Nigerian children will today mark this year’s Children’s Day. The event is marked annually on May 27. We recall that the United Nations (UN) had set aside November 20 of every year as the Universal Children’s Day to draw attention to issues that affect children. It was first marked in 1954. The day is celebrated on various dates in different countries. The occasion is also used to measure the progress the UN member countries made in addressing issues that concern the wellbeing of children such as health, feeding, education and other matters that relate to children.
In Nigeria, the day is marked with activities for school children as well as speeches by government officials that dwell on how to improve the lot of Nigerian children. While we wish Nigerian children and others the world over a happy celebration, we urge the government to use the occasion to address myriad of problems that can mar the future of Nigerian children.
The government must reflect on development issues that centre on children, especially those contained in the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Since children are said to be leaders of tomorrow in every culture, everything must be put in place by government to ensure that that future is not mortgaged.
The issue of raising good and responsible children that will be leaders of tomorrow should concern the family, the community, the school and the government. All of them must work together to bring up our future leaders. While it is the duty of parents to ensure that their children get quality education, at the same time, it is the duty of government to make sure that every Nigerian child gets qualitative basic education from primary school to junior secondary school.
Basic education should be made free and compulsory for every Nigerian child. The future of any Nigerian child without basic education is almost doomed. Unfortunately, many Nigerian children are denied access to basic education. Over 10 million Nigerian children of school age are reported to be out-of-school. This alone portends great danger to the country’s future.
From education to health and other indices of child development, it is apparent that the future of Nigerian children is gloomy. Available statistics show that of the 3.5 million nomadic school-age children, only 450,000 have access to education. Also, a 2017 report of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) revealed that more than half of 22.2million Nigerian children under the age were at risk of poor development because of absence of early childhood support.
It has also been reported that about 1,200 children die every day in the country due to malnutrition. This represents 53 per cent of children’s deaths. It is sad that only 24 states out of 36 have domesticated the Child Rights Act. It is also not cheering that not all the 24 states that have domesticated the Act are committed to its enforcement.
The country is also witnessing rising cases of child trafficking. The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and Other Related Matters (NAPTIP) said that about two million persons, most of them women and children are trafficked in Nigeria annually.
The malaise is common in at least 20 states in the country.
Besides, there is increase in cases of child rape in the country. In most cities in Nigeria, child labour is a common feature. Most of the affected children hawk on major highways at a time they ought to be in school. Some Nigerian children have become victims of the raging insurgency in the North-East geo-political zone and the rising herdsmen menace in the North-central zone. Many live in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps.
As we mark this year’s Children’s Day, we call on the government at all levels to map out measures to address the problems facing Nigerian children. To begin with, government must ensure that every Nigerian child is educated up to the level of basic education. It must also invest in the health of Nigerian children. This is the only way government can secure the future of Nigerian children.