Pathetic: Leah Sharibu And The Barbarism Of Children's Day Celebration.

LEAH SHARIBU AND THE NOTHINGNESS OF CHILDREN'S DAY CELEBRATION

Oko

By Ogar Emmanuel Oko

In a couple of days to come, being 27th May, our beloved nation— Nigeria shall be joining other comity of nations in celebrating the commemoration of Children's Day. That day is specially set aside to mark and remind all and sundry, all that pertaining to children.

Leah

While other nations shall be cerebrating in its actual sense, Nigeria will only mark the day for formality purpose as there's absolutely nothing to joy over with the children.

95 years ago since the Geneva Declaration of the Rights of the child was proclaimed. Mr. Eglantyne Jebb, a British social reformer and founder of the Save the Children Organization had earlier drafted a document for the promotion of child rights after his death on 17 December 1928 in Geneva, Switzerland which was later adopted by the League of Nations in 1924 and afterward extended in 1959  and 1989 by the United Nations.

These rights include but not limited to:
1. The child must be given the means requisite for  its normal development, both materially and spiritually.

2. The child that is hungry must be fed, the child that is sick must be nursed, the child that is backward must be helped, the delinquent child must be reclaimed, and the orphan and waif must be sheltered and succoured.

3. The child must be the first to receive relief in times of distress.
4. The child must be put in position to earn a livelihood, and must be protected against every form of exploitation.

5. The child must be brought up in the consciousness that its talent must be developed to the service of its fellow men.

In 2003, Nigeria adopted the Child Rights Act to domesticate the convention on the Rights of the child. The legislation was enacted at the National Assembly; but obviously became insignificant at the State Assemblies.

It's a common knowledge that the rights of every Nigerian child are guaranteed in the United Nations Universal Declaration on Human Rights; Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Banjul African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights. Sadly, these rights are of no effect on the health, socioeconomic, religion and political wellbeing of the Nigerian child.The rights of children in the Nigerian constitution are frequently not enforced when child's rights are trampled upon.

The Miracle Foundation enumerated 12 basic rights of a child as follows: 1. The right to live in a family environment; 2. The right to a stable, loving and nurturing environment; 3. The right to healthcare and nutrition; 4. The right to clean water, electrical power and safe environment; 5. The right to a quality education; 6. The right to equal opportunities; 7. The right to guidance from a caring adult; 8. The right to be heard and participate in a decisions that affect them; 9. The right to be prepared for active and responsible citizenship; 10. The right to be protected from abuse and neglect; 11. The right to spiritual development.

The aforementioned rights appeared to be functional outside the shore of Africa and certainly not in Nigeria. In Africa, our children are at the centre of what physicist calls magnetic field effect. They're at the centre of civil unrest; religion crisis, famine, drought and most forms of natural or man-made disasters. They're the most vulnerable. They're the vivid victims of political instability and governmental malfeasance. They form the colony of street urchins. They hawk articles from dawn to dust. They scavenge to earn a living. They're abused and molested as servants in servitude. The girl child is often raped by her so-called guardian or employer.

In the morning, the homeless and out of school would have pigs and dogs to contend with like the prodigal child for food. At noon, they've vultures to contend with if they must've access to the crumbs in the wheelie bin of the neighborhood. At night, most times — cold and mosquitos are their dependable or perhaps unwanted companions. They're readily drenched by June's downpour; panged by hunger and finally scorched by the biting blaze of sunlight in November.

We should only celebrate 27th May if and only if the following questions are answered: Are the hungry children in our land fed? Are the backward children helped? Are the delinquent children reclaimed? Are the orphans and waifs (homeless) sheltered and succoured? Are the children protected against being exploited? In times of distress, are the children considered first for relief? Is child labour a crime? Are the children given compulsory free universal basic education? Is government living up to expectations?

The girl child is the major target of kidnappers and bandits. She's kidnapped and have her maidenhead bruised and broken and later forced into unsolicited marriage. Chibok girls' travail is still fresh in our mind. We don't know if Leah Sharibu is dead or alive. But the government promises never to rest on her laurels until Leah and co are released.