culture is governed by social rules which include one's eating habits, labor, sexual relations, and other relations between men and women.He noted that in East Africa, definition of child is heavily influenced by age grading systems.In this sense Otite and Ongionwo [21] described a child as infant born today who is helpless and completely dependent being whom some eighteen or twenty-one years later, will be matured and an independent adult.From these positions therefore, roles and socialization into roles are major determinants of the status, especially being a child.
In Nigeria, aside culture, the two universal religions-Islam and Christianity on the bases of arrival dominated world outlook.Islam through the holy Quran encapsulated the understanding of a child in chapter 16:4, that God created man from Nutfah (mixed drop of male's and female's sexual discharge).It was then beheld and this same (man) became an open opponent.Considering several implications of the phenomenon associated with children, the nature of societies, communities, roles of family, groups and individual, child development, government and non-governmental agencies become critical in this line of thoughts.In line with the above, Olowu argued that the Islamic religious perspectives on child as he observed that, "the rights of children that the Holy Qur'an gives particular attention to are the child's right to life, sustenance, property and freedom of conscience".He maintained further that these are, of course, rights to which every human being is entitled to, but because of certain special needs of children and prevailing inimical customary practices the Holy Qur'an considers it necessary to deal with them particularly in relation to children.The general well-being of children is a crucial matter and an Amanah (trust) to the Ummah (Muslim community).
On the other hand, children are referred to in Christianity with uniqueness and delicateness.Reviews of some injunctions to such effects are as follows: In the book of Psalms 127:3, it reads: Lo, children (are) an heritage of the Lord: [and] the fruit of the womb.Similarly, in Mathew 19:14, it commands that suffer little children and forbid them not, to come unto me: for such is the kingdom of heaven.Again, in Proverbs 22:6, it is ordained that train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.Beside consideration of children as precious creations, the need for comprehensive socialization, the wish for a retrospect of the future life for the child in the process for divine reign is adequately strengthened.
Reviewing several perceptions Kalagbor defined a child as a young person from the time s/he is born to the age of fifteen (15 years).Gose expatiates on the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACHR) noted that a child therein is considered as every person under the age of eighteen.The most recent instrument safeguarding the sanctity of child in Nigerian National Child Act 2003 sees a child as a person under the age of eighteen.The phenomenon of child is summed in the philosophical illustrations by Fraser that children lacked the intellectual and emotional capacity for self-governance, which must be developed and fostered through a wise and matured adult whom the child respects (example father, mother, or both).By implication therefore, there is a concern that raising of young children must be a fundamental issue for the public and the society as a whole [2].

Child labor: situations, trends and implications
An estimated 246 million children are engaged in child labor and nearly 70% (171 million) of these children work in hazardous conditions -including working in mines, working with chemicals and pesticides in agriculture or with dangerous machinery.They are everywhere, but invisible, toiling as domestic servants in homes, laboring behind the walls of workshops, hidden from view in plantations.The vast majority of working children -about 70 percent work in the agriculture sector [5].Still defining the concept child labor is most tasking.In this sense, Edmond observed that there is no universally agreed upon definition of child labor.Whilst, Kim noted that defining "child labor" is difficult as there is more than one definition of the term.She further asserts that the kinds of work that are unacceptable for children to undertake should be critically considered whether they adversely affect the laborers' well-being and development.A good example is by interfering with the victims' school attendance.A striking puzzle that Kim made is that most of the criteria proposed to define what is 'acceptable' (as constituting child labor) are often vague, and fail to provide useful standards for evaluating many real-world cases.By implication therefore, understanding social and cultural differences in the perception of child labor is necessary for the children's welfare and other policy implications.
In line with the above, the ILO-IPEC [1] asserts that child labor is the subset of children's work that is injurious, negative or undesirable to children that should be targeted for elimination.Edmond argues that public discourse on child labor uses the phrase to refer to a child's time in activities that are somehow harmful to him.In this regards, the term 'child labor' is often defined as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potentials and dignity, and importantly that is harmful to physical and mental development.The concept could equally be referred to work that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children; and interferes with their schooling by depriving them of the opportunity to attend school; obliging them to leave school prematurely; or requiring them to attempt to combine school attendance with excessively long and heavy work.
