CHILD ABUSE; a recurring decimal

Abuse in any form is an abhor able act and much more so when the victim is a child. Children are seen to be the weakest link in the human ladder and therefore are meant to be protected against all odds and defended against any form of hurt or danger. Even though children all over the world are seen as the leaders of tomorrow, they are yet to be accorded the relevant and necessary attention they deserve to prepare them for this very important task ahead. Millions of them across the world suffer, are treated with reckless abandon and impunity or sold into child slavery.

In many parts of the world, the situation of children are critical as a result of inadequate social conditions, natural disasters, armed conflicts, exploitation, illiteracy, hunger and disability. Children, on their own accord, cannot and are not capable of effectively fighting such conditions or changing them for the better.

Disturbed about this development, on 20th November 1989, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), whilst the defunct OAU Assembly of Heads of States and Governments adopted the African Union Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (CRCW) in July 1990. Nigeria has signed both International Instruments and had ratified them in 1991 and 2000 respectively. Both protocols reflect children as human beings and as subjects of their own rights.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) outlines the human rights to be respected and protected for every child under 18 years and requires that these rights be implemented. Against this background, a draft of the Child Rights Bill aimed at principally enacting 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 was prepared in the early 90’s. Some of the salient provisions of the CRC include amongst others:

Article 2 states that:

1. States Parties shall respect and ensure the rights set forth in the present Convention to each child within their jurisdiction without discrimination of any kind, irrespective of the child’s or his or her parent’s or legal guardian’s race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinions, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or other status.

2. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that the child is protected against all forms of discrimination or punishment on the basis of the status, activities, expressed opinions, or beliefs of the child’s parents, legal guardians, or family members.

Article 6 provides that:

1. States Parties recognize that every child has the inherent right to life.

2. States Parties shall ensure to the maximum extent possible the survival and development of the child.

Article 27 which further provides that:

1. States Parties recognize the right of every child to a standard of living adequate for the child’s physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development.

2. The parent(s) or others responsible for the child have the primary responsibility to secure, within their abilities and financial capacities, the conditions of living necessary for the child’s development.

3. States Parties, in accordance with national conditions and within their means shall take appropriate measures to assist parents and others responsible for the child to implement this right and shall in case of need provide material assistance and support programmes, particularly with regard to nutrition, clothing and housing.

4. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to secure the recovery of maintenance for the child from the parents or other persons having financial responsibility for the child, both within the State Party and from abroad. In particular, where the person having financial responsibility for the child lives in a State different from that of the child, States Parties shall promote the accession to international agreements or the conclusion of such agreements, as well as the making of other appropriate arrangements.

Article 33 also states that:

States Parties shall take all appropriate measures, including legislative, administrative, social and educational measures, to protect children from the illicit use of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances as defined in the relevant international treaties, and to prevent the use of children in the illicit production and trafficking of such substances.

Article 35 further states that:

States Parties shall take all appropriate national, bilateral and multilateral measures to prevent the abduction of, the sale of or traffic in children for any purpose or in any form.

Article 39 further stipulates that:

States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to promote physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration of a child victim of any form of neglect, exploitation, or abuse; torture or any other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; or armed conflicts. Such recovery and reintegration shall take place in an environment which fosters the health, self-respect and dignity of the child.

But it was only after about 10 years with several Heads of Government and heated debates by Parliamentarians that the Bill was eventually passed into law by the National Assembly on July 2003. It was assented to by the then President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo in September 2003 and promulgated as the Child Rights Act (CRA) 2003. The Act is a legal document that sets out the rights and responsibilities of a child in Nigeria and provides for a system of child justice administration.

However, more than thirteen years after, only 24 States in the country have passed the Act for onward enforcement. These States include; Abia, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Benue, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Ekiti, Imo, Jigawa, Kwara, Kogi, Lagos, Nassarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, and Taraba.

The Nigerian CRA 2003, which aims to protect children’s rights have not lived up to its expectation, activists have said. At a conference recently, tagged ‘Safeguarding Nigerian Children: Building a Child Protection System Fit for the 21st Century,’ in Lagos, children activists said that the Nigerian government has abdicated its responsibility to protect the child. According to Betty Abah, Executive Director of a child rights NGO, CEE-HOPE, “Most of the states that have passed the Child Rights Act are not even implementing it and so at the end of the day, there is really no change in the status of the Nigerian child in most states across the country. And it is worse in the northern part of Nigeria where you have issues of child bride that some people think are being backed by an erroneous interpretation of religion to continue to carry out gross human rights abuse of vulnerable persons in our society”.

In his presentation, Godwin Morka of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and Other Related Matters, NAPTIP stated that only 24 states have adopted the Child Rights Act as their state laws. “Unfortunately, most states have neglected to implement it,” said Mr Morka, who is the Assistant Director, Research and Programme Development Department of NAPTIP.

Good Health, a weekly magazine observed for instance that in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria; 10 children of between the ages of 6-8 years old work in the mechanic village, (a small mechanic workshop) when they should be in school. In Akwa-Ibom state, where the State House of Assembly has passed the CRA, children are still branded witches and wizards and beaten and starved. In virtually all of these states, is a record of one instance of child abuse or the other. It may be sexually related, children may be denied basic means of livelihood, forced into labour, trafficking, hawking, etc

A UNICEF Communication Officer (Media and External Relations) Mr Geoffery Njoku, observed that most states that have assented to the law appear reluctant to enforce it because they believe that it would make children grow wild. This same misconception probably is at the root of the reluctance to pass the Bill by Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Enugu, Gombe, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara States.

At the core of the abuse of children in Africa and most third world countries is the glaring lack of respect for not just children but the lack of respect for the human dignity of individuals who are considered to be in a lower or less privileged class. This is evident in the prevalence of child labour in many African countries, child marriages and sadly, exposure of children to prostitution. Even if these heinous examples occur in western societies, they are not as brazenly open or exposed as is evident in most African countries. It is, therefore, the responsibility of governments, NGO’s and religious institutions to teach and explain the essence of the dignity of the human being no matter how young or old. Government officials from the president at the federal level, to states and local governments, must also be seen to publicly show sympathy and empathy for the plight of children no matter their status or place in the society.

Unfortunately, still, many African children are victims of abuse and although the CRC has been domesticated by many countries, low implementation is still a major problem. Perpetrators of this evil go unpunished and the cycle continues. More needs to be done in the protection of children from abuse of any kind. For as we know, the children are our future!