Child Rights Act’ll Secure Future Of Nigerian Children, Ibikunle

The passage of the Child Rights bills into law by various states in Nigeria will guarantee the future of the Nigerian child, Ganiyu Ibikunle, national programme officer, Lynx Nigeria, has said.

Ibikunle, while answering questions from newsmen in Enugu yesterday, commended some states in the federation that have domesticated the bill, and called on the remaining ones to toe the same line to secure the future of children in those states and Nigeria at large.

He said, “It is a pity that some people see the bill as a ploy to make children legally confront their parents. No, it is not so. The advantages are many. It will ensure that parents and the society in general provide the basic needs of the child.

A child for instance is entitled to basic education, hence the child is duly right to demand such. The passage will ensure an end to child abuses in the state. It is then left for the society to be the watchdog, and report abuses to enforcement authorities.”

So far twenty-four states have signed the bill into law.

Ibikunle said LYNX Nigeria has been in the forefront of the struggle for the domestication of the bill in Nigeria and thanked other partner organizations for their support in the struggle.

It would be recalled that the Enugu State House of Assembly recently passed the bill. During the event, stakeholders commended the House for the passage and urged the state governor Rt Hon Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi to sign the bill into law. They also called on other states yet to pass the bill to do so for the benefits therein.

A represented of the National Orientation Agency, Mrs Adaobi Nwoye, during the event, thanked the House for the passage, and assured that NOA would drive the message to the grassroots.

Critics of the Child Rights Act claim it is alien to the African culture. But Ibikunle posits that the Act is simply to protect the child from abuses as well as provide the child with basic needs.