From Classroom to Construction Site: How a 10-Year-Old Ended Up Working in Lagos

A report involving a 10-year-old boy from the Republic of Benin working at a construction site in Lagos has drawn fresh attention to the difficult line between informal apprenticeship and child labour. The boy, identified as Ojo Ibukun, was reportedly brought from Ifangni in south-eastern Benin Republic to Lagos by a master tiler. Instead of attending school, the child now spends his days on a construction site in Ilasamaja, Lagos, carrying out physically demanding tasks including mixing sand and cement. He reportedly sleeps on cardboard at the unfinished building where he works. The case has highlighted the way poverty, migration and informal apprenticeship can combine to leave children outside the formal education system and exposed to potentially dangerous working conditions. According to the report, Ibukun was brought to Lagos to learn tiling. His master, Kilamuwaye Alexandre, said the boy wanted to learn the trade and that his parents agreed to the arrangement. But the conditions under which the child is learning the trade have raised questions about whether the arrangement can still be considered apprenticeship when a 10-year-old is performing heavy manual labour and living at a construction site. Apprenticeship has traditionally played an important role in Nigeria and other West African societies. Young people can learn trades by working under experienced artisans, gaining practical skills that may eventually enable them to establish their own businesses. The challenge becomes more complicated when very young children are involved. There is a significant difference between learning a skill under safe and supervised conditions and being removed from school to carry out physically demanding work for long hours. Construction sites can expose children to heavy materials, dust, machinery and other hazards. The child’s experience also highlights the vulnerability of children who cross borders for informal work. Because Ibukun is from Benin Republic, his movement between countries adds another layer to the child-protection challenge. The case is particularly significant because Nigeria is currently pursuing renewed efforts to tackle child labour. A national policy and action plan covering 2026 to 2030 has been presented as part of efforts to eliminate child labour and strengthen child protection. Recent reporting on Nigeria’s child-labour situation has also pointed to poverty, weak social protection, limited access to education and the size of the informal economy as major factors behind the persistence of the problem. The challenge is therefore larger than simply removing children from workplaces. Families facing severe economic pressure may depend on children’s contributions, meaning that enforcement without addressing household vulnerability can leave the underlying problem unresolved. For children such as Ibukun, however, the immediate issue remains access to education and protection from hazardous work. His story demonstrates how quickly a decision described as “learning a trade” can turn into a situation where school, childhood and basic protection are pushed aside. As Nigeria continues its efforts to reduce child labour, cases like this are likely to keep attention focused on informal workplaces where children can be difficult to identify and protect. The broader question is whether families can receive enough economic and social support to allow children to remain in school while adults earn decent incomes. For Ibukun, the difference between a classroom and a construction site is more than a change of location. It represents two very different paths through childhood — one centred on education and the other on survival and work.