In honour of the Nigerian child

Today is marked across Nigeria as Children’s Day. The day was initiated by the United Nations General Assembly in 1954 to protect children from dangerous conditions and guarantee them access to education. November 20 was chosen as Children and Youth Day when the UN adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, but member […]

Today is marked across Nigeria as Children’s Day. The day was initiated by the United Nations General Assembly in 1954 to protect children from dangerous conditions and guarantee them access to education. November 20 was chosen as Children and Youth Day when the UN adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, but member countries are free to mark the day on different dates. The day is observed to honour children and recognize their needs in order to address their plight.
Children who are privileged to be in school would be happy to be part of the usual ritual of march-past and other social events planned to mark the occasion. Unfortunately, not every child would be privileged to be celebrating today, or is even aware of this special occasion. 10 percent of Nigerian children who are out-of-school are not likely to be in festive mood. Millions of children in Nigeria suffer from deprivations such as poverty, hunger, illiteracy, malnutrition, disease and general squalor. This circumstance makes today an occasion to soberly reflect on the miserable state of the Nigerian child, especially the disadvantaged.
Access to qualitative education, which is a basic right of the child, is still out of the reach of many school-age children. Children who manage to make it to public schools often have bitter experiences as most of the schools are eyesores; lacking basic infrastructure necessary for effective teaching and learning to take place. Where parents cannot provide classroom furniture, children squat on bare floors or share seats to learn. Yet, the Nigerian child is expected to compete favourably with his counterparts from other parts of the world where education is given utmost priority.
It is also lamentable that government has not shown enough commitment to the Almajiri Initiative launched by the federal government in 2012 to systematically integrate basic education into the Qur’anic school system. In some parts of the country, children still move in hordes, begging for alms. Such children become easy prey to unscrupulous person who use them as tools to foment civil unrest.
No serious attention is also paid by the Universal Basic Education (UBE) programme to the peculiarities of physically-challenged children. Most local government areas in Nigeria today have no school for the blind or school for the deaf and dumb. While the efforts at eradicating childhood diseases including polio are yielding results, infant mortality rate remains high due to limited access to primary healthcare. All these challenges are confronting children in Nigeria, a developing country that should invest optimally in its children and their future.
Parents, too, share some blame in the plight of the Nigerian child. Many have put the search for wealth above the education, care and love due to their children. The high prevalence of broken homes in the country has its negative impacts on the moral upbringing of children and youths.
As children march to the rhymes of their school bands and political leaders take the salute, a thought should be spared to remember the abducted Chibok school girls. We keep hope alive that most if not all of them will soon be rescued alive. Genuine efforts should also be made to ensure that the education of children in IDP camps is not truncated. A recent United Nations High Commission for Refugees’ (UNHCR) report reveals that 58 percent of the total IDP population in north-east Nigeria are children, of which more than half are 0-5 years old.
Appropriate agencies of government and other stakeholders should take steps to ensure that the Child Rights Act passed by the National Assembly in July 2003 is domesticated and implemented faithfully by all states of the federation. Agencies responsible for combating child-trafficking, child labour, prostitution and other forms of child abuse should ensure that children are not exposed to these dangers at this tender age of their lives. The Nigerian child should enjoy the right of growing up in a friendly environment free from discrimination and violence.