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Nigeria - Second periodic reports of States parties due in 1998: Addendum [2004] UNCRCSPR 15; CRC/C/70/Add.24 (17 September 2004)
UNITED NATIONS
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CRC
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Convention on the Rights of the Child
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Distr. GENERAL
CRC/C/70/Add.24 17 September 2004
Original: ENGLISH
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COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
CONSIDERATION OF
REPORTS SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIES
UNDER ARTICLE 44 OF THE
CONVENTION
Second periodic reports of States parties due in 1998
NIGERIA[*]
[30 January 2003]
CONTENTS
Paragraphs Page
List of acronyms 3
I. INTRODUCTION 1 - 12 5
II. GENERAL MEASURES OF IMPLEMENTATION 13 - 40 8
III. DEFINITION OF THE CHILD 41 - 62 15
IV. GENERAL PRINCIPLES 63 - 92 18
A. Nondiscrimination (art. 2) 63
- 72 18
B. Best interests of the child (art. 3) 73 - 82 19
C. The
right to life, survival and development (art. 6) 83 - 85 21
D. Respect for the views of the child (art. 12) 86 - 92 21
V. CIVIL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS 93 - 100 22
A. Name and nationality (art.
7) and preservation of
identity (art. 8) 93 - 97 22
B. Freedom of
expression (art. 13) 98 23
C. Freedom of association (art. 15)
99 23
D. Protection of privacy (art. 16) 100 23
VI. BASIC HEALTH AND WELFARE 101 - 134 23
A. Disabled children (art.
23) 101 - 102 23
B. Health and health services (art. 24) 103 -
115 24
C. Standard of living (art. 27) 116 - 134 26
VII. EDUCATION, LEISURE AND CULTURAL ACTIVITIES 135 -
161 29
A. Education (arts. 28 and 29) 135 - 156 29
B. Leisure, recreation and cultural activities (art. 31) 157 - 161 34
VIII. SPECIAL PROTECTION MEASURES 162 35
A. Children in situations of emergency 162 - 165 35
1. Children in
armed conflict (art. 38) 162 - 163 35
2. Refugee children (art. 22)
164 - 165 36
B. Children in conflict with the law 166 -
171 36
1. The administration of juvenile justice (art. 40)
166 36
2. Institutions and training of relevant officers 167 - 171 36
List of acronyms
ANPPCAN African Network on the Prevention and
Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect
ARI Acute respiratory infections
BFHI Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative
CBO Community-Based Organization
CRIB Child Rights Implementation Bureau
CSPD Child Survival, Protection and Development
CYPL Children and Young Persons Law
ECE Early Childhood Education
ECOWAS Economic Community of West African States
EDR End-Decade Review
FGN Federal Government of Nigeria
IMCI Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses
IMR Infant mortality rate
IPEC International Programme for Elimination of Child Labour
LGA Local government area
MCH Maternal and child health
MICS Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey
NCFN National Committee on Food and Nutrition
NCW National Commission for Women
NCRIC National Child Rights Implementation Committee
NDHS National Demographic and Health Survey
NEMA National Emergency Management Agency
NGO Non-governmental organization
NID National Immunization Day
NPA National Plan of Action
NPC National Population Commission
NPI National Programme on Immunization
NCR National Refugee Commission
ORT Oral rehydration therapy
PHC Primary Health Care
PONC Progress of the Nigerian Child
U5MR Under5 Mortality Rate
UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund
UBE Universal Basic Education
I. INTRODUCTION
- Nigeria
is a signatory to both the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African
Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the
Child. The Convention on the Rights of
the Child was ratified by the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) in 1991.
- In
October 1994, the FGN inaugurated the National Child Rights Implementation
Committee (NCRIC) with a charge to popularize the two
Conventions. The NCRIC
was subsequently decentralized to State and local government levels. In
September 2000, Nigeria became one
of the first African countries to sign the
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of
children,
child prostitution and child pornography and also the Optional
Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict.
- The
NCRIC submitted the initial report under article 44 on the implementation of the
provisions of the Convention in 1995 and defended
it in 1996. The first
progress report is due for submission in 2000, and at present is in its last
stages of preparation.
- The
main issues highlighted in the first report include:
- The
disadvantaged position of the girl child;
- The
establishment of the Family Support Programme;
- The
establishment of a mechanism for effective sensitization of the public on the
rights of the child;
- Constraints on
child rights implementation, which were grouped under sociocultural and
traditional practices as well as economic and
political factors.
- Following
the Nigerian submission, the Committee on the Rights of the Child issued the
following important observations:
- Commendation of
the establishment of both the National Human Rights Commission and the National
Child Rights Implementation Committee;
- The persistence
of certain harmful traditional practices and customs that have had a negative
bearing on the enjoyment of the rights
guaranteed under the Convention;
- The apparent
absence of pro-active measures to combat discrimination against disabled
children, children belonging to ethnic minorities
and children born out of
wedlock;
- The problems of
violence against children and the physical abuse of children in the family, in
schools, in the community and in society;
- The
non-recognition of social support to families, especially female-headed
singleparent households. Indeed, the humiliating experience
of female single
parents heads of household often compelled such women to falsify their marital
status in order to have access to
basic services;
- Current
legislation with regard to the administration of juvenile justice and
institutionalization of children does not appear to
conform to the principle and
provisions of the Convention;
- The low age of
criminal responsibility for children in Nigeria, put at 7 years, was a serious
concern to the Committee, especially
as children even under the age
of 7 years can be brought before the
courts.
These concluding observations have been noted by
Government and are highlighted here in order to provide the context for
reviewing
progress made by Nigeria at the end of the decade.
Action taken at national and other levels
- As
a demonstration of its commitment to the implementation of the Convention,
Nigeria took the necessary steps to fulfil the requirements
of paragraphs 34 and
35 of the World Summit Plan of Action by preparing a National Plan of Action
(NPA) which detailed activities
to be implemented towards the attainment of the
set goals. The NPA also acted as a catalyst for the preparation of plans of
action
by the lower tiers of Government at State and local levels.
- The
support of the mass media was won towards supporting the provisions of the
Convention. Following the statement of commitment
signed in 1992, various media
messages on the provisions of the Convention are being regularly featured on
radio and television,
and in magazines and newspapers. The provisions of the
Convention have now been simplified and translated into the three major Nigerian
languages. The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child has been
ratified.
- The
country has endeavoured to establish mechanisms for the regular collection,
analysis and publication of data required to monitor
relevant social indicators
relating to the well-being of children and which record the progress being made
towards the goals set
forth in the NPA. To date, four major surveys have been
conducted in the 1990s. There were three major surveys in the 1990s - the
National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) 1990, the Multiple Indicator
Cluster Survey (MICS) 1995, and the Multiple Indicator
Cluster Survey (MICS)
1999. Each of these surveys collected data on a wide number of indicators from
a nationally representative
sample of households. A fourth survey, the NDHS
1999, was just being published at the time of preparation of this report. These
were supplemented with data from other sources, including specialized surveys
such as the HIV/AIDS sentinel site Seroprevalence Survey
and Active Routine
Surveillance Reports, for example, of cases of Guinea worm.
- The
country has re-examined its current status of emergency preparedness. Agencies
like the National Refugees Commission (NRC), National
Emergency Management
Agency (NEMA) and the new Ministry of Cooperation and Integration in Africa
alongside several United Nations
agencies and NGOs are taking up the
challenges posed by emergencies. The United Nations agencies have
responded in two dimensions:
(i) a United Nations working group on emergency
preparedness and response has been established; and (ii) the United Nations
agencies
responded practically during the Kaduna communal crises and the fire
disasters in the Niger Delta.
- The
FGN has continued to enjoy the cooperation and collaboration of all relevant
United Nations agencies and organs as well as other
international
institutions in ensuring the achievement of the goals and objectives of the NPA.
Such support has proved invaluable
in various areas, including the preparation
of the NPA in 1992, the consolidated analysis of the plans of action and their
regular
monitoring and evaluation, organization for review and meetings towards
achievement of set goals, the provision of expert advice,
the conduct of
national surveys and the preparation of the EDR report.
- The
National Commission for Women (NCW), which was established in 1989 and
replicated at the State and local government levels, inaugurated
a National
Working Committee on Child Welfare in March 1993. In recognition of the
increased pressure for the implementation of
various Economic and Social Council
resolutions and United Nations conventions, the NCW was upgraded to the Ministry
of Women’s
Affairs and Social Development in 1995. The Department of
Child Development is now located within the Ministry and is largely responsible
for the implementation and monitoring of the provisions of the Convention.
- Other
avenues to publicize issues concerning the Convention by government agencies
include the following:
- The
establishment of the Child Rights Information Bureau (CRIB) in the Ministry of
Information. The CRIB, in cooperation with the
NCRIC, publishes the Progress of
the Nigerian Child (PONC) with data from the Federal Office of Statistics. The
PONC is a Nigerian
version of the State of the World’s Children
published by UNICEF;
- The formation of
child rights clubs in schools;
- The
establishment of regional monitoring centres for child rights violations by the
African Network on the Prevention and Protection
against Child Abuse and Neglect
in Nigeria (ANPPCAN);
- The celebration
of annual events such as: Children’s Day (27 May), National Youth Day (12
August), the Day of the African Child
(16 June), International Women’s Day
and the Day of the Family. These usually provide the opportunity for advocacy
and awareness
campaigns. These events also provide the opportunity for media
dialogue between media houses/practitioners and relevant government
ministries/agencies in order to raise awareness of the provisions of the
Convention;
- Regular
workshops organized by the Federal Ministry of Women’s Affairs and Youth
Development for policy makers on the provisions
of the Convention and its
implementation;
- In October 2000,
the Senate held a public hearing on the state of promotion and protection of
human rights in Nigeria, including child’s
rights and the rights of
women;
- The National
Human Rights Commission held a seminar on “Appraisal of international
human rights instruments” in November
2002.
II. GENERAL MEASURES OF IMPLEMENTATION
Reviews of reservations
- In
1991 Nigeria ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child without any
reservations. Therefore, the issue of maintaining
or an intention of
withdrawing the reservation does not arise.
Measures adopted to bring national legislation and practice
into conformity
with the Convention
- Since
1993, there has been a draft Children’s Decree, which under this
democratic dispensation is a draft Children’s Bill.
