In recent times, the Nigerian child has been at the receiving end of anti-social behaviours, compared to what occurred in the past when they were loved and cared for.

Today, only few of them enjoy that love and care.

The Nigerian child is now at the receiving end of child labour, child trafficking, zero access to education and basic health care, not forgetting rape. 

The growing indices of these occurrences has berated the value placed on the Nigerian child and their rights, under the Constitution of the Federal Republic.

The Child Right Act signed by Former President Olusegun Obasanjo in September 2003 is more of a paperwork than a law, as it has done little or nothing to improve the lives of children. 

Despite being a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1991, Nigeria has done nothing significant to give the child the necessary rights he or she should enjoy under the law.

The non-significance of the Nigerian child is evident in the manifestos of political parties in Nigeria, as no political party has presented any manifesto inclusive of the Nigerian child – an indication that they are insignificant to them.

The Nigerian child is only celebrated once in a year (May 27) by wives of political office holders, who will share biscuits, and other refreshments to the kids, then forget about them until the following year. 

They don’t fight for their rights when it’s necessary to do so, as a result, the child will be made to suffer injustice.

The case of Yunusa Dahiru (alias Yunusa Yellow), the alleged abductor of Ese Oruru in the year 2016 readily comes to mind – from the beginning of the case till when it died a natural death, the government was silent on the case.

It took the intervention of well-meaning Nigerians like Dr Oby Ezekwesili among other good-spirited Nigerians to secure the release of the girl from Yunusa’s custody, however, leaving Yunusa ‘discharged and acquitted’. 

As a result, the case of Hambali Musa is not a precedence, but he was encouraged to commit such act as previous offenders were not punished.  

This habit of letting perpetrators of crime off the hook must end and the right of the Nigerian Child MUST be respected.

Editor