In line with the above, Akwara et al. [16] argues that the greatest challenge ever faced on earth and is still being faced is the need to safeguard the human factor in development, referring to protecting children, giving them a future and thus making development sustainable.To support the above claim, Akwara et al. [16] presented findings of a study that revealed that half of the world's 2.2 billion children are threatened by poverty and HIV/AIDS; about 180 million engaged in the worst forms of child labor; up to 1.2 million children trafficked every year; and the number of children who died in 2003 before they were five was 10.6 million.Similarly, Omokhodion, Omokhodion and Odusote observed that children working on the streets who are out of reach of parents or guardians are a prominent feature in large cities in Brazil, India and other developing countries, with their health remaining a public health concern.
Examining the causes of child labor, findings of the UNICEF indicate that child labor is linked to family poverty, thereby depriving children of educational opportunities and exposing them to hazardous and unsafe conditions.The condition drifts millions of girls into working as domestic servants and unpaid household jobs, exposing them to exploitation and abuse.A report of the ILO-IPEC [1] suggested that the largest absolute number of child laborers is found in the Asia and the Pacific region but Sub-Saharan Africa continues to be the region with the highest incidence of child labor, even though there has been a decline there.Notwithstanding, Togunde and Carter observed unlike in Asia and Latin America where children are mostly employed in industries, the effects of globalization in Africa are much more visible in service-oriented sectors such as communication and retail trade within and outside the household.As a result, children are engaged as street hawkers, hustlers, vendors, and domestic servants.Elijah and Okoruwa lamented that child laborers are predominantly found in the informal sector of Nigeria with family characteristics as a very important determining factor of children's educational attainment and labor in Nigeria.Moreover, there is a severe lack of financial resources allocated to the protection and promotion of children's rights.In the states where it is being implemented, there is very little commitment by the government in those states to fully implement the provisions of the Act hence the continuance of the menace of child abuse.
The resultant effects of the above would be weakening of the mechanisms for protection and promotion of children, noncoordination and non-conformity with Nigeria's obligations under the international treaties such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women.There are raising concerns and commitments for the protection of the rights and privileges of children [1].It is argued that children are seldom, and are mostly shaped or influenced by the immediate environments in which they grow.In other words, it is a societal responsibility to make the necessary provisions for the children to grow as productive members of the society [2].

The nature of Nigerian metropolis and children's challenges in Kaduna state
The Collins English dictionary described a metropolis as the main city, especially of a country or region.Metropolis also stands for the ).The experience of childhood is increasingly urban.Over half the world's people -including more than a billion childrennow live in cities and towns.Too many, however, are denied basic life essentials such as electricity, clean water and health care -even though they may live close to these services as too many are forced into dangerous and exploitative work instead of being able to attend school [9].
According to Mohammed developing countries are known for most possessing vulnerable groups (i.e. the rural poor and urban women and children) connected to worsen poverty, frequent pregnancies and inadequate care those results in high maternal mortality.Kaduna state is the third most populous state in Nigeria with over 4 million people.The state is fondly referred to as a "City of promises and mirages."The future has remained uncertain for citizenry in-spite of the spirited interventions to improve the conditions of their existence.It is known that cities frequently exert considerable cultural and political sways as well as economic weight that spread beyond the limits of the cities.
Kaduna state faced the overwhelming challenges characterized by religious/the ethnic dichotomy and high indexes of poverty incidences.According to 2006 world bank poverty assessment report approximately 41 percent of the Kaduna population poor and there is a high level of inequality in the distribution of wealth across the state.For billions of people, the urban experience is one of poverty and exclusion.It is estimated that hundreds of millions of children today live in urban slums, many without access to basic services.They are vulnerable to dangers ranging from violence and exploitation to the injuries, illnesses and death that result from living in crowded settlements atop hazardous rubbish dumps or alongside railroad tracks.And their situations -and needs -are often represented by aggregate figures that show urban children to be better off than their rural counterparts, obscuring the disparities that exist among the children of the cities.With the United Nations arguing that more than two-thirds of the world's population (4.4 billion people) will be urbanites by the year 2030, by implication therefore, understanding the dynamics of the implications of metropolis to children's development, especially in urban areas becomes imperative.

