THE WELLBEING OF OUR CHILDREN
Children should be well-provided for
As stakeholders across many countries mark the 2025 Children’s Day, it is most fitting that Nigeria has adopted the theme, ‘Enhancing the Total Wellbeing of Children Through Quality Education and Skill Development’. But critical stakeholders in the country should go beyond sloganeering. To achieve that goal, it is important that they reflect on the impediment placed in the ways of children in Nigeria. The pitiable sight of numerous children who have been turned to professional beggars thronging major streets in Abuja, Lagos, and other capital cities, is enough to confirm that we have a crisis on our hands. Especially with more than 20 million children reportedly out of school, just as many are stunted and underweight because of poor nutrition. In a recent survey by the UNICEF, six out of every 10 Nigerian children suffer some forms of physical, emotional, or sexual violence before attaining the age of 18.
By prioritising children’s rights and participation, we can help to build a better future for all. However, with about 70 per cent of families living below the poverty line, it is no surprise that education is often the first casualty in most rural communities in the country today. Children are usually the ones sent into the streets to hawk, or to work as house help for more fortunate families. Particularly disturbing is that repeated attacks on schools by sundry cartels of criminal gangs have created fear in many children with negative impacts on their attitude to education in several parts of the country. Yet, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund, when children are denied opportunity for education not only are their lives shattered, but the future of the nation is also stolen.
In recent years, there have been many reports that non-state armed groups are using children in the country as combatants and non-combatants, while committing other grave violations against them. The surge of child soldiers in a country where most people find it difficult to feed their families is predictable. Education, for instance, which ought to have productively engaged these children, has suffered greatly because of the predatory activities of terrorists. As a matter of urgency, children must be removed from conflict zones while there should be sustained campaigns to sensitise the public on this growing malaise.
Conscripting children into these armed groups is not only a gross abuse of their innocence, but also a systematic destruction of the present and future of the country. Already, armed conflict situations have created children who are separated from their families, unprotected, starved, and exposed to violence as their only means of survival. Besides the mental and physical torture, exposing children to armed conflict increases their risk of morbidity and mortality. To worsen matters, hundreds of thousands of children are dying every day because of indirect effects of conflict – including malnutrition, disease, inadequate healthcare, and poor sanitation.
Even though the Child Rights’ Act has been domesticated in almost all the states, its provisions are hardly enforced. Child marriage, child trafficking, child labour and rape of underage boys and girls are on the increase in many parts of the country. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in its blueprint for 2030 provides a universal plan to secure a better future for children. The 16th goal is dedicated to peace, justice, and strong institutions. To fulfil that mandate, authorities in Nigeria and all relevant stakeholders must work to pay attention to issues that threaten the future of our children.
On a day such as this, authorities in Nigeria must prioritise child protection and welfare policies through incentivised and compulsory basic education. That is the surest way to enhance the total well-being of our children.