The bill has reached
the National Assembly, having been adopted by the Federal Executive Council, and
it is hoped that it will soon
be signed into law. This draft bill took into
consideration the provisions of the Convention and as such the rights guaranteed
in
the Convention are well articulated in the draft bill.
- Furthermore,
some States on their own have promulgated laws that protect children. For
example, a bill has been passed by the Ebonyi
State Government to ensure that
children are not withdrawn from school. In Anambra State, a bill has also been
passed making it
an offence for any child of school age to hawk during school
hours, while the Edo State House of Assembly has passed a bill banning
prostitution in Edo State. The States of Niger and Sokoto also have bills
discouraging the withdrawal of girls from schools.
- In
addition, several motions and bills are receiving concluding attention at the
National Assembly. For example, Mrs. Adeyemi of
the IleOluji constituency of
Oyo State has sponsored a bill on female genital mutilation. Chief Mrs.
Titilayo Ajanaku, the Special
Adviser to the President on Women Affairs,
sponsored a bill making child marriage an offence, and only recently the wife of
the VicePresident,
Mrs. Titi Abubakar, submitted a bill against child labour,
trafficking, prostitution and sex trade in girls. Though the draft bill
has not
been signed into law, the initiative taken by the State and some influential
individuals are in consonance with the provisions
of the Convention.
- Other
relevant State legislation includes:
(a) The recently passed Edo
and Delta State laws prohibiting circumcision. In Edo State the law is
cited as Female Circumcision
and Genital Mutilation (Prohibition) Law 1999.
Offenders include those who perform the operation. The punishment is a fine of
up
to N 1,000 or 6 months’ imprisonment;
(b) The Girl-Child Marriage and Female Circumcision (Prohibition) Law 2000
of Cross River State. This law seeks to prohibit some
harmful traditional
practices against women and girls that are prevalent in the communities in the
State;
(c) A law abolishing female circumcision and practices connected thereto was
recently enacted into law by the Rivers State House
of Assembly;
(d) Ebonyi and Akwa Ibom States have bills before their respective Houses of
Assembly on the abolition of harmful traditional practices
against women and
children as well as on female genital mutilation, early marriage, etc.;
(e) Kebbi State has passed a law banning street hawking by girls of school
age in the State;
(f) Sokoto State has banned begging, while in Rivers State a task force to
get children off the street during school hours is in
place.
The status of the Convention in domestic law
- With
regard to the status of the Convention in domestic law, section 12 (i) of
the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, provides that
“no treaty between the Federation and any other country shall have the
force of law except to the extent to which any such treaty has been enacted into
law by the National Assembly”. From this,
it is obvious that since the
Convention has not been incorporated into domestic law, it has no status in the
country. However, the
National Assembly, by virtue of section 12 (2) of
the Constitution, may make laws for the Federation or any part thereof with
respect to matters not included in the Exclusive Legislative List for
the
purpose of implementing a treaty.
- Thus,
a bill for all acts of the National Assembly passed pursuant to the provisions
of section 12 (2) of the Constitution shall not be presented to the
President for assent, and shall not be enacted unless it is ratified by a
majority of all the Houses
of Assembly in the Federation. Therefore all that is
required is to propose a bill that will transform the Convention into domestic
law, as is usual with treaties already signed and ratified by the country. This
mode will be easier than signing into law a draft
Children’s
Bill.
Provisions adopted at the national level conducive to the
realization of the rights
of the child
- The
Bill on Female Genital Mutilation has gone through the lower house, and will go
through the upper house before the President can
sign it into law. Also, the
Children’s Bill has been adopted by the Federal Executive Council.
Furthermore, the President
of the Federal Republic of Nigeria signed, on 7
September 2000, the two Optional Protocols to the Convention. The African
Charter
has been ratified by the Government and the relevant agencies are
following up with the implementation. Also, the Bill on Child
Trafficking,
Child Labour, Child Pornography and Sex Trade in Girls, sponsored by Mrs. Titi
Abubakar, has passed the second reading
and is about to be passed by the lower
House of the National Assembly.
Judicial decisions that applied the principles and
provisions of the Convention
- In
Mojekwu v. Mojekwu 1997, a case of inheritance in the Nnewi culture of
Anambra State, Nigeria, the home State of the parties to the suit, the
court
of appeal held that a girl child who is a direct offspring of a man
who dies without male issue can inherit to the exclusion of other
relations.
Traditionally, the estate had gone to the man’s nephew or brother, so
this is an innovation in the customary law
of the Nnewi people. In another
suit, in Lagos, 11 children who were under age when they
committed murder were pardoned because
they were under age when the crime was
committed. Recently, at the Otokoto trial in Owerri, a child armed
robber was not condemned to death but was sent to the “borstal”
section of the Port Harcourt
prison being under age. (By
“borstal” is meant that even though the child is confined in prison,
he is not necessarily
kept under the same conditions/environment with hardened
criminals.)
Remedies available in case of violation of rights recognized
by the Convention
- The
laws that protect children exist but are scattered in different laws. Thus,
child victims of crimes are given protection under
the Criminal Code, the Penal
Code, the Labour Act, the UBE Act, the Beverages and Alcoholic Drinks Act, the
Cinematographic Act,
the various infants laws of the States, the Evidence Act,
the Contract Law, the Matrimonial Cause Act, the Wills Act, the Age of Customary
Marriage Law, the Births and Deaths Registration Act, the Children and Young
Persons Law, the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, etc.
Thus, child protection provisions abound in our laws, even though they are not
contained
in a single document such as the draft Children’s
Bill.
Steps taken or envisaged to adopt a comprehensive national
strategy for children
- Pursuant
to the 1990 World Summit for Children, Nigeria prepared a comprehensive National
Plan of Action (NPA), which was also adopted
at State level. An
interministerial committee with the support of UNICEF, is implementing this
National Plan of Action for Children.
In addition to the NPA, there are also
several plans of action by the various sectors, e.g. health, education,
information, etc.,
addressing specific issues of child welfare, for example,
baby-friendly initiatives, child-friendly schools, national programmes
on
immunization, poverty eradication programmes, universal basic education, the
child-friendly cities initiative, setting up of legal
aid centres for women and
social services at the Federal level in 1977 by the Federal Ministry of Women
Affairs and the setting up
of same in the States. Furthermore, a Directorate on
Child Rights NGOs has been set up, a National Council of Child Rights NGOs
has
also been set up, and there is a draft national policy on children in the
making. Recently, a National Summit for Children was
held to develop a
comprehensive national policy and strategy for the implementation of the
Convention in Nigeria.
- The
Education Master Plan, approved in 1994, has not been fully implemented. This
plan, when implemented, would make universal basic
education available in
Nigeria. This underscores the necessity for follow-up and monitoring of
policies once adopted.
Existing or planned national, regional and local mechanisms
for the implementation
of the Convention
- Following
the Committee’s demand for an institutional framework for the
implementation of the Convention at country level, Nigeria
established the NCRIC
based in the Child Development Department of the Federal Ministry of Women
Affairs and Youth Development.
The Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Youth
Development has tried to implement child rights down to the grass roots. The
States
have also been mandated to establish child rights monitoring centres
in the States as well as child rights clubs in the schools.
Furthermore, they
are to establish child rights implementation committees at LGA level. The
monitoring centres will ensure implementation
of the Convention from a watchdog
angle while the school child rights clubs will help spread awareness. Virtually
all 36 States
have such committees except Kano, Kogi, Nassarawa and Lagos
States. Some States, for example Imo State, Abia State and Ebonyi State,
have already established committees in some LGAs. Efforts in this regard are
continuing. About half of the States have also established
child rights
monitoring centres while over 3,000 school child rights clubs have been
established across the nation. These efforts
have also been supported by NGOs
and others that, also on their own, have child rights monitoring activities in
various States of
the Federation. UNICEF is also a collaborating partner in
this process.
- In
addition to the above-mentioned efforts, there are other frameworks for child
rights implementation. For example, there exists
an interministerial committee
at national and State level comprising mainly the Ministries of Health,
Education, Works and Housing,
Information, Labour and Productivity, Water
Resources, Agriculture and Planning that implements the National Plan of Action
mentioned
above. Furthermore, there is the National Council on Women Affairs
and Youth Development, which is the highest policy-making body
on children. The
Council, which includes the States, meets at least two times a year. Also,
there is a regular meeting of the directors
of child development from the
Federal and State ministries of women affairs and youth development.
- A
number of actions taken by the Government have had far-reaching effects on
Nigerian children. The first is the UBE, requiring every
child to attend
school, which is free, up to junior secondary level. The second is the
Poverty Eradication Programme, which establishes
institutions that provide loans
and microcredit to the poor as well as skill-acquisition training and other
measures of empowerment
to families to lift them out of poverty. A lot of
resources and political will have been channelled towards the National Programme
on Immunization which several donor agencies have supported. Finally, with the
new democratic order, wives of the chief executives
at national, State and local
government levels have become involved in independent non-governmental work.
The wife of the President,
Chief Stella Obasanjo, has established the Child Care
Trust specifically to take care of the needs of disabled children. The wife
of
the Vice-President, Chief Titi Abubakar, has an NGO fighting for children
trafficked into prostitution and labour, while virtually
all the wives of State
governors have their own NGOs fighting against one social injustice or another,
including those involving
children.
- These
outpourings of NGO activities have motivated the Federal Ministry of Women
Affairs and Youth Development to establish an NGO
technical support network
committee comprising 25 NGOs, not yet including those of the wives of chief
executives mentioned above.
The network is aimed at stimulating and
coordinating various efforts on child rights by NGOs in Nigeria as well as
monitoring and
evaluating progress achieved in these sectors. The establishment
of social mobilization technical committees at Federal, State and
local
government levels as well as the establishment of child rights information
bureaux at Federal, State and local government levels
have assured the spread of
the Convention.
- In
all these efforts mentioned above, poor implementation has been identified as
the problem; therefore, greater effort and effectiveness
are needed in this
area. There is also need for greater participation of civil society to ensure
effective participation as well
as monitoring activities and programmes to
ensure effective implementation.