Child labor in Nigeria: possibilities and constraints
Indeed in the West-African sub-region, every culture is known to put high value on children, yet today's children are neglected and sometimes abandoned to their fate in the streets, to fend for themselves and to learn to survive on their own [3].Also, it is observed that in all of Nigeria, the pressure is not only for the wives to bear children, there is a preference for male children.According to Kalagbor the child occupies a unique, privileged and strategic position in every society as in Nigeria, and yet they constitute one of the most vulnerable social groups.Nigeria is rich but its people are poor [22] which remains critical to understanding the implications of the dynamics of the phenomenon child labor in the global south.Against this background Ike and Twumasi-ankrah [19] argued paradoxically on the effects of child-abuse that, the same child whose arrival is often celebrated with passion eventually becomes an object of abuse and neglect, exploitation, war, and poverty, in the very hands of the same culture that gave birth to it.
Other factors remain 'political' and 'institutional will' to follow and push through measures designed to curbing the phenomenon.Laws such as child rights act 2003 have being an integral part of the global affront on children's phenomena.It is pertinent to note that law, being a dynamic tool in development, has been employed at different times to protect children and their rights.As far back as 1919, an industrial minimum age was adopted by the International Child Labor Convention to regulate children participation in the workplace [16].Some of these instruments have resulted into structure, policies and instruments notably in this regards the federal and state ministries for women affairs with departments for child welfare and strategies for the federal and state ministry of education with programs and policies such as the Universal Basic Education and the National Commission for Nomadic Education, etc.The existence of mechanisms in this regards, which are crucial to the study are critically illustrated thus: Raising the quest to address child labor in Nigeria based on the demonstrations by the National Bureau of Statistic [12] revealed that close to half (47.4%) of the "illiterate population" would like to attain the status of a literate person.Gender and place of residence, were not factors to the decision but age certainly was.In Nigeria, it is traditional to send children known as Almajiri from rural to urban areas to live with and receive Qor'anic education from Islamic teachers.Some of these children receive lessons, but are also forced by their teachers to beg and surrender the money they earn.These children may go without adequate food or shelter [23].
Platt and Shah [24] thankfully noted that many poor children in the Islamic world may have not have to go to travel far to seek knowledge; they instead have been able to access education through the Islamic educational system usually provided through a Madrasah.Sadly, these Madrasahs that provide educational services for children have often been recognized by the state despite the fact that in many poor and fragile countries, the state struggles to provide "adequate" formal education for many of its children.According to ILO-IPEC [1] clearly the 2016 target date for the elimination of worst forms will not be met.Though significant progress has been made, ending the scourge of child labor in the foreseeable future requires a substantial acceleration of efforts at all levels.A world without child labor is still too far in the future [1].

Methodology
This study primarily adopted a survey technique for data collection, utilizing a total of four hundred (400) questionnaires (close-ended format designed to provide general background to information).Additionally, four key informants interviews (KIIs) -one in Central market, one at Kawo under the bridge and two at the old and the new Panteka were conducted to supplement the qualitative data.In-depth interviews were randomly conducted on some of the respondents for clarity of data collected and observations.Multi-stage and accidental sampling were combined to adequately target the "red spots" and subjects for the study in the four local government areas that made up the metropolis.The study areas were Ahmadu Bello way, Shaikh Gumi Market, Bakin Dogo, Royal Market, KASUPDA, Kawo market, Kawo under the ridge/Lagos Night Garage for Kaduna north.Wada.For Chikun the target populations located at the NNPC junction.For Igabi were the New Panteka, Hayi junction, and Rigasa market.Four research assistants were trained to administer the questionnaires.The KIIs were transcribed and translated serving as illustrations to the interpreted quantitative data.

