THE NETWORKING OF RECRUITERS OF CHILD LABOUR IN SOME SELECTED BORDER COMMUNITIES IN SOUTH-WESTERN NIGERIA: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Abstract

Child labourers constitute a growing proportion globally, as more children engage in it, in a bid to meet up with the financial situation for themselves or family support. Poverty, networking of recruiters and other circumstances could be responsible for this. This paper reviewed studies that have examined the networking that exists between recruiters of child labour and parents of child labourers. The Google Scholar search engine was used to search for published studies on the subject in the last ten years, between the 1st of January, 2011 and to 31st of December, 2021. A total of 40 studies were sampled, of which the majority based their conclusion using primary data and only two were retrospective studies, using secondary data. Only 30% of the studies were conducted in Nigeria, and 7% by social scientists with quantitative and triangulation methodologies with very few recruiters. Ninety percent (90%) of the studies reviewed, provided explanations why child labourers could fall into the hands of recruiters due to abject poverty, risk in child migration, lack of education, and cultural belief system. Others are, - the lack of jobs by the parents, parents low income, parents migration, myth of recruiters of child labourers. The study recommends the need for more sociological studies on the networking of the recruiters of child labour in border Communities, using only qualitative methodology to complement the existing literature on child labour.