Initiatives taken in cooperation with civil
society
- The
following initiatives have been taken in cooperation with civil
society:
(a) Development of a draft Child Development Policy and
the organization of children’s summits and camps;
(b) The NGO Technical Support Network assures NGO mobilization for children;
the establishment of a National Council for NGOs; mobilization
of universities
and research institutions and individuals to carry out studies on female genital
mutilation; raising the level of
awareness of policy makers of international
conventions on Women and Children, etc.;
(c) Fund-raising by the private sector, e.g. United Bank for Africa,
Sheraton, British Airways, embassies, etc.;
(d) Providing skills and microcredit to poor families, especially women,
e.g. Peoples Bank, Community Bank, Agricultural Development
Bank,
etc.; in order to address scarcity of data, several studies in collaboration
with universities, NGOs and research institutions
were commissioned in several
sectors to establish baseline data to serve as a point of orientation in future
monitoring;
(e) The Ministry of Women Affairs and Youth Development in developing a
manual for juvenile justice administration took into consideration
the
provisions of the Convention, the African Charter and the Beijing Rules.
Measures taken to ensure implementation at national,
regional and local levels using indicators
- There
has been a conscious effort in the country, both at Federal and State levels, to
set up a budget bearing children in mind:
26 per cent of the national
budget was allocated to children in response to their needs as estimated by the
Government. However,
the proportion of the State budgets devoted to education
varied from State to State. Some could provide adequate percentages while
others could not, in line with their perceived needs. Education was given the
highest priority in Niger State. The others were:
Benue State -
18-22 per cent of its budget allocated to education;
Zamfara - 26 per cent;
Sokoto - 25 per cent;
Katsina - 30 per cent;
Akwa Ibom - 15.5 per cent;
Bayelsa - 12.5 per cent;
Cross River - 19.6 per cent;
Delta - 4.8 per cent;
Edo - 14.5 per cent;
Rivers - 17 per cent;
Yobe - 70 per cent;
Bauchi - 50 per cent.
- This
is the area where more effort should be made to carry out an adequate budget
analysis to determine the proportions spent on children
and ensure the effective
use of resources. Bringing this to the consciousness of the Federal and State
Governments, which has been
agreed upon at the recently concluded Nigerian
Children’s Summit, will be a first step in creating awareness and putting
pressure
on the various Governments to comply and do more than they are doing at
present. Secondly, the Poverty Eradication Programmes have
been of tremendous
help.
- Poverty
Eradication Programmes and UBE appear to be promising. Effort should be made to
get data on disaggregated budgetary allocations
for education from the States,
both at primary and secondary school levels.
International cooperation in the implementation of the
Convention
- UNICEF
and Nigeria have a five-year programme of cooperation. There is usually
adequate mobilization in the formulation of the plan
and in the mid-term review.
There are also mid-term and annual reviews of the various sectors such as
Health, Basic Education, Urban
Basic Services/Children in Need of Special
Protection Measures. Besides this effort by UNICEF, there is also bilateral
cooperation
between the Federal Government and the World Bank, UNDP, WHO
and international donor agencies. A case in point is the financial
support
received from these agencies on the National Programme on Immunization (NPI).
Also the Government of the United States of
America is supporting the IPEC
Programme with $800,000 while other donors have promised their financial
support. Some foreign countries
and donor agencies have either given support or
promised support for the First Lady’s Child Care Trust Programme for
Disabled
Children. ILO has employed a National Manager for the IPEC Programme
and is joining hands with the Federal Ministry of Employment,
Labour and
Productivity as well as the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Youth
Development, which has inaugurated a steering
committee to implement IPEC
in Nigeria. Furthermore, the United States of America has provided 9
million dollars to prosecute agents
of child trafficking in West Africa,
including Nigeria.
- NGOs
are being supported at various levels by international donor agencies.
Measures taken to make the principles of the Convention
widely known
- The
Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Youth Development, through the National
Child Rights Implementation Monitoring Committee
(NCRIC), has published a
simplified edition of the Convention in order for it to be understood by adults
and children alike, and
has circulated it widely throughout the country.
Translations have been made into three main
- Nigerian
languages and circulated widely, particularly in the north-east, south-east and
southwest. Further translations have also
been undertaken for the south-south
and north-west geopolitical zones. State Governments have been urged to look
into this question.
- Actions
taken to spread awareness of the Convention in Nigeria include:
- Awareness
creation through drama, videos, jingles, media missions, posters, calendars,
year planners, leaflets, workshops, lectures,
sensitization of local government
chairmen, creation of children’s parks in the Federal Capital Territory
and in some States,
etc.;
- Establishment of
child rights clubs in several Nigerian schools with the provision of child
rights kits. The main objective of child
rights clubs is to make children aware
of the provisions of the Convention. Although the Convention has not yet been
included in
the school curriculum, there is a proliferation of rallies for
children as well as organization of sensitization of Parent-Teacher
Associations
and seminars for other target groups organized by several governmental and
non-governmental organizations. The Children’s
Day celebration and the
celebration of the Day of the African Child are also occasions to organize
debates and radio discussions
for children;
- There have also
been several seminars and workshops for various professional groups -
public officials and operators of the juvenile
justice system, social workers,
lawyers, magistrates, judges, prison wardens, police - to ensure that the
Convention is widely known.
The NGOs have been mobilized and empowered to
individually contribute to the present report;
- Several
workshops and seminars have been organized targeting specifically members of the
mass media and publishing agencies. The
participation of children in Nigeria
has hardly gone beyond tokenism, but some efforts at increasing participation
are being undertaken
by governmental and non-governmental organizations.
Children are made to participate in the activities of Children’s Day and
are increasingly invited to national and regional seminars to organize their own
forums. They also participate in activities of
young farmers’ clubs,
child rights clubs, etc. Children’s parliaments are beginning to be
organized in different parts
of the country.
Measures undertaken to make reports widely available to the
population
- Nigeria
has produced only one report (the initial report). The present report is the
second periodic report. The initial report
as well as the concluding
observations were printed and widely circulated by the National Child Rights
Implementation Committee.
No occasion has been spared at seminars, conferences
and public activities to circulate these two documents. Following the two
documents, the NCRIC debated the concluding observations and made proposals to
improve the present report, as described below.
- Several
studies were carried out to ensure the generation of more data on children for
this report. Nationwide surveys on HIV/AIDS
orphans, child labour and
trafficking were also carried out. A National Summit on Children was held with
participation from the
State, sectoral ministries and agencies, national and
international organizations, United Nations agencies, donor and funding
organizations,
academia, the childcare profession, children and other
stakeholders in child survival and development. Its theme was “The
Nigerian child: challenges of the 21st century, a new commitment”. The
Summit offered the Ministry of Women Affairs and Youth
Development an
opportunity to debate various aspects of the implementation of the Convention in
Nigeria with this report in mind.
The concluding observations and the initial
report were also made available to the members of the Houses of Assembly at
Federal
and State levels, as well as to the media houses in Nigeria. Also, a
recent study carried out by the Centre for Women Development,
in conjunction
with UNICEF, on awareness of policy makers at the zonal and Federal levels
of the major international conventions,
protocols and charters Nigeria has
entered into showed that there is an appreciable level of awareness of the major
conventions,
the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. However
even there, a
lot of effort needs to be made to achieve complete awareness. For other
conventions and protocols, there is an appreciable
level of ignorance.
- The
present periodic report contains input from the various levels of government -
local, State and Federal - through the meetings
of the National Social
Development Council for Child Rights, directors of Child Development Departments
of the Federation and States
and NGOs.
III. DEFINITION OF THE CHILD
- In
Nigeria, there is no uniform definition of a child. The available definitions
differ and depend on the purpose for which the definition
is required. We
should mention here that laws affecting children are scattered in different
legislation such as the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which
provides that you can vote at 18 years of age but cannot stand for election.
The Matrimonial
Causes Act puts the age of maturity at 21, whereas the
Immigration Act stipulates that any person below 16 years is a minor, while
for
the purpose of criminal responsibility the Criminal Code provides for 7-12.
- For
legal and medical counselling without parental consent, no specific age is
stipulated. Culturally, throughout Nigeria there is
a bond between parents and
children until they die.
- For
medical treatment or surgery without parental consent, the stipulated age is
21.
- The
end of compulsory education is 15 years of age, but some children are still in
school at 18 years.
- For
admission to employment, including hazardous work, the law recognizes
apprenticeship at 16 years and 18-21 for regular jobs.
- The
age of marriage is a highly controversial issue and it varies from place to
place. In northwest and northcentral Nigeria, 14
years is the age of marriage.
In the northcentral part the age of marriage is between the second and third
menstruation, while in
the southern States it varies from 16 to 18 years of age.
- The
age of sexual consent is 18 in most States. However, in two States of the
south-south zone, the age is 13. In the west zone,
the age of marriage varies
from 16 to 19 years, but in the north, particularly in the north-east where the
Islamic religion is widely
practised, sexual consent is not allowed.
- On
the issue of voluntary enlistment in the armed forces, the stipulated age is 18
years. However, various armed forces divisions
have their own schools where
minor cadets are admitted and trained. However, beyond parade and disciplinary
training, the children
are not involved in military activities. There is no
conscription of children into the armed forces in Nigeria. Regarding child
participation in hostilities, several inter-ethnic, interreligious and
intercommunity clashes and border disputes have affected adversely
children who,
among others, are in one way or the other involved in hostility. In some parts
of the northern region, Almajiri children
have been used to foment trouble and
act as human shields in such situations. Usually the children who are involved
are those who
are tough enough to withstand what they see.
- The
age of criminal responsibility in most States is 18, in line with the
Convention, but in some States the age is still below 18,
for example 7-12 years
in the south-east, 12-18 years in the northcentral and 14-21 years in the
north-west. In the draft Children’s
Bill, which is at its final stage of
adoption in the House of Assembly, the age of criminal responsibility is no
longer important
as children are not liable for their actions. The accent is
placed on resocialization. Such children are declared in need of care
and
protection and appropriate measures are undertaken for their care.
- On
the issue of deprivation of liberty of children in conflict with the law, the
Children and Young Person Law, which is currently
in force, provides adequately
for the needs of children deprived of their liberty following criminal actions.
Such children can
be placed in remand homes, borstal institutions and approved
schools. The issues of asylum-seeking children do not arise in Nigeria.
However, children go into the homes as from 7 years old.
- Children
are not sentenced to life imprisonment or condemned to death. There have been
cases of child robbers who eventually were
not shot along with others.
- With
regard to giving testimony in court, a child, under section 183 of the Evidence
Act, can give evidence but not in open court, only in the judges’
chambers, and the court must be satisfied that the child understands
the
questions put to him and can answer. However, the evidence of the child, by
reason of his tender age, usually requires corroboration
(as in sexual offences)
in both civil and criminal cases.