Description of the research area
Created in 1976, Kaduna state is regarded as the political centre of Northern Nigeria.The state has an estimated population of 6.1 million with an annual rate of increase of around 3%.Located in the northwestern zone of the country; it shares common boundaries with Bauchi, Katsina, Kano, Niger, Nasarawa, Plateau, Zamfara states and the FCT Abuja.Kaduna state has 23 L.G.As.Four of the metropolis Kaduna North, Kaduna South, Igabi and Chikun with a combined 2011 projected population of 1,807,219 people [25].The metropolis specifically Kaduna south and Kaduna north apart from their historical and contemporary political and economic administrative sprawls for the northern region and the state since 1976, which encouraged the pluralistic composition, as melting point with local indigenous inhabitants.There are serious presence of communities and people of the southern Nigerian extraction in Kaduna southern to Chikun axis of the metropolis.These areas also hosted major industrial and factories complex such as breweries, textile, nylon and polythene, aluminum fabrication, iron smelting, petrochemical, car assembling, soft drinks processing etc.There many markets and other business enterprises in these locations.From 2006 census projections the metropolises has a 2011 combined population of 1,672,874 million people.This distributed as Chikun 292,558, Igabi 498,753, Kaduna North 466,898, and Kaduna South 414,665 people [26].

Results and Discussions of Major Findings
This section presents results findings and discussions of the major findings.A total of 311 respondents were sourced out of the 400 sampled intended.This means there were 89 no-response.The distribution shows 76 representing 19% from Kaduna North, 80 representing 20% from Kaduna South, up to 86 (21.5%) from Igabi and 69 (17%) from Chikun area of the metropolis.This implies that the data reported were from 311 (78%) of the initial intended respondents.

The Socio-cultural characteristics of the respondents
Age distribution: The data show that respondents aged 6 years are 24%; those who are 7-10years are 33%; those of 11-14 years shows 29%; and those whose ages were 15-18 years put at 14%.This implies that those whose ages are 6-10 years are (with a combined percentage of 57%) predominates the illustration of child labor in this context.Similarly, the combined ages of 11-18 years (43%) of the total sample demonstrates the peak of child labor and raises many questions on Welfare of children -Schooling goals, children's future and childhood development.The Nigeria's Child Right Act sees a child as any person under 18 years of age and prohibits forced labor, street-hawking and begging; with specifications for punishment of abuse and family court (United State Department of Labor, Bureau of International Labor Affairs).
Ethnic distribution: The study reveals that child labor in Kaduna metropolis is associated with several tribes in the state.Though the three major ethnic groups (Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba) from the sample represents 74%, this figure illustrates the nature of the state study location as urban and cosmopolitan with a long socio-cultural integration.Kaduna metropolis was the headquarters of the defunct northern region now comprising the present 19 northern state.The 39% representation of the Hausa ethnic group partly lays such significance of the metropolis as many related Hausas such as Kanuri, Zazzagawa, Mallanchi found in Kaduna and even minority tribes who often umbrella under the Hausas.Relatedly, up to 20% of the respondents were Igbos, which reinforced the business and cultural orientations of the igbos, laying the ground for child socialization.Respondent of The Yorubas constituted only 15% of the sampled respondents.For the Yorubas, children's socialization is the learning of hand-work, craft and trade (participation in carpentry, automobile repairs and goods hawking).The indigenous ethnic groups in Kaduna state (Bagi, Baju, Jaba, Kataf, Kaje, Kadara, etc.) constituted 26% of the respondents.The breakdown shows Kataf 8%; Bagi 4%; Kaje 2%; Jaba 2%; Baju 3%; while Kadara and Nupe constituted only 1% of the sampled respondents.
Religious backgrounds: The data show that 47% of the respondents are Muslims while 53% were Christians.The difference between the respondents of both faiths in the sample could e attributed to location since the southern part of Kaduna is predominantly Christian compared to the north.The data suggest a rise in child labor across religious orientations and demonstrates the necessity for meeting essential needs in the study area.Coping with day to day social and economic realities in Nigeria is a challenge and therefore calls for an affirmative action.Both Islam and Christianity clearly declared and emphasized parental and community care for children's worldly and heavenly salvation.This means there is the need for religious leaders, as stakeholders, to contribute their quotas in the fight against the menace of child labor.
Residency distribution: The data revealed that 34% of the respondents came and stayed in the Igabi section of the metropolis especially in Rigasa.Respondents staying in Kaduna South were 27%; those residing in Chikun constituted 22%; while those staying in Kaduna north were 16%.It was observed that Igabi especially in Rigasa and Hayi which are adjacent of Kaduna South neighborhoods of Bakinruwa, Sabon Gari and Tudun Wada are areas where low income earning people such as perennial migrants, laborers, and subalterns find easy accommodations.Also Kakuri area of the metropolis serves as residency to most low income earning factories and industrial workers.Sabon-Tasha and down-quarters areas in Chikun areas function in this capacity.
