ABUJA – Some child right activists in Abuja have pleaded with the three tiers of government to ratify and domesticate child rights act to protect Nigerian children from abuse.
They made the plea on Friday in Abuja in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) to mark the 2014 Universal Children Day which was celebrated globally on Thursday.
NAN reports that the day was proclaimed by UN General Assembly in 1954 to initiate actions to protect the well-being of the world’s children
The activists contended that Nigerian children were increasingly being abused by adults and subjected to hardship as a result of communal conflicts and other challenges in various parts of the federation
Mrs Grace Atim an Abuja based child rights activist, urged state governments to ensure that the rights of the child were protected in local conflicts in some communities.
She declared that the plight of Nigerian child would not be protected if the three tiers of government failed to enforce existing laws to protect children.
She expressed dismay that the Child Rights Act, signed into law by in 2003 by former President Olusegun Obsanjo to protect the rights of Nigerian children, had not been ratified and domesticated by some state governments.
“Children are the future of tomorrow and if we don’t train them, what future are we looking at.
“The child rights act must be ratified and domesticated so that those who abuse children are prosecuted,’’ Atim said.
She said the right of Nigerian children had been violated in several parts of the country with children being used to carry out activities not commensurate to their age.
Mrs Joy Idam of Gleaner communications, who also doubles as gender and child rights activist, urged civil society groups to pressurize policy makers to take necessary steps to protect the rights of Nigerian children.
She said that over 60, 000 women and children were displaced in the recent communal conflicts in Nasarawa state, adding that their rights were violated during the conflicts.
Idam urged the three tiers of government to ensure strict enforcement of existing laws to protect children in conflict prone areas to reduce the number of persons whose rights were violated.
The facilitator of Okpokwu Community Information Centre, Mrs Ene Edeh, called on parents and leaders in the society to listen to children.
She alleged that the welfare Nigerian had been relegated to the background by policy makers.
“Children in our society are not talking to anyone and nobody seems to be listening to children,’’ she said, adding that the right of children to free expression had constantly being violated for frivolous reasons.
“Even in the family nobody is listening to children; it is a debt that I believe we owe the children.
“Religion does not stop us from listening to our children, we must begin to pay more attention to them,’’ she said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the UN set aside Nov. 20 each year as the Universal Children Day.
The theme of this year’s Children Day is “Stop Violence against children.’’ (NAN)
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