By Emma Okereh
As Nigeria joins the rest of the global community to commemorate the 2022 International Children’s Day, the National Human Rights Commission has reiterated the need to close the numerous protection gaps in Nigeria’s child development plan, so as to assist children attain their full potentials and contribute to national development.
The Executive Secretary of the Commission, Chief Tony Ojukwu OFR, SAN, who stated this in Abuja to mark this year’s International Children’s Day noted that improving our protection efforts on issues affecting children has become more imperative, considering their increased vulnerability in the face of climate change, flooding, kidnapping, widespread violence, insecurity, poverty, hunger, poor access to education, energy crisis etc.
This year’s theme, “Inclusion, for Every Child”, is apt because it aims to bring child’s rights issues to the front burner, thereby serving as a wake-up call to the duty bearers to take necessary actions that will guarantee a better future for our Children”.
The Learned Senior Advocate of Nigeria stated that the Child’s Rights Act of Nigeria replicates key ingredients of the UN Child Rights Convention and the African Children’s Charter, pointing out that the Act which was passed in 2003 has been adopted in about 31 states in Nigeria.
It is therefore compulsory for every State Government to rise up to the occasion to adopt and implement this important legislation which has the potential of improving the standard of living of Nigerian Children who are the future leaders.
The Executive Secretary recalled the various interventions made by the Commission in redressing the human rights challenges of children, which included the establishment of Women and Children Department to enable it to focus more on issues of Child Abandonment, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), Child Marriage, Child Labour, Out-of-School Children, Child Slavery, Child Trafficking, etc. He said these efforts have led to more successes recorded by the Commission in the child’s rights protection programmes.
Against the foregoing, he urged MDAs and child-focused organisations to align national implementation plans of Child’s Rights Act with international action plan like Agenda 2040 and the SDGs agenda to ensure a result oriented implementation.
The International Children’s Day is observed annually on November 20th to, among other things, remind the government and other stakeholders of their obligations to protect children’s rights.