Nature of residency: The data revealed that 55% of the total respondents stays with their parents in rented homes; up to 32% stays with their parents in the parents' own homes; as only 13% stays in schools (in this context Quranic Tsangayas or camps).These Tsangayas (henceforth Qur'anic boarding camps) found in Sabon Gari, Rigasa Bakinruwa, Barnawa, were the core sections of Kaduna South and Kaduna North metropolis combined.Most students from these boarding camps indulge in child labor as assigned roles by their teachers either as part of preconditions (which mostly entails feeding and self-general welfare) to learning.In this sense, most pupils are encouraged to work sometimes to send support to their parents or teachers.Conversely, Platt and Shah [24] observed that these Madrasahs if well-funded, properly managed and administered are capable of meeting moral and spiritual learning requirements of pupils and a prosperous life.The situation of Almajiri education (Madrasah) has deteriorated and degenerated, breeding so much catastrophes in the northern region.The effects of colonialism, colonial administrative and political heritage by politicians, long effects of military rule, parental and communities' ineptitude have exacerbated the phenomenon [22,26].Unfortunately, the negative consequences are more harmful to the children.None of the respondents stays in orphanage or other childcare arrangements.
Nature of school attendance of the respondents: The data show that 21% of the studied respondents attends neither the western conventional schools; up to 30% attends primary schools; only 15% attends the Islamiyya, 14% Quranic schools; another 13% attends junior secondary schools; only 7% attends senior secondary schools; and none attends government sponsored Almajiri schools.The Federal Government of Nigeria recently innovated and re-launched the Almajiri education in line with the transformation agenda focused on educational spread through the nation's Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC).While launching the first phase of the initiative in Gagi, Sokoto state in April 2012 the president of the federation captured the essences of the programs as follows: Our administration believes that the time has come for the nation to build on the moral foundation of the tradition systems by providing the almajiri with conventional knowledge and skills that will enable them fully realize their creative and productive potential [27].
True to such resolution the federal government Almaijiri rebranded and repacked schools are built and launched for Kaduna in Igabi and Kudan last October, 2013.The intention was following up o the widespread critical assessment and analysis of the repercussions of street-begging and some other forms of antisocial tendencies associated with the Almajiris.From 1999 major stakeholders (Ulamah, Mallams, families, philanthropies, communities, local and state governments etc) to the phenomena have variously commits to reintegration of the Almajiri schools to conventional education system in Nigeria.Two years into the launch of the initiative by the federal government, enrollment of pupils, recruitment of teachers, integration of major stakeholders, provision of materials, adoption and replication by states and local governments among other issues remain daunting [28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42].Again, these are a major handicap to reducing the almajiri form of child labor on the streets.
Status of the respondents' parents: The findings of this research show that majority (70% of the respondents' parents are alive, as only 30% of the respondents have no parents.This revelation points to the significance of the socio-economic background of the parents as motivation to child labor.The figure 70% calls into question the cultural, religious and economic buoyancy of the parents that further complicates the children's situations and pause a puzzle to policymakers, researchers, and researchers.More so, the data indicated that 52% of the respondents lived with their parents who were married couples as at the time when research was conducted; up to 22% of the respondents' parents were divorced; only 13% had their parents separated; and another 13% came from single parenthood.With this trend, specifically the 52% of the respondents staying with their parents demonstrates the increasing surge in cities such as Kaduna daring socio-economic realities.It is in this regard that Osinubi [29] argues that poverty in Nigeria is among other things characterized by lack of purchasing power, exposure to risk, malnutrition, insufficient access to social and economic services and a few opportunities for income generation.Parents therefore explore several options including encouraging child labor to augment income and sustain well-being of members.There are instances where families depend on children's labor due to the effects of prolong unemployment, workers' retrenchments, downsizing in public service, etc.Thus, in Nigeria, the key contributors to poverty are unemployment, corruption, nondiversification of the economy, inequality, laziness and poor educational system.There are equally the effects of perennial unemployment associated with farming populations in Kaduna.In fact, there is massive industrial closure in the areas of Kakuri hosting several plants from automobile assembly, to textile, food and beverages, furniture and many more. Parents' occupational status: As much as 56% of the respondents reported their parents' to be traders, laborers, mechanics, craftsmen, shoe menders, and gate-men.This category of menial jobs is associated with the lowest income earning in Nigeria.In cities such as Kaduna, they are the domains of job for perennial migrants, urban poor and the downtrodden masses.The data also show that up to 17% of the respondents' parents are civil servants (who work in local government secretariats).The national minimum wage for workers (which are mostly the sources of family up-keeping and well-being) is N18,000.00(equivalent to $110 USD).An important point worthy to observe here is that local governments in Nigeria are notorious in delays of monthly salary payments to workers perhaps due to political bureaucracy of joint accounts between the states and local governments.This process often delays the workers' salaries for up to three or more months.As such survival factors envisioned by families do encourage children of parents in this category to touring the line of child labor.
