Group Laments Poor Implementation, Enforcement of Child Rights Act at Federal, State Levels

James Emejo in Abuja

A coalition of non-governmental organisations, Child Protection Network Nigeria (CPN), expressed dismay over the “troubling” level of implementation and enforcement of the provisions of the Child Rights Act in federal and state laws.

National Coordinator of CPN, Mr.  Olakunle Sanni, said findings were “not impressive as it should be”.

Spoking at a media briefing on the State of the Nigeria Child, in Abuja, over the weekend, Sanni said, “While we are happy with the successes the CRA and its domestication has brought, we are troubled that after 22 years, the level of implementation and enforcement of the provisions in the federal and state laws, respectively, are not as impressive as it should be.”

He said the efforts were not commensurate with the result on the ground.

“There are still a lot of rights violations affecting children everywhere in Nigeria as they continue to face unending violence, exploitation, and abuse,” he stated.
Sanni said there was still widespread neglect in the areas of protection, healthcare, food, education, and shelter, among others.

The group, among other things, demanded that schools in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) should resume immediately to save the future of the children, and Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC) workers and school teachers should also reconsider their stance in the best of children.

CPN stated that cases of child abuse, such as the recent ones in Oyo and Sokoto states, and many other cases across the country, should be prosecuted promptly and accordingly while ensuring justice was served.

It added that school feeding programme should be reintroduced in schools and indigent school children should be supported with free food, adding that free health care services for all categories of children should be implemented.

CPN also said affordable housing should be provided for indigent families while alternative care arrangements be strengthened in order to provide shelter for all homeless children.

The network stated that for almost three months now, children in the FCT, the seat of power, had not been attending school owing to unpaid salaries and other benefits to their teachers. It said the situation had led some of the children to become victims of abuse.

Sanni said many buildings, which were regarded as schools, were simply death traps for children owing to their dilapidated states.

He said schools in the conflict zones had been turned to camps for kidnappers, bandits and abductors, while education continued to elude children living in Internally Displaced Persons’ camps.

In the area of health care, Sanni said, “No government at any level has made a particular healthcare service totally free and accessible for all children under the age of 18.

“Many primary health centres, which are closest to families, lack drugs and do not have enough professional hands to meet the needs of children in their immediate communities.

“Just like schools, the workers of PHCs in the Federal Capital Territory have also been on strike,” which meant that the children and their families had disrupted access to basic health care services, even at a fee.

“As against the support services meant to be received, the children who are survivors of sexual and physical violence get nothing,” CPN said.

On food, the group stated that high cost of living, poverty, loss of jobs, and many other challenges had made it difficult for children to get food regularly.

According to the national coordinator, “It is difficult for families to provide their children with three meals by day. The school feeding programme, which has helped many families to provide meal to their children, is no longer in existence.

CPN said, “There is an increasing number of homelessness across the country, often caused by poverty, unemployment, conflict, urbanisation, high cost of living, etc.

“It is unfortunate that government, who should place priority on providing shelter for children, usually neglect this responsibility.”

Sanni said, “From the 14-year-old boy killed by the police in Ibadan to the 14-year-old girl house help rescued from the hands of her abuser, there is an increasing rate of abuse, violence and exploitation children are subjected to.

“On each, CPN members encounter an average of 10 child abuse cases (sexual, neglect, physical, child labour, abduction etc.) on a daily basis, but the process for prosecuting perpetrators and offenders is not as effective as expected.”

CPN includes government agencies and other stakeholders working to protect children in the country.

It was established by UNICEF Nigeria and functions as a network of various organisations and individuals committed to child protection.