Nathaniel Jonah
2 July 2009
opinion
Abuja — Olufela Johnson (not real name) strikes you as a normal six year old with the prospect of a bright future. He tells you gleefully that he wants to be a medical doctor in future to help eradicate or minimise the scourge of diseases in the world. But his dreams of being a medic might be stillborn. This is because, unlike other kids, Olufela is an orphan. His mother died while giving birth to him, while his father absconded when he discovered that his girlfriend (Olufela's mother) was pregnant for him, apparently to shy away from the financial responsibilities involved in fathering a child.
Olufela's story is not too different from Azuka Okafor, an orphan with the S.O.S. children's village in Lagos. He became an orphan when his 28 year old HIV infected mother gave up the ghost ,as a result of her inability to properly handle the dreaded illness. Incidentally, Azuka's father could not be traced as he appeared to have absconded. Olufela and Okarfor are some of the few incidences of orphans and abandoned children in Nigeria. A source at the Karu children's home told Daily Trust that "these children who don't have parents have demonstrated good academic potentials in their studies ,and are even better than their colleagues who are from privileged families. So you can imagine if they have both parents taking care of them, their performances would be even better." It was also gathered by this medium that the children at the orphanages are always at the mercy of their care givers, who are often times not parents. For instance, one of the caregivers at one of Abuja based orphanages disclosed "that for most of the time, the children are left alone to watch home videos, instead of being under the direct supervision and tutelage of their care givers. So all these things invariably add up to sharpen the psychological makeup of the children" A visit to the orphanage christened "poorest of the poor Anawin home" in Gwagwalada, on the fringes of Abuja, revealed an avalanche of destitute children whose parents have either died as a result of the HIV AIDS, or have simply absconded in the face of the financial requirements necessary to raise the children. One striking case at the centre is that of one of the children who has been paralysed from his waist down. This medium learnt that the paralysis was a result of his mother's unsuccessful attempts to get rid of the pregnancy through local concoctions. Recently, the president of Association for Reproductive and Family Health, Prof. Oladipo, disclosed at a Retreat organized by CCM Nigeria- Global Fund, that Nigeria has the highest number of orphans in the world, and disclosed that of the 8.5 million orphans in the country, two million of them were orphaned by the dreaded HIV/AIDS.
Only recently, a research conducted by the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) said that there are an estimated 17.5 million Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) in the country.
This represents about 25 percent of the nation's population figure of 140 million citizens. The research which covered the years 2006 to 2008, also took note of abandoned children, street urchins and children orphaned by the dreaded HIV/AIDS disease, among others.
The HIV/AIDS pandemic has also made the situation worse, leaving thousands of children orphaned, thus leading them to poverty, exploitation and exclusions. Today, an average Nigerian child lacks basic education, adequate primary health care, and a balanced diet, and a good home, thus making it difficult for government to achieve the much- talked about Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It is on this premise that we call on government at all levels to give priority to the protection of the Nigerian child, especially those orphaned by certain societies president of Association for Reproductive And Family Health, Prof. Oladipo Ladipo disclosed this at a recent retreat organized by CCM Nigeria- Global Fund. Ladipo who lamented that Nigeria has the highest number of orphans in the world, disclosed that of the 8.5 million orphans in the country, two million of them were orphaned by the dreaded HIV/AIDS.
In a chat with Daily Trust recently, an Abuja based child rights activist, Sam Okolona opined that "Indeed, the Nigerian state has been so unfair to those its leaders like to gleefully refer to as "leaders of tomorrow". Today's leaders appear unbothered about the plight of the future generation. Despite the fact that Nigeria is a signatory to the International Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, the rights of the child in the country are far from being respected. This fact is accentuated by the dilly-dallying over the Child Rights Act by most state Houses of Assembly. Very few states have adopted this Act that was passed by the National Assembly in 2003, and this has placed the rights of the Nigerian child in utter jeopardy. This crisis... is a struggle for survival economically, educationally, psychologically, socially and otherwise. Children, hapless as they are, become orphans by varied causes and are faced with multifaceted challenges such as caring for the sick or dying parent, raising younger siblings, loss of property and inheritance, loss of household income, medical expenses and absenteeism and possibly drop out from school and work."
Nigeria's National Policy on Population for Sustainable Development (NPPSD) put it succinctly that "as a group, children face particular problems of child abuse, child labour, street children, exploitation of Almajiri children, malnutrition, HIV transmission, special needs of the girl-child, declining school enrolments, high drop-out rates for boys in some areas, amongst others." This implies that behind every statistic in the various issues negatively affecting OVC, is the face of pain, waiting and wasting.
"But it is a well-known fact that the protection and promotion of the rights of the child is a sure ticket for a secure future for such a child and, by extension, for the nation itself. It could then be seen that the upsurge in the number of street urchins and kid beggars in most urban areas in the country; children without basic education; and those in one form of servitude or the other, is a sad mirror of the nation's present level of development and ability to meet future aspirations.
For, how would children in such a state of neglect be expected to be able to compete effectively with their counterparts elsewhere, who are better catered for by their countries? And yet, we are daily being regaled with how the government places a very high premium on the future. "Queried Thompson Falade, an Abuja based paediatrician. .
Investigations by Daily Trust reveal that orphans constitute about 10% of the 69 million children under 18 years in Nigeria. About 7 million children were orphans in 2003; number of children who are orphans from loss of parents to AIDS is 1.8 million (26% of all orphans in 2003); estimates indicate about 8.2 million children to be orphaned by 2010. These figures predict millions of Nigerian children being vulnerable to poverty, preventable diseases, physical and sexual abuse, trafficking, lack of educational opportunities, and disease.
The 1954 resolution of the United Nations over child rights related issues, has by and large catered for the welfare of the children worldwide, both in terms of promotion and protection. Every year the celebration of Children's Day provides an opportunity for reflection on the conditions of Nigerian children. The usual story repeatedly has been one of lamentation. The plight of the Nigerian Child is regrettable, and ultimately the non implementation of the Child Rights Act and the benefits therein.
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