The educational background of the respondents' parents sheds more light on the implications of parental occupation to child labor status of the sample.The respondents' aged 6-7 years either don't know or hide their parents' educational backgrounds.The study thought on this is that such age in such countries where culture and religion may constrain inquisitiveness of children of their educational status which may have being remembered for the purpose of the study.Often it is out of place for children in this part of the world to ask their parents what educational, economic and other status they might possess.More so, the luxury of hanging of achievement photos and portraits in rooms and parlors for easy referral by children and other family members are rare privileges.What was mostly reported in this regards was by the age group 25 years and above, some 18% of the respondents who said their parents (father) completed secondary schools.It is critical to note that the potency of Secondary School Certificate for job placement in Nigeria is seriously low especially in the private sector.In the public sector where it does even as the minimum requirement for the contest of elective post at local and state level, or job placement in police for (constable), in the military are recruits, senior messengers, typist, junior clerks etc. are woks of last resorts, which monthly checks hardly take such workers home.
The family-related implication of child labor among the sample is further compounded by the number of siblings reported.The Hausas ethnic group has the highest 48%; the Yorubas have 16%; the Igbos follow with 14% making a combined total that of 78%.The remaining 22% of the total respondents was shared disproportionately between respondents of indigenous tribes in the metropolis.These figures resonate with the demographic profile of the three major ethnic groups in Nigeria in terms of fertility behaviors.The Hausas' figure reflects the religious and cultural inclination to polygamy.The Igbos and Yorubas' figures demonstrate the groups' exposure to Western beliefs, practice of monogamy, attitudes to early orientation of children to trades and skills (craft) as integral components of socialization.Therefore, these combined cultural, religious, social, attitudinal and economic factors explain the trends in child labor in With regards the specifics of the child labor related activities, the distribution is as follows.Crafts and apprenticeship 24%; up to 38% Hawking; as may as 15% Trade; Car wash-related 11%; boys running errands 2%; Load carrying 2%; and scavenging 2%.The implication of this finding is that specifically with the Hausas crafting in old and new Panteka, the children engage in iron and aluminum smelting and fabrications.These are engagements that are time-consuming, hazardous in relation to burnt and injuries sometimes with chemicals or sharp metals objects.From the interviews (KI), it was highlighted that to correct callousness on the part of the children, most times corporal punishments are meted out to imprint long lasting impressions of mistakes not allowed.Car washing is another growing aspect of child labor in Kaduna state.The data also show only 11%, but this job too has critical repercussions on child's development.First, the locations it is practiced are mostly road junctions and highways such as Kawo/Abuja express way, Amingo GT Bank junction (on highway), Abuja express way (on highway), stadium junction road.All these locations are 'beehive' of activities for fast cars and heavy load carrying lorries, where children 8-11years are spotted attempting to wipe moving cars' windscreens for very meager amounts with no regards for the consequences.Importantly, the qualitative data revealed that some willing kids are turned back daily to increase trade monopoly and reduce completion.As such, the figure of this aspect may be under captured.
Hawking of goods and wares was reported at 38%.Most hawking activities are reported from popular roads and streets in the metropolis.The KI revealed that some specific times are particularly auspicious and most lucrative for the trade.Example early morning: when civil servants head to places of work.Occasionally, such people may need items to buy on the way.Also the noon time is particularly break time for workers and the closing hours from work normally 4 pm.The implication of the child labor in this regards is seen in the significance of the morning time 7 am-12 am for schooling.Critically it is observed that primary to secondary schooling classes and lessons are regimentally scheduled at these times.Relatedly, most Islamic and Qur'anic lesson takes places during evening time 4pm onwards.
