As the Nigerian children joined their counterparts across the world to celebrate their Day (Children’s Day) on May 27, 2022, ELEOJO IDACHABA takes a look at the Child Rights Act and wonders if they are being accorded their rights.
Recently, the whole world marked this year’s edition of Children’s Day. It is a day kept aside to celebrate the youngsters in the midst of virulent adults. In many countries, the day was marked with pomp and pageantry, but that wasn’t the case in Nigeria. In the past, every child looked forward to the Day for many reasons, chiefly because it would be a public holiday for them; that means there would be no class work for them, but a match past with songs adorned with national flags.
Also, they decide how their day would be spent with minimal supervision from parents. In other cases, especially in the city centres, most schools would treat the children to a form of picnic or expedition with all the merriment.
Today, the story is different as whatever anyone came to know about the 2022 Children Day was made so by the media who deemed it necessary to remind everyone about the day. In Lagos, a number of artistes played host to children from their wards schools, but beside that, it was business as usual for the government.
Unfortunately, whenever the issue of children is mentioned in this country, one is reminded about the social and economic deprivations/denials these future leaders go through. Not with the ever-increasing child abuse, child labour, lack of access to quality education, poor medical services, abandonment by parents and other vices. In many places, children are misfits in places they are meant to be cynosure. That is why it is still proper to say that the Nigerian child is an endangered species.
Disappointed children
As the 2022 International Children’s Day drew nearer, it was with great enthusiasm for children in both primary and secondary schools who looked forward to the day though with disappointment after that day.
For example, at the Faith Academy Secondary School in Kubwa, Abuja; for instance, the expectations of the students were high as many of them thought that the school authorities would treat them to a special outing for once, but they were disappointed. In a chat with an 11-year-old JSS 1 student by the name Sasha, she said, “We came to school today believing that we would go out with our teachers in the school bus on a picnic, but we were only kept in one big hall where various talk shows took the day. There was no fun. If I knew it would be like that, I wouldn’t have come to school.”
For her friend Tehilla, it was a dull day.
“That was my first Children’s Day celebration in this school, but I regretted everything. It was basically preaching from beginning to the end. It seems that nobody even cares about the happiness of children because my friends in other schools said the same thing.”
To the children, there is nothing wrong if the government makes policies that would change the narrative of what they called out-of-school children and the various unpleasant stories about child molestation everywhere. They are in fact appalled by the negative trend about child molestation being reported on almost a daily basis.
Child molestations
Many examples of child molestations abound; for instance, in December 2021, a 12-year-old Sylvester Oromoni died in a Lagos school (Down College) after his fellow students allegedly abused him. Although post mortem and corona inquest alongside oral testimony from the family doctor appear to be at variance, it seems the matter is dead and buried.
That is not all; shortly after the Lagos incident, another bizarre story came out of Kano where the teacher of a five-year-old pupil, Hanifa Abubakar, killed her. This was after the said lesson teacher abducted her and demanded for a ransom. Her death, no doubt, drew outrage all over the country, but even at that, Hanifa was no more when the 2022 children’s Day was celebrated.
Abuja, the nation’s capital is not an exception as it had its share of unpleasant tales about child molestation. In June 2021, a 14-year-old student by the name Karen Akpager was a victim of such molestation. This time at the Premier College in Lugbe after she was allegedly raped by her teacher and she died.
Not too long ago in Lagos, the social media was awash with the video of a mother’s lamentation about her daughter’s ordeal when she came out to ask for justice for the daughter. The report exposed how some fellow pupils of a school, Chrisland raped the woman’s daughter when she joined her classmates to participate in the World School Games held in Dubai in April.
Again fortnight ago in Lagos, it was reported that a 12-year-old pupil of Simple Faith Schools, Emmanuel Amidu, died after his teacher allegedly flogged him for failing to do his assignment. The list of such child molestations cuts across all states of the federation with many unreported cases. In all of these, Nigerians have not heard the capital punishment for the various culprits.
Damning reports
According to a recent data by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), there are 18.5 million out-of-school kids all over the country caused by many factors such as terrorism and banditry, sheer neglect by government and parental failures.
The data revealed that as of 2018, boys lead the chart with 10.7 million while girls are 7.5 million. In the same vein, a recent survey by UNICEF Nigeria as carried out in May 2021 by Rahama Farah said the figure for girls is now over 10 million.
Using the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS), UNICEF estimates that nearly 114 out of 1,000 children die before they clock five even though the mortality has steadily declined since 1990.
That report by UNICEF’s Rachana noted that water, sanitation, hygiene, shelter, nutrition and security have been the huge challenges for Nigerian children.
“Only 30 per cent of the citizens have access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation.
“Nigeria has the second-highest burden of stunted children globally with a national prevalence rate of 32 per cent of children under five. An estimated two million children in Nigeria suffer from severe acute malnutrition (SAM), but only two out of every 10 children affected is currently reached with treatment,” the report noted.
As it is, it is not yet uhuru for the Nigerian child especially as many states in the country are yet to domesticate the Child Rights Act, especially in the northern part of the country where it is alleged that the abuse/molestation is more.
