The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Child Right Act

  • Foundation demands enforcement of Child Right Act

    Foundation demands enforcement of Child Right Act

    Israel Balogun, founder of Akhin Foundation for Homeless Youngsters, has appealed to the Federal Government to enforce the Child Right Act to enable children to have equal access to education.

    Balogun spoke with reporters during a train tour with rehabilitated teenagers.

    He said most of the children were taken from the streets while the trip was part of the exposure tours initiated by the organisation to give them a sense of belonging.

    Read Also: Lawmaker calls for implementation of Child Right Act

    “ These are the children we rehabilitated. We took them from the streets and gave them the opportunity to either go back to school or learn a vocation. Most of them have not seen a train before, let alone boarded it. Many have been on the streets, living under the bridge, scavenging.

    “So, we took them on a tour and use the opportunity to talk about child labour. Many of these kids have been exposed to child labour and abuse at a very young age. Many of them are used as housemaids,” he said.

  • Activist to lawmakers: criminalise street hawking, child labour

    Child rights activist Halima Alfa has called on federal and state lawmakers to enforce the Child Right Act and criminalise street hawking, child labour and other forms of violations of the girl child.

    Alfa, who is also a lawyer, in a statement yesterday, said: “If we must get out of the challenges we are facing now, the state and national lawmakers must enforce the provisions of the Child Right Act and criminalise street hawking, child labour, house girl syndrome, and other forms of violations of the girl child.

    “If we make the education of our girls a priority, we make the girls knowledgeable family planners, more competent mothers, more productive and better paid workers, informed citizens, confident individuals and skillful decision makers, then we have made the Nigerian work force formidable.”

    She called for the education of the girl-child in the country.

  • CSO decry worsening HIV prevalence in Kogi

    A Civil Society Organization (CSO), Sustainable Mechanism for Improving Livelihood and Household Empowerment (SMILE Project), has decried the prevalence of the dreaded Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in Kogi State.

    The state Coordinator, of SMILE Project, Mr. Kehinde Arowosegbe, on Tuesday in Lokoja, during an advocacy workshop organized for ministries, departments and agencies of governments (MDGs) on the “Right of Children, their Welfare and their Protection from Every Form of Abuse”, said that location makes it more vulnerable to the scourge.

    According to him: “Kogi is the only state that shares boundary with nine others, including the FCT”.

    He said that against the misgivings that HIV pandemic has reduced, it has not abated, despite efforts much has been to curtail its prevalence.

    He said that the SMILE Project team is working hard to sensitize the public on the need to tackle the HIV epidermic, because when the parents die the society would be left to carter for a retinue of orphans.

    He explained that Obajana in Lokoja Local Government host to the biggest cement factory in Africa is situated is in the lead in the incidence of HIV prevalence.

    Read Also: Kogi varsity students decry delayed results

    “Because of inter border transmission of the disease, Kogi is vulnerable. If we don’t tackle it now, it will affect many children, as the activities of trailer drivers at their park will have a multiplier effect”.

    He added, “Thank God for the Child Right Act in Nigeria, which was signed into law in 2002 and it was domesticated and signed into law in Kogi State in 2009.

    “Children are being abused, their rights being denied them. It could be sexual abuse or harassment”.

    He commended Kogi, “being one of the few states in Nigeria that has functional Family Court system.

    “In other states, children languish in prisons, which are not meant for them. This is because they don’t have the proper courts that are meant for them. Kogi is having family courts in more than 10 local governments.

    “Such Juvenile courts are all over the state, making it easy for cases relating to children to easily be dispensed with”, he said.

    The permanent secretary, ministry of women affairs and social development, Mr. Aiyedero Jethro said it is disheartening to note that there is high rate of child abuse in the state.

    He challenged parents, stakeholders and caregivers not to fold their arms and watch the social ill increase, and called for more collaboration and synergy on ways of protecting” every child in Kogi State.

  • Senate seeks rehabilitation of rescued Chibok girls

    Senate seeks rehabilitation of rescued Chibok girls

    …Pushes for domestication of Child Rights Act in 13 states

     

    The Senate Thursday asked the Federal Government to take steps to rehabilitate rescued Chibok school girl.

    The upper chamber said that government should provide adequate welfare, education and health services for the girls.

    It said that efforts should also be intensified to rescue the remaining girls who are still in Boko Haram captivity

    The resolutions were made following the adoption of a motion sponsored by Senator Binta Masi Garba and eight others tagged, “2017 Children’s Day Celebration”

    The motion was presented by Senator Biodun Olujimi, in the absence of Garba.

    The lawmakers who stressed the need to secure a better future for Nigerian children, mandated its committee on Women Affairs to liaise with the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development to domesticate the Child Rights Act in the thirteen states that are yet to enact it.

    in his remarks, urged Nigerians to always protect the rights of the Nigerian child.

    Saraki said as leaders, nothing is too big to sacrifice in ensuring that the future of the Nigerian child is secured.

    He said: “There is no gain saying that the children are the future leaders of this country. I want to state that nothing is too big to give to ensure that the Nigerian child is protected. I wish every Nigerian child a happy celebration.

    “We will ensure that the remaining states yet to domesticate the Child Right Act do so. During oversight, our committees must ensure that the relevant agencies implement programmes earmarked for the Nigerian child.”

    Senator Olujimi told the Senate that the infant mortality rate in country has risen to one million deaths per annum as a result of poor nutrition and inadequate medical facilities.

    The upper chamber noted that, despite the exemption granted to all pregnant women, the elderly and disabled under the National Health Act of 2014, this is not obtainable in practice, as children and pregnant women still pay for medical services in public hospitals.

    The Senate, further observed, without quoting any source, that 70 per cent of the people in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps are women and children who have been rendered orphans and widows.

    “The significant role of the Nigerian child in the nation’s development and the need to lay a good foundation and secure their future through the domestication and implementation of the Child Right Act, 2003, in every state of the federation.

    “A proper system of education and good health care are indispensable in making the Nigerian child relevant in the global scheme of things,” the motion, presented by Senator Olujimi further read.

     

     

  • NGO raises alarm over increasing cases of girl defilement

    Arrida Relief Foundation, a civil society organisation, on Monday pleaded with the Kaduna State Government to take urgent actions to stem the rising cases of defilement of underage girls.

    Hajiya Rabi Ibrahim, the founder of the foundation, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna that reported cases of rape had risen from an average of two to eight every week.

    According to her, the age of the victims range from between four and 10 years.

    “Many of the cases of defilement are not reported by the victims’ parents due to either fear of stigmatisation, lack of awareness, poverty or threat by suspected culprits.

    “Cases of defilement that we are prosecuting in various courts in the state are increasing at alarming rate.

    “Therefore, we call on the Kaduna State Government to declare a state of emergency because our children are no longer safe,’’ Ibrahim said.

    She appealed to the state government to give free medical examination and proper treatment to victims.

    “We are also seeking for speedy domestication of the Child Right Act in the state and free medical examination for victims of such cases,’’ she said.