Nigeria celebrated its Children’s day yesterday; it is celebrated on the 27th May of each year since 1964 when the country officially adopted it as a recommendation by the United Nations. Indeed, the United Nations itself, adopted the celebration of Children’s day in 1954, with a recommendation for all member nations to celebrate it every November 20th.Today, no fewer than 50 nations of the World celebrate the Children’s day, though the dates of celebrating it varies from one country to another.
Children’s day is actually celebrated in memory of the first Prime Minister of India, Jawahar Nehru, whose affection to children was well documented. He was passionate about children and had at all times shown his affection to them and as a leader, and in practical steps of governance, has made several practical moves to bring to the fore the worth of the child in India. He was referred to as”Chacha Nehru”, meaning Uncle Nehru to the children. And considering the special position the child has under the United Nations charter, mainly following the experience the child came though in the not long concluded World War 11, the UN adopted the celebration day for the child worldwide. We can recall the efforts of the UN in a successful establishment of a Fund for the emancipation of the Child after the war which is today’s UNICEF.
In Nigeria, the child has a special consideration from the government considering the equally special role the child plays in the future of the nation. There is the common saying in Nigeria that “the child is tomorrow’s elder” which underscores the fact that the security of the nation depends on the security of the child as he is to been trusted with the fate of the country in the future. A viable generation of children is a viable future for the nation. A devastated generation of children is a devastated nation in the future. Hence, the healthy growth of the child, his education and his psychological balance, which are the ingredients that make a perfect child, determines the quality of the future Nigeria has among the county of nations.
However, is Nigeria as a nation, actually paying any special attention to the child in practical terms? In policy, there are several provisions that are advantaged to benefit the child as he grows in to an adult in the Nigerian society. For instance there are laws made at the National and sometimes state Houses of Assemblies, protecting the child from various forms of abuse. There are laws also made to give the child mandatory basic education. Today, in Nigeria, there is a policy providing basic education as a free enterprise for the child from Primary to Junior Secondary schools which is a total of nine years of free education. The last three of the nine years is expected to have some technical and artisan content in the curriculum of the schools to enable the child find a base to discover his inner talents in practical terms.
One of the commendable policies in terms of attempts at providing basic education to the child in Nigeria is the special consideration accorded the migrant child who moves across with his parents who are herders. There are, especially the Fulani herdsmen children who form the bulk of children out of school in the country due to their migrant nature. An agency was established aimed at providing a mobile school system under the “nomadic education” system. The concept is good and could be employed to impart basic education to millions of mobile children if properly funded and implemented.
But then, these are mere policies. Implementation of these to the latter is mostly a mirage to the benefit of the Nigerian child due to a number of factors. The nature of corruption that has eaten deep into the system, especially in the art of governance, does not allow budgetary resources to actually be employed for the benefit of the child in terms of the quality required. Today’s primary schools that are owned by the government area complete shambles; where a child can pass through to the end of it without being able to write his full name correctly. This does not make it possible to have a good secondary school education even for those who have the privilege to undergo it.
Societal internal contradictions where culture and religion are also in conflict with the internationally acceptable standards of child freedom which makes it difficult for some of the laws made to be implemented in practical terms. For instance, in Nigeria, laws that have to do with the right of the child to be free of physical torture, early marriage and labour sometimes, and in many instances, cannot be properly implemented because they contradict the sociocultural and religious status of the society.
Hence, the Nigerian child is at best, vulnerable. Today, due to the factors above and the worsening economic position of the country, there are no fewer than eleven million children who are not only out of school, but engaged in child labour. This is a figure representing about 43℅ of the total number of Nigerian children according to official sources. In Northern part of the country, there are millions of such children commonly known as “Almajiri” who daily roam the streets in search of food. In the process, they are daily subjected to various forms of abuse from child labour, to kidnapping, and even physical assault; including sexual abuse by adults.
In fact, there is no instrument in practical terms in Nigeria where apparent who abandoned his child by refusing him the right to be protected in terms of shelter, feeding, health care and education can be held responsible and be punished. It is very common and acceptable in many instances in the society that a child is left a long to face the rigours of life and fend for himself.
Hence, the significance of children’s day in Nigeria is reduced to mere fanfare without commensurate empathy for the child in the pastor the coming year. Each year, the day is celebrated in Nigeria with government officials facing the children in special parade grounds and addressing them with promises being reeled out every year. At no point in time would these officials gives out the achievements of the government in the reduction of the number of children out of school or those pulled out of labour. In fact, the Nigerian state has to become genuinely committed to the issue of its children today if the country truly desires a secured future.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect WikkiTimes’ editorial stance.