- Lodging
of complaints and seeking redress before the court or other relevant authority
without parental consent is not culturally
acceptable as litigants become
enemies for life after the litigation. It is therefore preferred that aggrieved
parties exhaust other
means of settlement before resorting to a court of law. A
child cannot sue at law but either his/her parent or some other adult
can speak
for him.
- Children
do participate as much as possible in administration and judicial proceedings
affecting them, as is provided for by the juvenile
justice system and the Young
Persons Act.
- On
giving consent to change of identity, including the name, family relations and
adoption, the age for change of name is 21 except
upon marriage, but on the
issue of adoption, when the child is young he/she has no say until he/she is old
enough, and this depends
on the adopter. The issue of having access to
information concerning the biological family is at the discretion of the parent
and
the required information can be given at any age.
- There
are provisions for inheritance at birth, but in some States of the Federation,
tradition and religion still deprive girl children
and women the right of
inheritance. For instance, in the Ibo culture, only male children inherit while
in some parts of the south,
women or girls do not inherit, they being objects of
inheritance themselves. Under Islamic law, an adopted child cannot inherit
except by a will, and he gets only one-third of the estate of the deceased, even
where a will gives him more. Furthermore, where
there is a dispute over
paternity in a divorce under Islamic law, the child cannot inherit from the
father but he can inherit from
the mother.
- For
the purpose of transactions in property, the person must have attained the age
of 21.
- Regarding
creating or joining associations, the rights are guaranteed in the Constitution
but the norm is to form or join these associations under parental guidance or
professional and/or religious supervision. For the
purpose of choosing a
religion or attending a religious school, the age of 18 years obtains in
most States in terms of choice of
religion except in the Islamicdominated States
of northern Nigeria. In practice, the child’s religion remains that of
his/her
parents until he/she attains majority or gets married and leaves home.
On his own, he may be able to choose his own religion but
faces stiff opposition
from his parents.
- Children
are not encouraged to consume alcohol and other substances, but alcohol is
totally forbidden in Islam.
- There
are no disparities in the State with regard to the minimum age for employment
and compulsory schooling. However, in case of
any disparity, the age of
employment is usually higher than that of compulsory education, thereby ensuring
that the child’s
education is not infringed upon. In fact UBE provides
that the child should leave school at 15 and no employment can take place
before
16 years. The labour law (ILO) is taken into account, employment is at 19,
while apprenticeship law provides 16, and the
shipping law provides that the job
should not be hazardous and that where youngsters are employed then two boys
should do the work
of an adult male.
- Concerning
differences in the legislation between boys and girls, including in relation to
marriage and sexual consent, see both article
2 and the Criminal Code.
- For
boys the age of puberty is 14, while 13 is the age for girls. However, these
two provisions are not in consonance with the provisions
of the
Convention.
IV. GENERAL PRINCIPLES
A. Non-discrimination (art. 2)
- Section
39 (2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 provides for
nondiscrimination with respect to all citizens, including children. The
constitution
in Part IV also provides for fundamental human rights in
consonance with the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
Steps taken to combat discrimination
- In
Nigeria, there are national, zonal and local government task forces on the girl
child set up to remove any discrimination against
the girl child. Other
policies that relate to nondiscrimination include the Nations Policy on
Education, the UBE programme, establishment
of more schools for girls and the
provision of scholarship schemes in favour of girls. Also in existence are
various State laws
and edicts relating to harmful traditional practices,
hawking, withdrawal of girls from school and early marriage.
- Despite
the laws, in practice the girl child, and in some areas the boy child, children
born out of wedlock, disabled children, children
of outcasts, children from a
minority and children from other States often experience discrimination. Public
education in these
areas is still necessary.
Measures adopted to reduce economic and social disparities
- There
are conscious efforts by government at all levels, in view of the
multi-ethnicity of the country which, besides the three major
ethnic groups, has
well over 250 distinct ethnic groups, to institute specific measures to reduce
economic, social and geographical
disparities. Existing institutions and
agencies established in Nigeria to tackle this problem include the Federal
Character Commissions,
the Poverty Eradication Programme, the UBE programme, the
National Programme on Immunization, the National Directorate of Employment,
the
Open Apprenticeship Scheme, the Youth Employment Scheme, the School on Wheels
programme, Waste to Wealth, drop-in centres, mass
de-worming, etc.
Measures to eliminate discrimination against the girl
child
- In
addition, massive awareness sensitization campaigns and advocacy visits have
been undertaken at various levels with policy makers,
community, religious and
opinion leaders, women, youth and children’s groups and other social
segments to bring about attitudinal
changes in favour of the girl child. The
Constitution, in section 25, provides for children born out of wedlock not to be
discriminated against. However, they may have social problems within the
society.
- The
Federal Government has established special education programmes for itinerant
nomads, migrant fishermen and traders and literacy
programmes for refugees, and
a mass literacy programme as well. In addition, the UBE and the Poverty
Eradication programmes help
to reduce discrimination in the society.
Measures taken to collect disaggregated data
- A
number of sectoral studies have been undertaken with the aim of collecting
disaggregated data on children. The Federal Government,
with the support of
agencies like UNICEF, ILO, other donor agencies, NGOs, universities and research
institutions, has conducted
national and sectoral research on various areas of
child survival and development such as child trafficking, child labour, HIV/AIDS
orphans, child health and nutrition. In addition, there is an ongoing survey on
the disabled in Nigeria as well as a survey on gender
and child rights-related
concerns in Nigeria. The National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) and the
Multiple Indicator Cluster
Survey conducted by the Federal Office of Statistics
have yielded valuable baseline information and disaggregated data on
children.
Measures taken to prevent prejudice against children
contributing to ethnic tensions and racism
- The
problem of prejudice against children leading to social and ethnic tension,
racism and xenophobia is perceived to be minimal and
as such, there are no
specific programmes designed to combat it. However, the general programmes of
the National Orientation Agency
(NOA), e.g. National Rebirth, the Human
Rights Violation Panel, President Olusegun Obasanjo’s AntiCorruption
Campaign and various
youth, peace and reconciliation efforts at
the national and regional levels address these concerns.
Measures taken to ensure protection against discrimination
based on status
- Government
provision of freedom of choice of school, free access to parks and playgrounds
for every child, scholarship schemes for
all, etc. have ensured
non-discrimination against children based on parental/guardian status. However,
there is a need for mass
education or public enlightenment on the provisions of
the law against discrimination in this respect, especially among law enforcement
agents and public officers.
Problems encountered in the implementation of article
2
- Some
of the major problems encountered in the implementation of the provisions of
article 2 of the CRC are deeply entrenched cultural,
traditional and religious
attitudes and practice, such as female circumcision, early marriage, child
betrothal, tribal marks, rigid
autocratic child rearing practice, boy child
preferences and attitude of policy makers to change.
B. Best interests of the child (art. 3)
- The
best interests of the child are paramount in Nigerian legislation. This is
supported by the Constitution and other legislation mentioned earlier. The
principle also pervades the juvenile system in Nigeria. The Social Welfare
Departments,
working in conjunction with juvenile courts, handle various issues
affecting the child. All are geared towards achieving the best
interests of the
child, against the background of a very active and supportive
media.
- A
number of institutions have been established to ensure the best interest of the
child in Nigeria:
(a) The establishment of the Federal Ministry of
Women Affairs and Youth at the federal and State levels, each with a child
development
department;
(b) The establishment of women development units in local government
areas.
- Despite
these institutional structures, consciousness of the need to link the overall
interests of the child with budgeting at various
levels has not been achieved.
Moreover, the policy makers have not started relating the overall budget to meet
the specific needs
of the child. The budget channelled towards education varies
from State to State; hence, some States may concentrate more on infrastructure
like building and furnishings while others may concentrate on tertiary
institutions. More emphasis could be laid on qualitative
education.
- The
child in the family circle still performs the task of making money to sustain
the family through hawking, menial jobs, bus conducting,
etc. Government
programmes so far in this regard have failed to tackle this problem effectively.
While there are procedures for
adoption, these are subject to various abuses.
Childcare institutions exist such as borstals, remand homes and approved
schools.
However, these suffer from various forms of neglect in terms of
inadequate funding.
- Concerning
social life, the Government has been able to encourage the participatory rights
of the child. Children are allowed, though
under supervision, to join social
clubs and cultural and religious institutions that serve the best interests of
the child. National
and State parks are budgeted to enhance children’s
recreation activities. An agency has been established by the Federal Government
on conflict resolution. The National Commission for Refugees cares for the
welfare of children in refugee camps. Guidance and counselling
services,
improved training for teachers as well as entrance training for staff are being
stepped up in schools.
- There
is legislation that protects the interests of the child. This protection cannot
be found in a single document, which is a major
advantage of the draft
Children’s Bill as all matters affecting children are contained therein.
- The
current economic recession in Nigeria has affected both the implementation of
the Convention and the general populace. More financial
resources are required
for the implementation of the Convention. The general population has been
affected by poverty, which has
posed a major constraint to the implementation of
the Convention in Nigeria as children are often sent out to work as a way of
contributing
to the family income. The culture of financial involvement of the
private sector in child development has not been developed.
- Lack
of sufficient understanding in governmental institutions, in contrast to
cultural, religious and traditional modes of child protection,
coupled with
ignorance and lack of sufficient information relating to child welfare tend to
lead to confusion of norms and values
and misplacement of priorities, making the
implementation of the Convention difficult. Harmful traditional and cultural
practices
such as early marriage, withdrawal of girls from school and male-child
preference pose further constraints.
- There
is lack of infrastructure to implement the Convention in full, for example, in
the justice system, family court, juvenile court,
borstal institutions, social
work, etc.
- Several
workshops and seminars have been organized by governmental and nongovernmental
organizations for police, social workers, customs
officers, immigration officers
and various operators of the juvenile justice system to improve the standard of
childcare for the
best interests of the child.
C. The right to life, survival and development (art.
6)
- In
all the States of the Federation the penal and criminal codes make adequate
provision for the protection of the rights of the child
to life, survival and
development. In addition, institutional programmes such as NPI, Maternal and
Child Health (MCH). Nutrition
and Breastfeeding all promote all the rights of
the child. These are also enhanced through various childcare institutions in
all
the State and local government areas of the Federation. For example,
primary healthcare centres exist in all the LGAs of the country.