Beside, child labor takes up most crucial times of learning and invariably adequate development of the child.It was critically observed that Almajiri (itinerant Qur'anic school pupils) constitute the largest out of school children in Nigeria.The phenomenon is a major threat to education for all and to attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and notable regional and international conventions and protocols on children [27].Definitely, for such respondents engaged in child labor their school performance is adversely affected.There is the tendency for the children to be lured by the gains of their activities to discard schooling altogether or eve become truants.The children could also become bullies and thugs or other forms of social misfits in the schools they attend and their neighborhoods.
Load-carrying is reported at 6%.This trade is hazardous to child development in many respects: it is perceived to be boredom, drudgery and depressing.Heavy loads affect the biological components of the child such as head, neck, back, hands and feet.Our KI revealed that some people use derogatory names on the children when they make mistakes such as mishandling of goods of load, walking slowly, etc. Occasionally, it was reported that some children lost loads or properties and the children would be reported to the police or dealt with.Children who scavenge are 2% in the sample.Scavenging is a difficult activity to observe.Most lucrative aspects of it take place during odd hours like early morning or late evening.Often this trend of activities land the kids (those doing iron and aluminum scraps scavenging) into trouble e.g.accusation of stolen car parts, roofing or household utilities.Only 15% of the respondents engage in traderelated child labor especially sales boys and girls.The data generated from the KI indicate that this aspect of child labor if well managed could lift the children from dependent to independent business men or women with time.But often distrust and rancor erupt between the kids and their masters, usually based on the masters' trump-up allegations of theft or mismanagement the bosses proceeds.In the end most of the children got sacked or denied any meaningful 'settlement'.On whether the nature of the child labor are part-time or full-time, the sample responded thus; 42% and 57% full-time bases.
Earning distribution of the respondents: The responses on this matter indicated (approximately) that 30% of the respondents earn less than $1 a day; up to 24% earns $2 a day; as 20% earns $3 a day; only 10% earns $4 a day; and 16% earns $5> a day.The significance of these earnings are manifold to the well-being and balanced development of the child as follows: For the 16% that earns $5 above, their age tells that their ages ranged between 15 years and above.In the context of the country under study people in this age categories can hold out on their own on the streets, compete and physically withstand difficult situations.In the sample on this issue children of 6-10 years with a combined percentage of 54% earns $2 a day or less.30% earns 3-4 a days.These are crucial discoveries worthy of lamentation and daunting on the subjects if considered with the use such earnings are put to.Up to 17% use their earnings from the activities for themselves while majority (44%) uses it for their guardians/parents; only 14% use it for school purposes (sponsoring self for school); as many as 25% gave theirs to Qur'anic teachers (Mallams).The earning of the children in the situation of child labor as studied becomes most daring if compared with the numbers of siblings reported by the respondents.There was on the average 3 siblings per respondent from the study, though 6 is the mode of the numbers of siblings reported per respondents.The trend in inflation in many developing countries ($5 per day) seems unrealistically impossible for proper children Arts Social Sci J ISSN:2151-6200 ASSJ, an open access journal Volume 5 • Issue 2 • 100078 development and general family well-being.In terms of introduction to child labor, the respondents reported as follows 32% by themselves; only 24% by their parents; and up to 30% by their peer/friends; while schools (Almajiri) was only 23%.

Conclusions and Recommendations
Child labor in Nigeria may be perceived to be negligible but evidence from the findings of this study reveal that its background, manifestations and consequences are most daring.Understanding child labor in the urban areas of developing countries such as Kaduna in Nigeria is therefore a sine-qua-non to sustainable and meaningful development plans and projects in these societies.The extent of poverty, growing inequality, nature of societies, impact of culture and religion as well as politics continues to pave way for the thriving of the phenomenon.Clearly, while international concerns from ILO-IPEC and the likes support Nigeria's efforts through charting national policy and national plans of action on addressing worst forms of child labor, neither of the documents are strictly and adequately applied and enforced.In Nigeria, the federal, state and local governments wiled fiscal powers disproportionately and have social and political autonomy harmonizing technique and approaches to addressing child labor become apt.From 1999 the impact of macroeconomic with emphases on retrenchments, downsizing and rightsizing of workers in public and private sectors and the antecedent industrial and factories closure in the north, epileptic power supply and created harsh economic climates.These conditions have exacerbated ad worsen families' socio-economic situations.In the time being social protection are let to individual designs.Philanthropy has long being relegated, official and political corruption surge high.Amidst these quagmires, the conditions many children are born and socialized in go to reinforce poverty and the circle continues.
