Child Protection: Addressing Almajirais' Plight In The North
The sight of young boys roaming the streets in the North could be disturbing. They depend on the street to survive with bleak future. Yet, the little kids also have nursed ambition to become successful in life. For instance, 12-year-old Saani Aliyu in Kano said he would love to become President of Nigeria and make the country better. He specifically said he would help the poor when he becomes the president.
Sanni is not the only Almajiri with a future ambition, Abdulah Abdullah and Usman Abdullah and thousands of Almajirais are also thinking big. Meanwhile, their dream is achievable if government could provide them with sound education. Unfortunately, these children lack access to formal education as many of them only attend quranic schools where they learn Arabic Language and Islamic doctrines.
As a result of this, stakeholders are worried over the plight of the Almajiris in the North and seeking way out to liberate them. The United Nations Children Fund is commited to securing a better future for children in Nigeria so that they would achieve their full potential in life. UNICEF is supporting Nigerian government in many ways, as well as initiating and implementing different programmes and activities aimed at ensuring child protection in the country.
Very paramount, is the need to respect the rights of the children as enshrined in the Child Rights Law. Nigeria in 1990 ratified the Child Rights Convention of 1989 and also in 2001 ratified the African Union Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child adopted in 1990. However, in spite of the Child Rights Convention and the African Union Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, children in Nigeria continue to experience abuse in different forms while perpetrators often go scot-free.
The Child Rights Act 2003 principally enacts into Law in Nigeria the principles enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the AU Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child is expected to be domesticated across the country to curtail incidences of child abuse in Nigeria. Sadly, action or in action by duty bearers impact on the realisation of child rights. The costs of inaction in fulfilling children's right are huge. For instance, in 2016, the cost of inaction on child protection cost Nigeria 1.6 trillion Naira.
It is therefore in this light that, UNICEF is also appealing to government to ensure prompt implementation of the Child Rights law so as to curb the menace of child abuse. Regarding the role of the media, UNICEF has charged the media to be more deliberate in raising awareness about the Child Rights Law 2023 amongst Nigerians. This was the thrust of a two-day Media Dialogue facilitated by UNICEF in collaboration with Child Rights Information Bureau (CRIB) of the Federal Ministry Of Information and Culture on the new Country Programme 2023-2027 and the Status of Implementation of The Child Rights Law in the states.
Dr Geoffrey Njoku, UNICEF Communication Specialist and Hajia Fatima Adamu, UNICEF Child Protection Specialist charged journalists to step up the reportage of Child Rights law and the status of the implementation across the country. Winifred Ogbebo, a journalist with Leadership Newspaper admonished media practitioners on objective reportage of Child Rights Law in a way that would prompt government to take appropriate actions in a timely manner.
The Chief Information Officer at Child Rights Information Bureau of the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, Mr Falayi Temitoye lauded the media for adequately reporting issues around child protection and called for more intensive reporting until the Child Rights Law is fully implemented across all the states in Nigeria.
As Sanni Aliyu, Abdulah Abdullah, Usman Abdullah and other Almajiri boys continue to roam streets of Kano hopelessly, it's imperative for government to look in their direction and make formal education accessible to them. When the Child Rights Law is properly implemented, Almajiris would be off the streets and all other components of child protection would have been taken care of.
A child's rights to survival, development and protection are very crucial for that child's development as well as the development of any nation. Thus the need to ensure that every Nigerian child is carried along and protected for once a child is left out, that child poses a security risk to the larger population. Implementing the Child Rights Law is a cheap solution and a stitch in time, as the saying goes, saves nine.