In 1954, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly recommended that all countries should set aside a universal Children’s Day (UCD) to be observed as a day to celebrate children and draw attention to their problems. The assembly, in 1959 adopted a declaration of the Rights of the Child to address the rights of children and youths under 18 years of age. In 1989, with the adoption of the convention on the rights of the child, the rights were expanded to cover health care, education, freedom of exploitation and right to hold opinion.
In spite of the fact that most member-states of the UN are signatories to the convention, the basic rights stated in the convention are still being abused and neglected both at the family, community and government levels.
Nigerian president, Goodluck Jonathan and Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Kin-moon on May 23, 2012, canvassed for a quick intervention to check child and maternal mortality. According to Ban, 800 women and more than 20,000 children in some developing countries including Nigeria, die from preventable causes, especially in child birth related circumstances due to bottlenecks that prevent them from receiving Medicare that can both save and improve upon their lives.
There is a popular saying “Morning shows the day, just as the child shows the man”. This indicates why a day is set aside every year to evaluate progress made in efforts to promote, protect and project the rights of children. The challenges facing children, especially in Africa and other third world countries are frightening.
As Nigeria celebrates this year’s Children’s Day parents should realise that they are the first educators; the family is the ‘first school’ of education in justice and peace to enable the children refrain from restiveness and aggressiveness. In other words, those in charge of educational institutions have a duty to ensure the children are able to receive education in line with their families’ consciences and principles.
Celebrating children’s day take special forms in each member country of the United Nations. For example in Gambia, children take over the reins of government for a day in the year. This is to expose them to the practice of governance. In other countries children are sometimes given the opportunity to take over the television stations and subsequently direct, produce and anchor programmes that show the major issues that affect them.
In the case of Nigeria, school children usually troop to various stadia, public places in towns and cities all over the country to engage in march-past and listen to speeches from the leaders; some establishments participate sometimes by organising parties, excursion as well as visits for students.
Nigeria adopted May 27 of every year as its Children’s Day. Apart from the celebration, there is the need to look at how children fared before and after the passage of the child Right Bill by the National Assembly in May 2003. Nigeria, being a signatory to several international conventions on children, is obliged to take legislative, social and educative measures to further protect children from physical or mental violence; neglect or maltreatment while in the care of parents or guardians; employment that is likely to be hazardous to their health or to interfere with their education and development; sexual exploitation and abuse among others.
According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), 215 million children are in hazardous work and that Africa is worst hit.
The ILO in 2010 warned member-nations on the negative impact of child labour and the danger inherent in the slow pace at efforts by nations of the world to end the phenomenon.
It was revealed by the ILO that the events were held in more than 60 countries. It included governments, employers and workers, other United Nations agencies and non-governmental organisations and high level panels who organised media events, awareness raising campaigns, cultural performances and other public events.
In Geneva, Scotland, where global event, the international labour conference took place, hundreds of local schools were joined by the Conseiller d Etat, Mr. Charles Beer, ILO officials and visiting delegates, who participated on a Children’s solidarity event at the place des Nations (United Nations House).
The ILO director general, Mr. Juan Somavia used the occasion to paint the pathetic picture of hazardous conditions of many children around the world who were involved in child labour.
In Africa, it was a pathetic story as Somavia stated that the situation was worrisome; more children were working in hazardous conditions. Somavia added that the World Day against Child Labour (WDACL) came at a critical juncture in the global campaign ending its worst forms by 2016.
In Nigeria, little efforts are being made by both government and organisations to reduce or eliminate the worst form of child abuse because we are deeply rooted in poverty, ignorance and cultural attitudes of the people. However, these efforts, in most cases are not backed by appropriate data to enable national authorities and the international community to measure the nature and perhaps the extent of child labour in the country and identify areas where actions is required to tackle it.
It is surprising to say that in Nigeria like many other African countries, ILO policies are often violated, despite the fact that many countries of the world have developed statistical monitoring and information systems on child labour, often with the support of ILO’s Statistical Information and Monitoring Programme on Child Labour (SIMPOC)
In her speech at the presentation of the state of the World Children report 2002, former first lady, late Mrs. Stella Obansanjo (of blessed memory) said “Many more children are still engaged in exploitative child labour, putting them at risk of human trafficking; every 10 Nigerian children daily passing through the Nigeria border into slavery in other lands. The figures in respect of HIV/AIDS among Nigerian children are extremely alarming and it is getting worse by the day’’.
According to her, ‘’if you look at current statistics in the state of World children report, the situation of the Nigerian child in education, health and protection are particularly bad, when compared to some other poor countries in sub-Saharan Africa”.
It seems that ugly development is strangulating children gradually out-of-existence. Economic down-turn or economic ‘cuyoyo’ according to the late Dr. Tai Solarin, has suddenly turned children into breadwinners for many families. They can be seen in our streets hawking all sorts of wares, some begging for alms, with forlorn hope of augmenting the poor earning of their financially weak parents. Street hawking has turned a lot of them into hopeless youths with a bleak future. The families among them are exposed at tender ages to sexual harassment and molestation. Others are sometimes rendered useless or in extreme cases lose their lives after being hit by reckless drivers.
Many first time visitors to Nigeria are usually appalled at the number of children engaged in street hawking and begging on our roads, the advent of sachet water has increased the number greatly.
In order to proffer solutions to the above, there is the need for accountability and probity in public service. In other words, we should preach and practice the gospel for the benefit of our children. In this connection, we should see our children as Ethiopia tikdem, an Amharic expression meaning Ethiopia First.
It is therefore no exaggeration to say that our children suffer because leaders in Africa are victims of extreme flatters and sycophants whose only delight is to be at the corridors of power, lick, wash and watch the boots of our leaders and, in the process enrich themselves.
In the 1997 joint UNICEF and Federal Office of Statistics report on the progress of Nigerian children, it was stated that children in especially difficult situations made up the bulk of the domestic labour force. This is not astonishing in view of the increasing poverty that forced many families to take their children out of school and utilise their labour to add to the family income for survival.
In order to check abuses of the rights of children, state governments that are yet to adopt the Child Rights Act (CRA) should get their legislature to pass them into law. The federal and state governments should commence immediate enforcement of all the provisions of the law, including prosecuting and convicting those that flout the law.
Finally, for our children to develop properly and compete favourably among children from other countries and to enable Nigeria move forward in the right direction, we should think clearly, correctly and scientifically, which is the greatest of all powers that a man can possess.