From the foregoing, this study provides the following recommendations: • The Kaduna state government must recommit itself to provide basic infrastructure such as road networks, schools, hospital facilities expansion and provisions in low income areas such as Rigasa in Igabi L.G.A.; • The commitments of the state to general welfare are particularly disturbing.There is urgent needs to initiate programs such free uniforms, books, morning and noon meals which in these parts of the world goes a long way in encourages and sustaining school attendance by children of the less privileges; • The state should revitalize its cottage industries and factories and encourage private sector initiatives to industrialize the state in hope of empowering the teeming migrant into the state; • There is the need for religious leaders, as stakeholders, to contribute their quotas in the fight against the menace of child labor.This could be achieved through integrating the religious leaders into government policies, delivering sermons on the subject matter, and revisiting the old practice of Malams taking pupils to cities in "search" for Qur'anic knowledge (for the Muslim faithfuls); • The state should put adequate monitoring, report and prevention mechanisms to of worst forms of child labor such as car washing and ware hawking on roads and street junctions and chemical use; • The state should domesticate the Child Right Act and other regional and international convention on prevention and elimination of child labor and constantly review it in the state of socio-economic progress of the state; • The Kaduna state government should e committed to collaborate with the federal government's newly introduced the Almajiri school system.It must expanded, support and adequate monitor it progress with regards to accommodation and learning for the Almajiri; • There is the need for enhanced public private partnership (PPP) as well as private initiatives that will complement government's empowerment efforts.These efforts should be bottom-top in approach for the general well-being of the less-privileged; and • The Kaduna state government needs to incorporate individual philanthropists, corporate organizations, and donor agencies into a grand scheme for welfare of poor children.

Citation:
Kurfi MH, Aliyu MA (2014) Understanding the Complexity of Child Labor Experiences in the Global South: A Survey of Kaduna Arts Social Sci J ISSN:2151-6200 ASSJ, an open access journal Volume 5 • Issue 2 • 100078 specific activity such as commerce, business, administration etc.These descriptions aptly fit Kaduna metropolis because it encompasses the above characteristics.The metropolis is made up of Kaduna South, Kaduna North, Igabi and Chikun local govermet areas (L.G.As.).The crucial years of colonial administration of the defunct northern region are the main reason for the urbanization and the cosmopolitan nature of those local governments as (Kaduna state Government 2009 Arts Social Sci J ISSN:2151-6200 ASSJ, an open access journal Volume 5 • Issue 2 • 100078 center of a Kaduna metropolis.It is not adequate to isolate one factor and capitalize that it is solely responsible for the phenomenon under study.Rather, it is a combination of factors and that understanding these factors is a sine-qua-non to solving the problem.The absence of indication of presence of children from middle and higher income earning status group in the metropolis confirms the implication of social inequality as a major factor in understanding child labor in the global South.Child labor status: The data reveal that 42% of the respondents engage in stationary activities related to child labor in places like markets (Sheikh Mahmud Gumi Market, Royal Market, Mangal Plaza, Bakin-Dogo, Kawo Market, Kakuri weekly market, e.t.c).Craft works in shops (at old Panteka Tudun-wada and new Panteka).Local eateries (Kasuwar Barchi, Central Markets); Residential household in middle and high income areas in (Unguwar Rimi, Malali, Legislative Quarters Ungwar-Dosa) of Kaduna north as well as Barnawa residential areas.Up to 58% of the respondents are engaged in mobility-related activities such as Cars' windscreen cleaning, hawking of goods, and other menial jobs.Here locations most prone are Kawo -under the Bridge, Amingo junction -Nnamdi Azikiwe eastern by-pass, Abuja express junction, Command Day Secondary School junction, Television Garage junction, NNPC junction and Ahmadu Bello Stadium roundabout.