By TEMILADE ARUYA
THE need to promote and uphold the dignity of the Nigerian child cannot be overemphasized because the child eventually becomes the adult of tomorrow. As the saying goes, ‘the child is the father of the man’ Life, certainly, is a cycle.
As the child grows, his life experiences, actions and inactions of others, treatment meted out to him and values imbibed all cumulate to determine who he becomes as an adult. These are the things that eventually form the character of the child and shape his perception, understanding, beliefs, ideals, goals and values. How he is treated as a child determines to a large extent what he becomes and how he reacts to people and situations around him. The life he is exposed to, the environment he grew up in, the quality of education he acquires and a host of other factors are all major elements that inform his personality.
Consequently, being a product of the society, children naturally give back to the society what has been deposited in them. Self worth, dignity, self love and respect are elements of a healthy personality. The development of a healthy personality cannot be achieved outside a conducive and loving environment. There is a saying that you can’t give what you don’t have. A child that lacks the true element of a healthy personality will grow up into an adult without character. The value we place on the child says a lot about the value we place on ourselves as adults.
A child is a personality with feelings, emotions and rights which must be recognized and respected. These rights protect the child as a human being while taking into consideration his fragility and appropriate needs that will help him develop into a healthy adult. The prevalent flagrant disregard for the rights of the child in the Nigerian society is a cause for serious concern, as we are daily inundated with gruesome tales of child rights abuse in homes, schools and the society in general. The abuse ranges from rape, molestation, child labour, torture and victimization to abduction and trafficking.
It is unfortunate that the home, school and society that should be a haven of love, promotion and enforcement of children’s rights have turned to places of abuse. The level at which the rights of the child are being abused is appalling and shocking. How do we explain a situation where a child is raped by the father, who is meant to be the first line of defense for the child? Mothers are not left out, as in most cases they are silent onlookers, while some have abdicated their responsibilities for the pursuit of mundane things. The protection of child rights must begin from the home, which is an essential unit of socialization.
In addition, the daily abuse of the Nigerian child under the cloak of tradition must be arrested if truly the rights of the child must be enforced and his dignity preserved. It is sad to note that harmful traditional practices that contravene the Child Rights Act are still being practiced in our society by parents with the connivance of family members. According to statistics, Nigeria has the highest rate of female genital mutilation next to Egypt and Ethiopia. The United Nations Population Fund says over 19 million Nigerian women have undergone female genital mutilation around the country with a steady increase in some parts of the country including the South East zone from 40% in 2003 to 48% in 2013.
This record is abysmal in the light of recent global enlightenment and awareness on the ills of female genital mutilation. It is most unsettling that the Nigerian girl child is still plagued by this assault on her personality, which deprives her of the joy of being a woman with her sexuality complete.
Child marriage is equally rife in our society and it has led to the death of thousands of children and physical disability of many more due to Vesico Vaginal Fistula. The prevalence of this harmful practice is alarming in the face of available data. For instance, it has been revealed that 43% of Nigerian girls are married off before their 18th birthday. According to UNICEF, Nigeria is home to the largest number of child brides in Africa with 23 million girls and women married as children.
These traditional practices do not only deprive the child of the right to good life, education and freedom to be a child as in the case of child marriage. They also rob the child of dignity and self-worth. Any part of our culture and tradition detrimental to the physical, psychological, emotional and sexual well-being of the child should be jettisoned. Our children should not be sacrificed on the altar of culture and tradition.
According to a report by the United States Department of Labour, Nigeria is witnessing the worst forms of child labour particularly in agriculture and domestic service. In recent times, there have been series of news on the victimization of children by their mistresses and masters who use them as domestic servants. There are also cases of horrendous assault on children by their madams which has led to grievous bodily harm and impairment. Some have also been raped by their masters. These children are between the ages of 5 and 16 and they are made to engage in services that are too tedious for their child fragile stature. The Child Rights Act restricts children under the age of 18 from such work. If the dignity of labour must be preserved and upheld, child labour must be eradicated, because there is no dignity in child labour.
.Aruya is of the Ministry of Information & Strategy, Lagos.