- The
National Population Commission does data registration and their offices are
located in all the LGAs of the Federation. This includes
the registration of
births and deaths of children, including the causes of death. Child suicide is
rare. There is a draft policy
on adolescent reproductive health and some
States, supported by United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA),
provide adolescent
reproductive services. Non-governmental organizations such
as Planned Parenthood Federation of Nigeria (PPFN) and Action Health
also offer
adolescent reproductive services. Street violence is not common, but the
phenomenon is emerging, for example the Area
Boys in the south and the Almajiris
in the north. This is a new challenge for Nigeria, although some government and
private sector
programmes are being undertaken to rehabilitate these categories
of children through training, non-formal education and skills acquisition.
- More
effective performance of the various State ministries of health is required to
ensure full registration of births and deaths
by private and public hospitals.
More enlightenment programmes are required to enable citizens to take advantage
of the opportunity
to register their births and deaths, both at local government
and State levels.
D. Respect for the views of the child (art. 12)
- Recently,
a Children’s Parliament has been formed, which serves as a forum for
children to express their views. At the National
Summit for Children, the
children conducted the affairs by themselves. Similarly, in the Progress of
Nations Report 1999/2001, children
were in charge and their opinions taken into
consideration. There is a gradual shift from the widespread attitude that
children
should be seen and not heard.
- The
draft Children’s Bill, the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
1999 and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child all make
adequate provisions
for children to express their views. Moreover, the Nigerian
media in all the States have become very active in promoting programmes
for
children to express themselves. These include: airing of school debates,
organizing programmes for children to speak out, inclusion
of children in
discussion panels and airing the results of decisions held at children’s
forums. Newspapers also have children’s
columns, which provide the
opportunity for children to explain things themselves and in their own way. The
publication of children’s
magazines is encouraged and supported, such as
the CRIB Bulletin. Children are now participants in seminars, lectures,
conferences and other such forums where their views form major inputs, as
was
done at the National Summit for Children.
- Parents
now take their children shopping, when they are given a free hand to pick for
themselves, as opposed to time past, when the
shopping was done for the child in
absentia, even if it meant buying oversized items for the child which the child
was expected to
grow into.
- Parents
these days encourage their children to report strange activities, instead of
shooing them away and shutting them up. Children
are no longer caged like
before. Moreover, some parents now take their vacation to correspond with when
the children will be on
vacation from school.
- The
above is not to say that all families are as described above, but a lot of
effort is being made in that direction, mostly by city
parents.
- Schools
throughout the country encourage children to participate in decisionmaking
through the school prefect system.
- Instances
where children have participated in decisionmaking:
Children’s
Parliament (they have a president, etc.);
Progress of Nations launching in Nigeria;
National Summit for Children ;
Television programmes, etc.
In the above instances, children have shown that they have views and can
speak. Children participate in decisionmaking in schools
through the prefect
system (there has been no opportunity yet with the local council).
V. CIVIL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS
A. Name and nationality (art. 7) and
preservation of
identity (art. 8)
- To
ensure that the birth of every child in Nigeria is registered, there is a
National Population Commission (NPC) with offices and
staff in every local
government area whose responsibility this is. Furthermore, it is the function
of the National Population Commission
(NPC), in liaison with the African Refugee
Commission, to ensure that children born of parents in extreme situations are
registered.
However, there is still a lot to be done in sensitizing the
Nigerian populace and Nigerian citizens to take advantage of the facilities
put
in place for birth registration by Government. Furthermore, it is also a big
challenge for NPC and the African Refugee Commission
to ensure that children of
refugees and foreigners born in Nigeria are fully registered.
- The
National Population Commission embarks on periodic and regular public
enlightment through the media, workshops and seminars as
well as posters and
leaflets on the need for parents to register their children at birth. In
addition, the Commission also has a
policy and practice of staff development of
registry personnel.
- The
information provided on the registration forms give such details as the name of
child at birth, sex, place and date of birth,
and the full names, occupation and
place of birth of the parents. The Constitution prohibits discrimination on the
ground of birth status.
- Both
the Nigerian Constitution and cultural practice provide for nationality and
identity for all Nigerian citizens. However, despite the protection given by
the
Constitution and the Children and Young Persons Law (CYPL), some children
born out of wedlock still suffer some subtle social discrimination.
Children
are allowed dual citizenship in Nigeria.
- Nigeria
forbids adoption by foreigners. However, there are no uniform adoption laws in
Nigeria as this falls under the purview of
the States. This has created an
avenue of abuse.
B. Freedom of expression (art. 13)
- In
Nigeria a number of steps have been taken by Government, the media and NGOs to
enhance children’s right to free expression,
e.g. organization of the
Children’s Parliament, media participation, e.g. speak out, camps,
children’s pages in the newspaper,
children’s time on radio and
television. However, this is against the cultural attitude of the child being
seen and not heard.
In Nigeria, children usually follow parental guidance in
the choice of religion. Islamic law goes further, forbidding change of
religion. The challenge is to socialize children towards religious tolerance.
Nigeria is a secular nation with provision for much
ethnic, cultural and
religious diversity of the citizens. In this regard, there are unity schools,
two in each State, where children
from certain religious and ethnic backgrounds
go.
C. Freedom of association (art. 15)
- In
Nigeria the Constitution provides for freedom of association, and in practice
there are girl guides, boys’ brigades, boy scouts, child rights clubs,
debating clubs, frequent interschool sporting activities and assemblies of
Nigerian children.
D. Protection of privacy (art. 16)
- In
Nigeria the relationship between children and parents is so intensive that the
issue of a child’s right to privacy hardly
arises, as parents are always
interested in the correspondence of their children and what relationships they
entertain. However,
there are measures preventing parents from inflicting harm
on their children in the exercise of their rights of control.
VI. BASIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
A. Disabled children (art. 23)
- Some
efforts are being made in Nigeria to provide for the realization of the full
development and enjoyment of life by disabled children.
Rehabilitation
department/units handling and coordinating programmes for the disabled exist in
the State Ministry of Social Welfare.
At the Federal level, Government has
instituted and is implementing a communitybased rehabilitation programme which
de-emphasizes
institutionalization and encourages the disabled to learn, walk
and live in the same environment with their ablebodied counterparts.
Most
States have established rehabilitation centres and schools for handicapped
children where they are also taught vocational skills.
Many of these centres
and schools receive government subventions and grants for their upkeep. In some
States, local television
stations relay programmes and news in sign language.
Also, various aids and appliances are donated to disabled children. Sports
for
the disabled feature prominently in disabled and special schools. It must
be acknowledged that many of the special schools in
Nigeria are established and
managed by non-governmental and philanthropic organizations, though it is to be
added that most of them
receive government backing and subventions.
- Awareness
on the situation and plight of disabled children is lacking. Financial
allocations for the care of this special group of
children are also low, while
there are little or no efforts to incorporate their needs in our environmental
planning. Recreational
and leisure facilities for disabled children also
require special attention. Training of professionals/caregivers has not been
encouraged.
It is also important to state that the special schools and
rehabilitation centres require replacement or refurbishing. Salaries
and
allowances of caregivers in this field are poor and discouraging. Conducting a
census of disabled children in Nigeria will provide
muchneeded information on
their situation, needs and priority areas of intervention.
B. Health and health services (art. 24)
- The
National Policy on Health was launched in 1989. It has as its major thrust the
primary healthcare system, which is more accessible
and promotes equity and
social justice, particularly for the poor majority living in rural and
semi-urban areas. The primary healthcare
system particularly attempts to meet
the health needs of mothers and children through its preventive, curative,
promotive and rehabilitative
features.
- By
1990, it was estimated that only 17 per cent of Nigerians had access
to modern health facilities. One of the measures taken to
correct the
unsatisfactory level of coverage was the revitalization of the PHC system
through expansion and greater decentralization.
The National Primary Health
Care Development Agency was created in 1992 to strengthen PHC implementation
through supervision and
technical assistance.
- The
Recent Poverty Eradication Programme of Government and other efforts of the
Federal Ministry of Health have plans to increase
the number of PHCs per LGA and
provide medical doctors for them (at least two per LGA).
- The
Bamako Initiative, which seeks to revitalize PHC through adequate supply of
basic drugs, community involvement in the management
of their health care as
well as improved financing, was established in 1999. All 774 LGAs of Nigeria
are implementing the Bamako
Initiative. The principle of the Bamako Initiative
is that children from disadvantaged families, particularly poor families, are
guaranteed access to health care.
- Other
health measures adopted to ensure the right of the child to enjoy the highest
attainable standard of health include the establishment
or revitalization of
disease control programmes for HIV/AIDS and acute respiratory infections (ARI).
The Integrated Management of
Childhood Illness (IMCI) views the management of
childhood illness holistically. Other control programmes, including those
against
Guinea worm, onchocerciasis, tuberculosis and malaria have also been
strengthened.
- The
continued implementation of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) has
raised the level of awareness of the advantages of
exclusive breastfeeding.
The country launched in 1997 a policy to encourage exclusive breastfeeding.
- The
National Malaria Control Programme has also been reviewed and includes the Roll
Back Malaria Initiative. Nigeria hosted a successful
summit of African heads of
State on Roll Back Malaria in April 2001.
- The
National Programme on Immunization (NPI) Agency was created in 1998 to improve
immunization coverage. The Agency has conducted
National Immunization Days
(NID) for the global eradication of poliomyelitis. Nigeria has taken the lead
in the subcontinent in
mobilizing resources to ensure that the polio virus
transmission is halted by 2002 and that the total eradication of the virus is
certified by 2005. President Obasanjo is the current Chairman of the Committee
on a PolioFree Africa.
- Nigeria
had two rounds of NID between October and November 2000 during which
over 40 million children were immunized.
- Combating
the threat posed by HIV/AIDS is receiving attention at the highest level of
Government. The campaign against AIDS was being
led personally by the
President. Since the last report HIV/AIDS control has been integrated into PHC
by the President and a National
Action Committee on AIDS was established to
ensure multisector, multilevel participation of relevant stakeholders. An
interim action
plan was developed and more resources allocated for HIV/AIDS.
Awareness and enlightenment campaigns have been stepped up. A multisectoral
media health committee was also inaugurated in September 1999 to harmonize all
mediarelated AIDS control activities in the country.
