The Nigerian Child and the Challenges of Insecurity

The Nigerian Child and the Challenges of Insecurity For us in Nigeria, the issue of child protection continues to remain on the front burner. Nigeria has ratified several legal instruments that codify child protection. In spite of the extant legal frameworks, systematic abuse still abound. The insecurity in the system also makes it especially challenging for children to grown under the best conditions. The discussion around security has become recently intense, so much so that it has drawn international concerns in the last six weeks- coming from insecurity recorded in Chibok, Borno State; where over 234 girls were kidnapped and presently remain untraceable on the continent, Africa. That insecurity affects children is not a statement in doubt. The reason being the majority of children across communities in Nigeria and Africa continue to suffer the psychological and emotional effects of insecurity. Using the Chibok experience as a case in point, we must realize the grave effects of their kidnap on their lives. For the few girls that escaped the hook of their abductors while in transit, their tale has been that of woes. It is predictable that the girls who are still in captivity and those that are already free will long continue to live in fear even when there is a promise of guaranteed security. These girls, majority of them may never remain in school. They may never go back to school and even if they did, they may never trust the system to support them. Insecurity is the state of being open to danger or threat, lack of protection. If we go by the definition of insecurity, we will agree that the term is fit for what children and adults continue to battle with in Nigeria. There is a present state of fear, especially for girls in the northern part of Nigeria who initially have had to handle being married off to husbands they may never have loved. Now the situation has come to a degenerated level, where they may eventually get engaged to terrors who continue to create an unfit nation-state, Nigeria. Quickly to be noted are the effects of insecurity on the nation. It has created a negative effect on the system for which children today will be its managers tomorrow. Sadly, we are crippling the system so much that these children may never have a grasp of it enough to handle its myriads of challenges. Readily coming to mind is the internal displacement of children when there are issues of insecurity sweeping across states. The issue of insecurity must not be assumed to be domiciled in the northern part of Nigeria, as there are equally a number of communities in the south of Nigeria manifesting a high level of insecurity, thus creating an unfair system for the children that grow in them. Violence continue to manifest across concrete spaces in communities, from schools to recreational centers, bus terminals and stops and these are spaces children continue to make use of daily. Insecurity as it concerns children in Nigeria is manifested in the area of domestic sexual abuse in children, abduction of children as well as torture and trafficking for sexual purposes and domestic servitude. Insecurity has been implicated in the scourge of economic stagnation and underdevelopment. Nigeria recently rebased its economic index and was named Africa’s largest economy as at 2014. Whilst this is a feat, it must be argued that development is nothing when the citizens, a high number of them being young people live in fear of being abused. Beyond establishing agencies, reviewing existing policies, and so forth, Nigeria must be willing to enforce the laws that are created to protect its citizens. Children must be adequately considered in this equation as deliberately ignoring them will mean planning for tomorrow’s big day without the celebrants! There are roles to be played by various stakeholders in ensuring that children are protected from the menace of insecurity in Nigeria. Several stakeholders have an input in this but we will limit this discuss to three key stakeholders: The Government The Civil Society and Associations The Media The government is the first agent that will ensure that the children are adequately protected from abuse. We link abuse, in the context of insecurity often to the lack of protection for children in the communities we live in. Beyond ensuring that there are laws that protect children, it must stand up to its responsibility of providing an enabling environment for the children. Laws must be enforced, and they must adequately ensure that culprits are not unduly shielded because they appear to be above the law. In most cases, it has been rumored that the insurgence in most part of the country are being sponsored by some top individuals in the system. While this has not been verified enough to use in our logic and argument, it will be important not to sweep this assumptions or speculations under the carpet. The state must ensure that its security option is not lingering and doing business as usual. It must work assiduously with the communities that presently do not find law enforcement agents as trustworthy. The time for the chair arm, sit to discuss approach is over. There must be a concrete move to action. The civil society groups have a corresponding role to ensure that the government is living up to its responsibilities, not just at its own time, but timely. This is exactly what we have experienced in the last few weeks, like several times in the past where civil society continue to raise the discourse around providing protection for children. Civil society groups must continue to engage stakeholders in the society, be they political leaders, religious heads or market women, for the purpose of ensuring that these have a buy-in into the debate of ensuring child protection is enshrined in the way we do business in Nigeria. It should not be business as usual. It should engender adequate provision of information for the citizens as they continue to grapple with the insecurity in the country. Mentoring programmes should be organised by civil society groups to help provide support to young people as they prepare for tighter insecurity challenges that we may face, if nothing is done to halt the menace of terrorism. Until recently, children issues were never front burner issues in the media. The media must take issues around child protect as governance issues are projected in the media. The long neglect of projecting the child angle and protection need have contributed to the long decay in the fight against many who abuse children. Insecurity should not be limited to abduction or violence outside the home. In some cases children have had to live in a porous and insecure home, where they are subjected to reckless abuse and infringement. The media should therefore devote a large portion of its reporting on children’s issues to ensure that they are adequately reported and support given. Summarily, Nigeria must continue to ensure that it provides support for its teaming young population. The consequences of ignoring the threat of insecurity will not just be fear and psychological trauma, but economic stagnation as well as a population large enough but unable to groom its growing population academically. Many will continue to avoid spaces where they feel danger is looming and riff, and this invariable will affect future gaps that will open as the present mature generation retire. We must act fast now to ensure that we are in the vanguard of protecting children in the face of insecurity in Nigeria.