Reflections on Children’s Day

Children's day celebration in Nigeria
| credits: File copy

On Wednesday March 21, 2012, Suliyat, 12, was busy hawking yam somewhere in Ajegunle. Her small frame shook under the weight of the load, as she moved away from the scorching sun to rest for awhile.

At the same time, young Teniola was attending a lesson at the Pinefield School in the Lekki area of Lagos. She was sitting in an airy and well-appointed classroom overlooking a beautiful garden.

Yet, far away in Minna, capital of Niger State, another youngster named Aliyu walked the streets with a bowl in one hand and begged alms. His desire at that moment was to survive the day on the kindness of Good Samaritans who find him worthy of their hard earned money.

These illustrations reflect the situation of thousands of children across the country. Beyond this, it is a fact that all children should have basic rights as outlined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Unfortunately the interpretation of the law has been forced into the hands of adults who may not be in the position to support these rights.

The world celebrates Children’s Day on Sunday, May 27, 2012. As a Child Rights Advocate, the question on my mind is this: are there scorecards for child rights?

The idea to set aside a special day for children around the world was originally mooted by Rubab Mansoor, a child in the eight grade, and adopted by the United Nations General Assembly and given global prominence in 1954.

In response to a call from the UN to member states to set aside a day to promote mutual exchange and understanding among children, initiate action to benefit, and promote world’s children and celebrate childhood, Nigeria chose May 27 as the official date to mark Children’s Day.

At the end of each term, report cards are issued to children who are fortunate to be in school. This method of evaluation enables parents and their children or wards to identify positive or grey areas in the education of the child and affords them the opportunity to plan for better results in the future.

Thus, the report card has become an audit tool for parents, as it helps them to determine the subjects in which their children need help and how to channel their abilities. Having come full circle with additional initiatives, this year’s event begs a few questions:

Are there report sheets or scorecards to measure our projects and programmes for children? Who issues or reviews the scorecard to keep us in line and enable us chart a course in the best interest of children?

Indeed, the Lagos State Government and a number of organisations have commendable initiatives and projects in the area of education, approved schools, training centres, recreational facilities, institutional care, and support to welfare organisations. Yet, the same government has been unable to fulfil many of its promises in this regard.

We have come to a point where we need dedicated and proactive referees to keep our leaders and stakeholders, especially the government and NGOs that receive huge grants on behalf of children, in line with performance scorecards, which can be publicly issued at reasonable intervals.

There are some awesome initiatives for and about children, such as the Yellow Card and Red Card projects. They are aimed at ensuring that children remain in their classrooms during school hours and advocating zero tolerance for child abuse, respectively. But, how well are these initiatives implemented, if implemented at all?

After calling the hotlines for the Yellow Card to no avail, this writer contacted a member of the Implementation Committee to report a case of hawking during school hours. After three weeks of trying to get an active response, the man responded with a mere promise to get in touch with other members of the committee.

In the United States, responses to issues of child abuse, or removal of an abused child, are timely. And the situation is often reviewed immediately. Thereafter, a decision based on the best interest of the child is arrived at within one month and a permanent humane placement, where required, is found for the child within 12 months.

In Nigeria, we have a long list of expectations from children. We remind them they are the leaders of tomorrow, counsel them on the ills of vices, and sermonise to them about the virtues of excellence at school and at play.

We brandish the Child Rights Act etched on colourful papers and we make endless promises. But while we are still at it, millions of children walk farther away from education into ignorance. Thousands die daily from parental and national neglect, as well as roam our streets, having fled from hunger, abuse, deprivation, exploitation and dehumanisation. Others are remanded in homes due to abandonment or whisked to prison for offences that are the result of a failed society.

Gradually children’s expectations are beginning to dwindle as they take their future in their hands, especially in Third World countries.

With the help of children, Cares Global Network, publisher of Willows Magazine, drafted the letter below:

Dear Elected Officer,

I am Anike, you do not know me, but I know you. I know you are a very important person who is well liked and respected by our people. I know you are going to be our leader. My mother said that you have promised to do a lot of things for us, and that Nigeria has a lot of money you only need to use the money well. I hope you have me and other children like me in your plan. I would like you to know that we need good schools, clean water, neat environment, nourishing food, quality health care and of course safe places to play. We also need laws to make sure our parents that bring us to this world and adults who adopt or teach us take good care of us and not abuse us. Our problems are many but there are easy solutions that don’t need plenty money, only that you want to do them. I couldn’t vote for you because I am a child. I couldn’t give you my support but you, yes you, can give me yours. Will you?

Thank you!!!

Anike

The letter was adapted from the UNICEF Columbia Campaign in 1994. Unfortunately we did not have the resources to promote it in the media but it remains a good advocacy tool to call our leaders to action:

Herbert Hoover, who is credited for saying, “Children are our most valuable natural resource”, also made a statement that we must guide against. He said, “Blessed are the young for they shall inherit the national debt”.

If we school our children on the debris of the quality education that we had or leave debts for our children, they will strike back by disrespecting our laws, liquidating our priced resources as they toe the line of corrupt leaders, and abandon us when we are too weak to speak for ourselves.

To forestall a breakdown, we need to proactively implement our promises. To ensure implementation, we need honest, objective, fact-based lay reports on the state of our children especially in areas of safety, health and education. This will provide a tool for effective collaboration to ensure that our children’s needs are being met. The scorecard will provide a practical foundation on which to track implementation, build initiatives and plan strategies as we work towards the goals of improving our national agenda for children.

This year’s Children’s Day event affords parents, guardians and mentors the opportunity to spend time with and truly participate in the celebration and appreciation of their children.

Omolola Famuyiwa is Project Director of Cares Global Network. She can be reached via willowsmagazine@gmail.com