Instructional materials
have been developed preparatory to the integration of HIV/AIDS education into
the curriculum of primary
and secondary schools throughout the country. HIV
testing kits worth 100 million naira have been procured and distributed to
screening
centres nationwide. The Government has put in place the mechanism to
reduce material transmission of HIV/AIDS to the foetus through
the supply of the
appropriate antiretroviral drugs.
- Harmful
traditional practices exist in all the States of the Federation, particularly at
community level. FGM, early and forced marriage,
female disinheritance, tribal
marks and tattooing are common practices. Efforts to eliminate these harmful
traditional practices
are gathering momentum in the country. The Federal
Ministry of Women Affairs and Youth Development, with the support of UNDP and
other United Nations and donor agencies, has concluded a national survey on
harmful traditional practices. Results from the survey
have been widely
disseminated in the country and have given impetus to various advocacy and
sensitization programmes at various levels
aimed at tackling the problem.
UNICEF, through its country programme, has supported the training of traditional
birth attendants
and the use of popular theatre and other grassroots community
mobilization strategies to disseminate information on the ill-effects
of these
harmful traditional practices. The mass media, NGOs, CBOs and religious
organizations are also contributing to the fight
against harmful traditional
practices.
- The
National Hospital (originally known as the Women and Children’s Hospital)
is a multi-billion-naira, highly specialized and
highly sophisticated
comprehensive healthcare centre that caters for the health needs of Nigerians,
especially women and children,
who otherwise would have been referred outside
the country. It was established in Abuja in 1996, and has provided specialized
medical
and surgical care since then.
- The
National Health Management Information System has also been established by the
Federal Ministry of Health to correct the situation
of grossly inadequate data
sources for planning and evaluation of health programmes. Collaboration between
the Federal Ministry
of Women Affairs and Youth Development and the Federal
Ministry of Health is expected to provide sex- and agedisaggregated statistics
for planning and programme management.
C. Standard of living (art. 27)
- The
new democratic Government in Nigeria has demonstrated its commitment to improve
the quality of life of Nigerians, especially that
of mothers and children,
through its poverty alleviation programme and other forms of microcredit
facilities, especially for farmers.
- The
National Committee on Food and Nutrition (NCFN) has been inaugurated. The
National Policy on Food and Nutrition was approved
in 1998, and has now been
referred to the Committee on Food Security to be harmonized with the Household
Food Security document.
An institutional framework for implementing the Plan of
Action on Food and Nutrition has been developed.
- A
new National Water Supply and Sanitation Policy was adopted early in 2000 by the
Federal Government. The centrepiece of the policy
is the provision of
sufficient potable water and adequate sanitation to all Nigerians. The initial
target of the policy is to improve
service coverage from 40 per cent
to 60 per cent by 2003 and to reach 100 per cent by
2011. The policy document identifies the strategies,
the policy instruments,
the legislative provisions and the institutional and funding arrangements to be
put in place to achieve the
targets set.
Impact of measures
taken
- The
major Summit goals recommend that the infant mortality rate (IMR) and the
underfive mortality rate (U-5MR) be reduced by a third,
or to 50-70 per
1,000 live births, from 1990 to 2000. The report of the NDHS was still
provisional at the time of this report.
So the data of NDHS 1990 and that of
the MICS for 1999 are compared for mortality rates. They show that IMR actually
rose from 91/1,000
in 1990 to 105/1,000 in 1999. The use of two
different data sources may be responsible for this. The MICS also showed that
southern
Nigeria fared better than the north. IMR was as high as 117/1,000
live births in the north-east and lower than the 2000 target of
45/1,000 in the
south-west. There were no gender differences, but there were marked urban/rural
differentials: 83 and 113/1,000,
respectively.
- Unlike
IMR, U-5MR recorded a marked decline between 1990 and 1999, although this is
still a far cry from the Summit goal target stated
above. U-5MR decreased
from 191/1,000 in 1990 to 159/1,000 in 1999. When similar data
sources are compared (MICS) the rate increased
from 147/1,000 in 1995 to
159/1,000 in 1999. The rates for males and females
- were 148
and 167/1,000, respectively. The differentials by region and rural/urban
location follow a similar pattern as for the IMR:
119/1,000 and 147/1,000,
respectively, and the figures for the north were poorer than for the south.
- The
World Summit for Children set a goal of 100 per cent coverage for all
vaccinepreventable diseases. Immunization coverage improved
for DPT,
poliomyelitis, measles and tuberculosis between 1990 and 1995 after which there
was a decline in 1999. The MICS survey
shows the 1999 coverage figures as
follows:
DPT - 23 per cent
Poliomyelitis - 19 per cent
Measles - 35 per cent
Tuberculosis - 43 per cent.
- Deaths
due to diarrhoea in children under 5 were expected to be reduced
by 50 per cent and the incidence reduced by 25 per cent
by
2000. These goals were not met. The incidence of diarrhoea, however,
decreased from 18 episodes per child for the 10-year period
to 15 episodes per child for the same period. The number of
children treated with oral rehydration therapy (ORT) increased from
27 per cent in 1990 to 47 per cent in 1999.
- Constraints
encountered in implementing the measures include weak capacity of the healthcare
system to meet the basic needs of children
and women, due mainly to poor
funding, lack of community involvement in programmes, inadequate human capacity
programmes, poor intersectoral
cooperation and lack of integration of vertical
programmes, all of which weaken the PHC system.
- Although
some progress has been made, a review of the trends over the 1990s show that
none of the end-decade goals of overcoming childhood
malnutrition has been
met.
- The
stunting of growth among children under 5 has dropped from 43 per cent
to 34 per cent from 1990 to 2000 (NDHS 1990, MICS 1999);
undernutrition (underweight) also fell slightly from 36 per cent in
1990 to 31 per cent in 2000. However, the prevalence of wasting
(acute malnutrition) increased from 10 per cent in 1990 to
16 per cent in 2000. There were marked regional differences, with the
north recording poorer figures than the south, the northeast being the worst and
the south-west the best.
- Among
children whose weight at birth was recorded, 7 per cent had low birth
weight (<2.5 kg) in 1990, suggesting that the goal
of reducing the
incidence of low birth weight to less than 10 per cent has
been met. However, it must be noted that only a small
proportion of
births (28 per cent) were supervised by trained personnel who
could weigh the babies. For the majority of babies,
the birth weights were
unknown.
- Approximately
22 per cent of children under 4 months are exclusively breastfed
(MICS 1999) as against 100 per cent for 2000. At age
6-9 months,
44 per cent of children are receiving breast milk and solid or
semi-solid foods.
- Ninety-eight per cent
of households in Nigeria consume adequately iodized salt (ibid.) and the
proportion of children aged 6-59 months
who have received a high dose of
vitamin A supplement in the last 24 months was 23 per cent
(ibid.).
- Fifty-four
per cent of the population of has access to safe drinking water, with
marked urban/rural differentials: 71 per cent in
the urban areas and
48 per cent in rural areas. The usual trend of the
south faring better is for the first time broken in this
respect as
the southeast 39 per cent is considerably worse than
the other regions.
- Fifty-three per cent
of the population live in households with sanitary means of
excreta disposal. The situation varies from 40 per
cent in the
north-east to 58 per cent in the southwest.
- According
to the data from both NDHS and MICS, rural water supply rose
from 30 per cent coverage in 1991 to 48 per cent in
1999 while
the urban areas experienced a decline from 80 per cent to
71 per cent between 1995 and 2000. Like access to potable water,
access
to adequate sanitation rose in the rural areas from 48 per cent
in 1991 to 53 per cent in 1995. However, the overall sanitation
coverage dropped from 57 per cent in 1995
to 53 per cent in 1999.
- The
estimate of Guinea worm cases dropped from 394,082 in 1990 to 13,237
in 1999, representing a 96 per cent reduction. Only in two
States of the Federation is dracuntiasis endemic.
- Constraints
encountered in meeting adequate nutrition as well as water supply and basic
sanitation include the following:
(a) The National Agricultural
Policy, which outlines strategies for ensuring food security at the national
level by increasing food
production and development of strategic agricultural
grains reserves, has had little impact on the levels of malnutrition. Often,
projected agricultural outputs have not been met, and have had little impact on
the availability of food at household level;
(b) Inadequate storage facilities, difficulties in the distribution network
and lack of adequate food processing and preservative
facilities are also major
constraints. At the household level, inadequate food storage and preservation
facilities militate against
food security;
(c) The ravaging poverty in the land and the high price of many basic food
items reduce access to food by a large number of Nigerian
households.
- Poor
coverage for water supply and sanitation is linked with the following:
- Insufficient
funding of operations and maintenance;
- Lack of capital,
uncompleted water projects and failure to initiate new
ones;
- Inefficient
billing and collection of water revenue needed for operation and
maintenance;
- Inadequate
monitoring and evaluation of performance. Most data used in planning are
estimated, resulting in poor targeting of resources.
VII. EDUCATION, LEISURE AND CULTURAL ACTIVITIES
A. Education (arts. 28 and 29)
- Besides
being a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Nigeria also
endorsed the Declaration adopted at the Dakar
World Education Forum (April 2000)
which, among other things, set as one of its goals expanding and improving
comprehensive early
childhood care and education, especially for the most
vulnerable and disadvantaged children. Since 1987, the country has been
paying
considerable attention to early childhood education as a basis for the
healthy growth and all-round development of every citizen.
The Federal
Government’s Blueprint on Basic Education (1999) emphasizes the importance
of early childcare as a prerequisite
for a child’s physical, cognitive and
psychosocial development. The strong official support which the Early
Child Care and
Development initiative has received in Nigeria has led to some
significant changes. By 1996, the Federal Government had established
2,045
early childcare facilities, which are low cost, community based and
participatory, in rural as well as poor urban areas. The
initial target was
75,000 children in 10 selected States. To date, over 400,000 children
have benefited from 7,379 early childcare
facilities set up in 12 States of the
Federation. Besides, over 15,000 parents and caregivers have been trained
in early childcare
concepts. The training has been reinforced through
several mobilization visits, awareness campaigns and workshops. Work
towards
these achievements was enhanced by assistance from local NGOs, the
private sector (a grant from the Bernard Van Leer Foundation)
and the
international donor community (UNICEF, UNDP and UNESCO).
