A Nigeria fit for children!

Today is children’s day being marked worldwide. Hip hooray huh? I doubt that this post will be a very pleasant one! The thought of the state of the Nigerian Child, child being those below the age of 16 – 17, still of secondary school age and below, makes me sick to my stomach; and it has nothing to do with the cotexcin and paracetamol I just swallowed. The theme of this year’s children’s day “celebration” is “A Nigeria fit for Children: A call for renewal of Commitment”. I have in my hand a copy of the speech given by our President, the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces on occasion of the Children’s day, and it is the main catalyst of the outburst that is lurking behind my cool 60 word per minute typing.

His Excellency, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’adua in answering this theme, is quick to list a couple of policies adopted for the good of the Nigerian child, including UN Conventions on Child Rights in form of a Child Rights Act and the incorporation of MDG targets in NEEDS to be precise. He then offers reports from 2006 that show progress in school enrolment, gender parity and literacy levels; after which he dives into blaming poor performance in affairs concerning children on misappropriation of funds and corruption, calling them “ a negative social and moral environment in which today’s children are forced to grow”. He didn’t forget to say that the theme for this year’s celebration was chosen by a cross section of Nigerian Children. The rest of the address, contains his somewhat sappy interpretation of the perception children have of a Nigeria fit for Children . Afterwards, in the concluding paragraph, he pledges, solemnly, to advance the cause of children, while calling on fellow Nigerians and the children to assist.

Okay, my time to talk. Personally, I do not believe in open criticism of the ruling government. I believe that I have a responsibility to do what I can for my country which includes, but is not limited to, believing in the Nation’s leaders to take us to the promise land. Personally, I fear what bitter approximation of the Government of the day will do to my faith in the Nigerian project. As a result, some sort of childlike naivety has continually decorated my outlook on affairs in the country. However, today, reading that speech and watching news snippets on the nine O clock news about the celebration of Children’s day across the country, I felt something give within me.

I guess I can take mass corruption by public officers, carting away billions of naira without recourse. I figure executive manipulation of electoral votes and blatant fixing and removal of erstwhile elected officers does not jar my senses as much as the prospect of beguiling the next generation does. Please, Mr President, by all means, place your cronies in the most lucrative ministries, buy up international conglomerates or award over bloated let your political allies make 11 digit profits to soothe their crapulence, please organise crime!, but by no means should you take Nigerian children for a ride. I will present my opinion in bullet points for fear that out of passion, my words might exceed defensible limits. Here goes:

1. No Nigerian needs a document from the UN to tell him that there is much to be desired in catering to the needs of the Nigerian children in the short term and in the long term. To suggest that as a nation, we need international policy documents to tell us what to do to create a Nigeria fit for Children is as detestable as it is disheartening. Such documents should only form as control for existing structures rather than the blueprint for internal policy.

2. The lack of up to date information on valuable statistics regarding children points to executive apathy on issues concerning children. Such indifference is hardly masked by gathering the children and wards of highly placed government functionaries together in the name of Youth Fora.

   I was an all too willing participant in several of these events when I was younger, even winning a national essay on a Children’s day celebration such as this some nine or so years ago. My prize of thirty thousand naira was handed to my representative by the then president, Olusegun Obasanjo (I went to a family friends house to enjoy a warm lunch and a nap after the prison style treatment meted out to us at the NYSC camp in Kubwa, Abuja).

3. I believe our President should know that far more urgent to the average Nigerian youth is the lack of relevance that has been institutionalised across every milieu in our nation. In politics, old money is recycling itself resulting rather sadly in the vilification of national ideals which we all know were once fuelled by the radicalism of youth. It is only few organisations that have opened their arms to the vibrancy of youth and who seek to exploit that for common good. By ignoring this fact, it suggests to me that nothing is really going to be done to improve the lot of the Nigerian children. I pray not.

4. The president calls on the police and law enforcement to protect children from abuse and violence. This is noble, this is grand. But doesnt Mr president know that even in Europe, where kids can get their parents arrested for spanking them, there is still much to be desired by way of creating the right environment for unhampered child development? Really, who is fooling who? The government shows no interest in coming up with real solutions for the child right’s crisis.

5. The president said absolutely nothing about the educational sector within the country, save to give the government a pass mark for some cock and bull statistics from over 18 months ago. The President made no mention of the fact that our nation’s universities, in addition to being paralysed by ASUU palaver and internal politics, have the capacity to ill-educate a mere 20 percent of JAMB candidates. Aren’t the children of today going to be expected to go to those schools a few years from now?

I choose to stop here for now. I feel myself getting rather unnerved and if I keep this up, I may lose my objectivity, if I have not lost it already. Anyway, all I really want to say is that as a nation, our only hope for survival lies in the arms of the next generation. Good thing is this government loves children, but cynical me is led to believe that that is only so because children are gullible enough to believe in a system that does not care about them, but merely pretends to. At least they got 40 leaves exercise books in Benue State for their trouble.

I couldn’t be more passionate about creating a Nigeria fit for Children if I already had children of my own, but the people who do, don’t seem to care enough to make any real commitments! To this nation’s children, and my two lovely nephews who were too young to go out and get lied to, I wish you all a greater tomorrow. I pledge to do all within my power to make it better for you all. Yeah, because tomorrow is your future, even though for the powers that be, its just another day!