Children are gifts from the creator—the best that could ever happen to any living parents. Without them, the population figures are nothing—they are the sole symbol of growth of any nation.
The care for the meaningful livelihood of these children has greatly waned in Nigeria due to several factors bedding the nation, and withering its African strength away as erosion does to soil.
Whether the state of our dear nation is political, hypocritical or even critical, it is apparent that leaders who licked the plates of success of free education and chance to live freely without cringing, are at the forefront of jettisoning the little ones the positive kinds of lives they truly deserve.
For the past a decade now, it is more difficult to see the intense energy diverted toward the young ones in Nigeria. Every morning on their school assembly grounds, they scream passionately to recite the National anthem—praying for their leaders, declaring their patriotism for the country as well as promising to serve their fathers’ land.
Despite these promises and prayers, they have been compensated with nothing other than fear and neglect. In the Northern Nigeria, little children are being exposed to the artificial disaster of insecurity and the natural disaster of flood.
According to United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund(UNICEf), 10.5 million children are out of school, despite free education.
“In north-eastern and north-western states, 29 percent and 35 percent of Muslim children, respectively, receive Qur’anic education, which does not include basic skills such as literacy and numeracy. The government considers children attending such schools to be officially out-of-school.”
Few weeks ago, Senator Adams Oshiomole was seen lamenting at the floor of the green national chamber, in his words, he said: “An illiterate young man or woman is bound to give birth to another illiterate child which will lead to a dynasty of the poor constituting to a risk to the rich.”
To be objective enough, the neglect Nigerian children are experiencing should not be attributed to the North alone.
While the children in the North are being kept against enjoying maximum basic education due to insecurity and lack of orientation about Western Education, the children in the South are also facing rigid perpetual child abuse.
Data does not lie, there are pointers, stating the how these children lack their basic rights. Dataphyte, one of the leading data platforms in Nigeria stated that in the year 2020, Delta state had the highest number of complaints as received by the National Human Rights Commission, (NHRC); with 37,363, totalling 17. 7% of the complaints received.
“The second and third states were FCT and Edo with 19,273 and 17,792 complaints respectively. Collectively, the National Human Rights Commission received 107,895 complaints from the top 5 states accounting for half of the total at 50.8%”, data revealed.
The incessant happenings of these acts of neglect by the Nigerian Governors towards children need to be checked. Those who are promised to be the leaders of tomorrow are being killed by hunger and ripped off by multidimensional poverty.
Should it continue this way, I don’t think the innocent gifts from God(Children) truly deserve this country.
Today is Children’s day, publications, press releases, and different broadcast would be deployed to celebrate their existence, whereas, they have been met with undeserved will by their leaders.
Nigerian Governors need to step up to cart the blame away from the Federal Government, it is their responsibility to see to the growth of their states. Many are willing to purchase SUV for traditional rulers, because of political permutation, but to spend on child education, they will allocate less than 5% of budget to education sector.
Written by Yusuf Olukokun