- The
tenets of the Convention on the Rights of the Child have been infused into the
curricula of early childcare and women’s
centres as well as into those of
the primary schools. Similarly, culturally relevant readers, training manuals
and guides have been
developed for use at childcare centres throughout the
country. Also available is a reference text on child development in Nigeria,
copies of which have been distributed to the tertiary institutions that offer
courses in pre-primary education.
- The
National Policy on Education provides and has led to the adoption of measures to
teach in local and indigenous languages up to
primary. However, this is
difficult to implement in urban areas owing to the increasing number of children
from different ethnic
groups in Nigeria.
- There
are a number of measures put in place in Nigeria to improve the quality of
education, including the teaching and learning environment,
such
as:
- − The
signing of an agreement recently by Government to assign 26 per cent
of its allocation to education;
- − The
textbook scheme for primary pupils which enables them to borrow books and return
them after use;
- − The
renovation of primary schools at all LGAs;
- − Regular
assessment of the quality of teaching in schools through inspectorate divisions
established at both State and Federal
levels;
- − The
training and retraining of teachers is ongoing, while there is a lot of effort
to recruit teachers. Education courses
have been established at the
primary-school level to enhance the quality of teachers;
- − Education
secretaries have been nominated by local government chairmen to ensure quality
education;
- − Government
has made the National College of Education diploma the minimum qualification for
primary school teachers in Nigeria;
- − State
primary education boards have been established to ensure regular payment of
salaries for teachers;
- − Departments
and units of guidance and counselling have been established at Federal and State
level both at primary and secondary
schools;
- − Children
in conflict with the law also have access to education either within the
institution or outside;
- − Children,
especially girls who get pregnant and those who become victims of very serious
ailments such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis,
poliomyelitis, etc. drop out of school
but have the opportunity to continue when their condition improves;
- − Corporal
punishment in Nigeria can only be carried out with the permission of the school
head and must also be recorded;
- − Organizations
such as the World Bank, UNESCO, UNDP, UNICEF and other voluntary and
philanthropic agencies are assisting with
projects, e.g. UNICEF
childfriendly schools based in the communities/rural areas aimed at improving
the quality of education in Nigeria.
- Despite
these efforts, implementation is hampered by factors such as:
- − Inadequate
and late payment of teachers’ salaries;
- − Decrease
in the number of teachers taking opportunities for training and retraining;
- − Lack of
sufficient information on the available facilities;
- − Education
Secretaries are not sufficiently empowered, e.g. with funds and vehicles to
carry out their work effectively;
- − Inadequate
number of schools for disabled children in Nigeria. The level of support for
those in existence should be increased
while training programmes for teachers in
such special schools should be stepped up;
- − Lack of
a databank to reflect disaggregated data on children with regard to education
investment, education outcomes by gender,
age, rural/urban residence, and
regional, ethnic and social origin.
- Women
in Nigeria are still adversely affected by a comparatively low level of
literacy. The latest statistics put the current adult
literacy rate at
49 per cent (MICS 1999), but while the male literacy rate stands at
58 per cent, that of women is only 41 per cent.
Although
this margin is smaller than the 62 per cent:39 per cent
ratio in NPC 1998, it still a cause of concern. Reducing the female
illiteracy
rate to 30.5 per cent from an estimated 61 per cent still
remains a challenge. Data from MICS 1999 indicate that material
education is a
correlate of a wide variety of outcomes including immunization rates, early
childhood education, child malnutrition
and child mortality.
- Increasing
economic pressures are also taking their toll on women and forcing many of them
to take up paid employment or engage in
some income-generating activities. As a
result, they are having to make ad hoc arrangements for childcare while they are
out. According
to the Early Child Care survey conducted in 1995,
20 per cent of such children were looked after by grandparents,
17 per cent by
older siblings, and 24 per cent were in
day-care facilities.
- Day-care
facilities fall into two categories. These are the crèches/day-care
centres for children aged 0-3 and the day nurseries
for those aged 3½ to 5.
In the first type of facility, where child stimulation should be the focus,
experience shows that the
childminders in those of them run by private
proprietors are not always knowledgeable enough about what they should be doing.
Sometimes
toys are in short supply. A recognition of these deficiencies led to
the setting up by each State Government of a model play group/day
nursery at the
State capitals. Some NGOs and religious groups have also established similar
facilities equipped with sufficient
play objects and staffed with competent
teachers. The Nigeria-UNICEF programme of cooperation has consistently targeted
this area
of development. With regard to pre-school educational facilities,
guidelines have been laid down and fees should be reasonable.
To this end,
monitoring and supervision are being intensified.
- Children’s
involvement and participation in the implementation of programmes that concern
them are also a major focus. Through
advocacy and mobilization, negative
cultural ideas about children are being eroded. Theatre groups, the mass media
and other avenues
are being employed. Children and the youths themselves are
fully involved in the reorientation process. Debates, symposia and essay
competitions on topics relevant to their concepts of their place in the polity
are among the approaches adopted.
- The
gains that have been recorded in Nigeria over the past decade in the efforts to
ensure the survival, protection and development
of the child have been
considerable, but some challenges still remain to be met. Despite poverty
alleviation measures taken in the
recent past such as liberalizing women’s
access to loans and microcredit through such institutions as the People’s
Bank
and community banks, the economic empowerment of women still remains a
pressing concern. With the loosening of extended family ties
with the attendant
adverse effects on children, Governments, NGOs, and religious and
community-based organizations must intensify
efforts aimed at offering a safety
net to the helpless victims. In particular, children forced onto the street by
family break-up,
and deformed and disabled children (of whom other family
members tend to feel ashamed) need to be given a sense of worth. This is
already being done through such private initiatives as the First Lady’s
Child Care Trust and the street children rehabilitation
efforts of some NGOs,
but more still remains to be done. For instance, reliable data on such children
are still not available.
However, encouraging women to acquire
education in the broadest sense - appears to be the most effective
approach to tackling the
lingering problems of poor environmental sanitation,
inadequate child nutrition and ignorance of childcare methods, or of the effects
of such devastating diseases as HIV/AIDS. Besides, the rehabilitation needs of
children who get involved in petty crimes, of disabled
and street children still
need to be accorded greater attention within existing policies and laws. One
way of doing this is for
Government to build the capacity of NGOs involved in
rehabilitation programmes.
- Basic
education in Nigeria is made up of formal and non-formal education. The formal
aspect comprises six years of primary schooling
and three years of schooling at
the junior secondary level. Non-formal education comprises functional literacy
classes for adults
and adolescents who have dropped out of school or those who
have never enrolled, with an emphasis on girls. The curriculum is flexible
and
also covers numeric and life skills. Early childhood education (ECE) has since
1987 been a major focus even though the operation
of this component is still
largely in private hands.
- The
National Programme of Action of the World Summit for Children envisaged
that 25 per cent of the estimated 21.4 million pre-schoolaged
children (0-5 years) would be reached by the end of the decade through the
establishment of 17,200 daycare centres, crèches
and nursery schools.
Current statistics show that the percentages of boys and girls aged 36
to 59 months who are attending some
form of organized early childhood
education centre are similar: 18 and 19 per cent respectively.
However, there are significant
regional and urban variations. For instance,
whereas 39 per cent of girls are in attendance at such centres in the
southeast, the
northeast records 3 per cent, according to the 1999
data. Similarly, 37 per cent of children attend organized play groups
in the
urban areas but only 12 per cent do so in rural areas.
- There
is a correlation between a mother’s level of education and the attendance
of her children at organized day-care centres.
Of mothers who have themselves
received no education, only 5 per cent send their children to
nurseries in contrast to 28 per cent
among mothers with primary
education and 56 per cent of mothers with secondary or higher
education. What this obviously points to
is that the level of a mother’s
awareness of the value of education is a determinant of her resolve to give her
child a head
start through enrolling her in a nursery school or a play
group.
- With
the relaunching of the UBE programme in September 1999, the present civilian
administration has signalled its intention to overcome
the policy somersaults
and lack of political will that were the key factors that stalled the takeoff of
the programme in 1992. The
programme seeks to address the issues of access,
retention, quality of service delivery and infrastructure. It also takes
into account
the educational needs of under-served groups. The programme also
has as a key goal the rising of the consciousness of the citizens
towards the
value of education. These objectives are in consonance with the goals set out
in the National Programme of Action on
the World Summit for Children, which
includes access to basic education and achievement for at least
80 per cent of primaryschoolage
children and removal of all barriers
to the active participation of women and girls in education.
- In
Nigeria, gender disparities are evident in the key areas of school enrolment,
retention and completion. According to CSPD in Nigeria,
key social statistics
(NPC/UNICEF 1998), the average primary school enrolment for the
1995/96 school year for girls was 75 per cent
as against
86 per cent for boys. However, when the average completion rate is
considered, the picture for the same year was girls
- 71 per cent,
boys - 68 per cent. It is noteworthy that the completion rate for
boys fell below the national completion average
for that year, which
was 69 per cent. The phenomenon of boys in the five eastern
States dropping out so as to become apprentice
traders must have contributed to
the imbalance. This disparity has persisted, as evidenced by a recent survey
which showed that
67 per cent of the boys and 68 per cent of
the girls aged 10-15 years who had entered the first grade of primary school
reached primary
five.
- It
is when quality is considered that the Nigerian school - especially the primary
school - presents a disturbing picture. In a 1997
study (“Monitoring of
Learning Achievement”) of primary four pupils, the national mean average
in each of three key achievement
tests was as follows: numeracy -
32 per cent, literacy - 25 per cent, life skills -
37 per cent. In each of the test areas, private
school pupils
outperformed their counterparts in public schools while urban schools did better
than those in the rural areas. Obviously,
the low pupil achievement levels
cannot be divorced from such factors as infrastructural facilities, teacher
morale and frequency
of supervision. Curriculum content and teacher competence
are also relevant issues that have since engaged the attention of
Government.
- Measures
taken to improve the quality of educational delivery include increasing the
salaries of teachers (along with those of public
service workers) and
establishing in some States of special science secondary schools; one State in
the north has set up such a school
specially for girls.
- In
partnership with UNICEF and six other donor agencies, the Federal Government of
Nigeria has embarked on a child-friendly, rights-based
school initiative. A
child-friendly school is “a place where the learning environment is
conducive, the staff are friendly
to the children, and health and safety needs
of the children are adequately met”. The school is expected to be
community based
and to take cognizance of all the rights of all children. This
innovation will initially mobilize local community resources towards
solving all
the problems that have plagued schools in the area. These are: low access and
retention, poor school environment, low
pupil achievement and demoralized staff.
A former Head of State has agreed to serve as the national patron.
- The
literacy situation in Nigeria has improved, for it has risen significantly from
the 1985 levels of 30 per cent for men to 58 per
cent for
men and 41 per cent for women in 1999 (sic.); the national average now
stands at 49 per cent. The National Plan of Action
sets the specific
target
- of
a reduction in illiteracy to at least half of its 1990 level, i.e. from
61 per cent to 31 per cent. The challenges that the
literacy
programme then faces are: raising the national literacy rate and
reducing the disparity between the female and male literacy rates.
- The
non-formal education initiatives, which are part of the objectives of UBE,
targeted young people, especially girls, who dropped
out of school and women who
may never have had any schooling. Other potential beneficiaries are children of
nomads and other migrant
workers, children receiving a Koranic education
i.e. Almajiris, and disabled children. The training and retraining of
literacy instructors
has gone on apace. In several States, a safety net is
provided for the completers of the non-formal education programme to enable
them
to enter the formal school system.
- The
challenges that the programme is facing include the
following:
(a) The irregular attendance of some girls and women at
classes;
(b) The lingering reluctance of some husbands to release their wives to
attend literacy classes and of fathers to release their daughters;
(c) Inadequacy of instructional materials, arising from a paucity of
operational funds;
(d) A weak database on which the programme operates.
- There
has been much greater awareness all over the country of the value of non-formal
education. The role of the mass media in bringing
this about is worthy of
commendation. The resolve of the Nigerian Government is to make every citizen
literate as soon as practicable.
One clear way in which the commitment is being
demonstrated is through increased budgetary allocations. According to figures
obtained
from the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Federal Government’s
budgetary allocation to education in 1990 was 5.5 per cent of
the
total budget and 4.2 per cent of the total expenditure. In 1995,
these rose to 11.5 per cent and 4.9 per cent respectively.
The percentage of the total budgetary allocation to education for 1996, 1997
and 1998 was 10.8 per cent, 7.4 per cent and
10.9 per
cent, respectively. While these allocations fall below the
UNESCO prescribed minimum, it should be noted that it is supplemented
with
allocations by the State and local governments, disbursements from the Petroleum
Trust Fund and the Education Tax Fund, and
support from donor
agencies.
B. Leisure, recreation and cultural activities (art.
31)
- In
Nigeria the child’s right to leisure, recreation and cultural activities
are realized mainly through educational settings/environment.
At primary,
secondary, and tertiary levels, children engage in activities such as
inter-house sports, debating, essay competitions,
excursions exchange programmes
and holiday camping. The wives of office holders organize children’s
parties where children
are encouraged to relax and interact with caregivers.
Parks and recreational gardens established with the objective of promoting
children’s leisure and recreation are increasingly springing up in many
States of the Federation and even at the community
level.
- At
the Federal level, the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Youth Development,
in collaboration with the National Council for
Arts and Culture, in 1999
organized the first National Children’s Festival for Arts and Culture,
tagged NACHIFEST. The programme,
which attracted children from all the States
of the Federation, was instituted to promote the child’s right to leisure,
recreation
and cultural activities. Cultural dances and displays, exhibitions
of children’s art, painting and sculpture, drama sketches,
poems, as well
as moonlight and traditional games featured prominently at the festival.
- Various
communities in Nigeria have diverse wellorganized and coordinated cultural
festivities which attract people from both the
rural and urban areas. The usual
practice is for parents and guardians to take children to such festivities,
which are staged mainly
during the vacation and schoolfree periods.
- Voluntary
organizations in schools such as the Boy Scouts, Girl Guides, Red Cross,
Brownies, etc. also provide opportunities for children
who are members to engage
in leisure, recreation and cultural activities.
- In
spite of the above, there is a need to increase the awareness and consciousness
of Nigerians of the immense benefit of engaging
and promoting the culture of
leisure, recreation and play, particularly among children in rural and
semi-urban areas. This will
require additional funding and provision of
facilities.
VIII. SPECIAL PROTECTION MEASURES
A. Children in situations of emergency
1. Children in
armed conflict (art. 38)
- Several
studies have confirmed children’s involvement in communal or political
violence either as victims or, unfortunately,
as perpetrators of acts of murder,
arson, burglary and theft. Children of 15 to 18 years, according to reports,
have been actively
involved in the recurring conflicts of Ogoniland,
Ife-Modakeke, Ijaw/Itsekiri-Urhobo, Jukun-Dutes, Aguleri-Umuleri and during the
more recent communal clashes in Shagamu, Kano, Kaduna and Lagos. Unfortunately,
for many children, such communal conflicts have
resulted in the loss of their
parents, abandonment, disabling injuries and, in many more cases, loss of life
and property, added
to displacement, living like refugees in army barracks and
having to relocate, and in the process losing school time.
- There
are current initiatives to foster conflictresolution mechanisms in communities
by NGOs such as the African Refugee Foundation,
the Federation of International
Women Lawyers, Space 2000, the USAID/Office of Transitional Centre for African
Peace Initiatives
and the proposed ECOWAS Child Protection Unit to enhance the
protection rights of children and women during communal conflicts.
As a result
of the increased frequency of communal conflicts and other humanitarian
challenges in Nigeria with their direct and indirect
effects on children and
women, the need for better emergency preparedness is becoming increasingly
urgent. Sentinel centres for
monitoring violence before it reaches children are
being established by both Government and NGOs. For example, Government has
established
the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to respond to the
needs of internally displaced persons, including children.
2. Refugee children (art. 22)
- To
a large extent, the experience in Nigeria concerning refugee children is one in
which they accompany their parents or adult relatives
as a result of conflicts
in the west African subregion. Nigeria has established camps for these refugees
where the basic welfare
of refugee children are being taken care of. Schools,
recreational facilities and medical facilities have either been established
in the refugee camps or are available in the neighbouring communities. Indeed,
professionals among the refugees have been organized
to provide, with their
Nigeria counterparts, education, training in arts and crafts, recreational
facilities and health care to the
children as well as their parents.
- However,
institutional mechanisms that are in place and expected to be the main focal
point of addressing emergency preparedness issues
need to be strengthened in
terms of funding, training of personnel and provision of facilities adequately
tailored towards meeting
the needs of refugee children and children in
situations of emergency. Agencies like the National Refugee Commission and NEMA
should
not be restricted to their perceived mandate of intervening exclusively
only in crises.
B. Children in conflict with the law
1. The administration
of juvenile justice (art. 40)
- The
Penal Code and the Children and Young Person’s Law (CYPL), which is still
in force, is explicit on the handling of cases
of children ranging from arrest
to detention as well as appropriate sanctions/punishment. It should also be
stated that the draft
Children’s Bill, which is expected to be passed
soon, adequately provides for effective juvenile justice administration in
Nigeria.
2. Institutions and training of relevant officers
- Childcare
institutions such as borstals, remand homes and juvenile centres exist in the
various States of the Federation. However,
the borstals in Kaduna and that of
Illorin, which is yet to be fully operational, are grossly inadequate to cater
for the increasing
number of children who require such facilities. It is also
on record that these childcare institutions are in dire need of modern
equipment
and facilities, while the social workers who manage and care for the children
require training and refresher courses, as
well as better remuneration. At the
moment, however, various orientation and sensitization training programmes are
being packaged
and implemented to update the knowledge of various categories of
professionals such as social workers, judicial officers, prison
and immigration
officers and other paramilitary cadres on the administration of juvenile
justice. Government ministries/agencies
responsible for child
welfare/development, the Human Rights Commission, prominent child-focused NGOs
as well as United Nations agencies
are collectively involved in these
efforts.
- Children
who are especially disadvantaged include those who are not living with their
biological parents, orphans, and those who are
subjected to hazardous work.
Qualitative and quantitative studies in Nigeria as well as media exposés
have indicated gross
abuse of children’s rights and widespread recourse to
corporal punishment. The problem of domestic abuse has been exacerbated
by
urbanization and growing poverty which have not only increased the strains on
families’ caring capacity, but have eroded
the traditional extended family
mechanisms for providing mutual support and checking abuse. Child trafficking
and sexual exploitation
of children and minors are on the increase. Public
enlightenment and sensitization programmes on the situation of children,
particularly
with regard to abuses and exploitation, have been stepped up by
Government, NGOs and the media. Child rights monitoring centres
as well as
legal aid for social services units are in all the States of the Federation.
Several States have passed laws and acts
which provide stiff penalties for
violations against children such as trafficking, prostitution, sexual abuse,
withdrawal of girls
from school and hawking.
- Other
notable achievements worthy of mention include the following:
(a) A
memorandum of understanding was signed on 8 August 2000 between the Federal
Republic of Nigeria and ILO, which has launched
the ILO-IPEC country programme,
a multisectoral integrated approach to the elimination of child labour in the
country. The direct
beneficiaries will be about 3,000 child workers who will be
mainstreamed into regular formal and non-formal educational programmes
and
vocational training;
(b) Nigeria is also participating in the ILO-IPEC regional programme on
combating trafficking of children for labour exploitation
in West and Central
Africa;
(c) The response to the increasing knowledge of trafficking has been
encouraging. A number of NGOs and religious bodies have started
responding
to the problem. For example, in Benin City, Edo State, a coalition has emerged
between a religious NGO (Sisters of Mercy),
the Association of Catholic Lawyers
and the African Women Empowerment Group to find solutions to the problem. Of
particular note
is the efforts of the Women Trafficking and Child Labour
Eradication Foundation (WOTCLEF);
(d) A national intersectoral plan of action on child trafficking and
exploitation has been prepared by the Federal Ministry of Women
Affairs and
Youth Development.
- However,
certain provisions of the Nigerian Labour Act that derive from the International
Labour Act and that expose young persons
in domestic service to exploitation and
abuse is being critically reviewed by the Government with a view to making these
provisions
child friendly.
- Nigeria
has yet to ratify some of the international instruments relating to the
protection of children such as the two Optional Protocols
to the Convention.
Efforts are on to ensure that these Protocols are ratified
soon.
-----
[*] For the initial report submitted by the
Government of Nigeria, see CRC/C/8/Add.26. For its consideration by the
Committee, see
documents CRC/C/SR.321-323 and CRC/C/15/Add.61.
GE.04-43705 (E) 211204
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