Niran Adedokun(nadedokun@gmail.com)
There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children
– Nelson Mandela, 1995
It is impossible for any parent to hear the latest about Leah Sharibu and not become heartbroken. It is traumatic enough that Sharibu remains the only of the 110 girls who were abducted by members of the Boko Haram insurgents from Government Girls’ Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State in February 2018 still in captivity. But in addition to that, piecemeal information about the condition of this young lady whose retention by the insurgents was attributed to her refusal to renounce the Christian faith has been largely speculative. So, no one had been really able to tell about her. And then, information last week about her having been forced into marriage and motherhood revealed a literal abortion of the future the girl and her parents envisaged.
Here is a young lady, who was in school (in spite of the limitations that society imposes) apparently because of the hope it bore. The Sharibus possibly pictured their daughter in a career after higher education. They likely had thoughts of seeing her get married to a decent, and well-educated young man with whom she would bring forth beautiful grandchildren that would bring them pride. But the same school, which they saw as the gate to the future became the pathway to hell, snatching their daughter and turning their dreams into some intruding nightmare. The uncertainty attending the survival of a young girl in the hands of misguided, erratic perverts is an ordeal that no parent should suffer, then: the news of involuntary marriage and motherhood!
Marriage and childbirth are of course attainments that every parent desires for their children. However, these are such sacred, life-determining endeavours that no one should embark on without adequate psychological preparations. And in the case of women, there are additional physiological demands which make putting girls of Sharibu’s age inhuman, even criminal in some circumstances. This is exactly what the Leah situation is: the termination of the dreams of a confident woman by a terrorist group that has tormented Nigeria for a decade now and the failure of the Nigerian state to rescue this daughter of hers and return the arrested joy of her parents.
There are innumerable questions you may want to pose to the authorities in Nigeria concerning how this young lady has fared since her abduction. Why did the negotiation exclude her in the first instance? Is it excusable that a country leaves one lone girl with this mindless group of people for whatever reason? Aren’t there offers that government could have made to save her from the clutches of the group, which in apparent fact does not care about any religion? Assuming without conceding that it has been impossible to negotiate the return of Leah over the past 23 months, could government not insist that the group must not tamper with the humanity and integrity of this young lady? This question is pertinent because government people have continued to assure us of the existence of a communication channel with the insurgents. So, if you are communicating as you claim, how come you leave an innocent girl to the whims of her abductors?
There are indeed endless questions that Nigeria should have to answer relating to the fate that has befallen Leah just as about many other Nigerian children. Truth be told, but for the unmatchable gift of freedom, which Leah does not have, the situation of the average Nigerian child is not much better.
Just this Tuesday for instance, UNICEF raised the alarm about how much danger tuberculosis poses to the Nigerian child. Media reports credited to the UN agency indicated that two million Nigerian children might die from the preventable infection within the next 10 years if interventions are not scaled up. This forecast, which means that Nigeria may lose 200,000 children every year makes the country the one with the highest number of such cases in the world and with 20% of childhood deaths from pneumonia globally.
But pneumonia is not the only medical affliction of the Nigerian child with some of such afflictions even preceding life. In 2018, neonatal mortality rate for Nigeria was 36 deaths per 1,000 live births, so for every 1000 children born alive, 38 do not see the end of the first month. Child mortality, which relates to the number of children that the country loses before their fifth birthday, is put at 120/ 1,000 live births. UNICEF also indicates that most of these children die from preventable ailments like malaria, diarrhoea, meningitis, measles, and malaria.
The next question to ask is what happens to the children who live beyond their fifth birthday in Nigeria? And the answer is not so farfetched. At least 13.5million of those are out of school at the moment. They are either roaming the streets in search of livelihood for themselves and their families or engaged in labour far advanced for their age. Those who go to school hardly learn anything. Teachers are poorly trained, poorly remunerated and largely unmotivated hence they are mostly unwilling even when they have the capacity to effectively impart on the children. There is widespread dilapidation of infrastructure in public schools, just as curricula are almost devoid of innovation. The business of public education in Nigeria is in a huge dispiriting state, a reason for which basic education has become a humongous commercial venture with tainted standards.
This is not to speak of the other numerous evils that children are exposed to in Nigeria. Speak about early marriage that leads to the permanent deformities and sometimes, death of girls across the country and other forms of discriminations and deprivations to which the child is exposed.
Yet, no nation that hopes for a future should treat its children this way. What Nigeria currently offers its children is a life of assault and violence punctuated by ethnic strife and all forms of insecurity, chief of which are the Boko Haram insurgency, banditry and kidnapping. How the country hopes to regain the mind and ultimately the trust of its children remains a mystery.
In the second year of his presidency in South Africa, Nelson Mandela saw the wisdom in investing in the children of his country. He spoke extensively about the need to ensure formal education for all children, ensure they have proper shelter and the freedom of expression. In his private capacity, he set up the Nelson Mandela Children Fund, during its launch in 1995, he said the following: “There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children… As we set about building a new South Africa, one of our highest priorities must therefore be our children. The vision of a new society that guides us should already be manifest in the steps we take to address the wrong done to our youth and to prepare for their future. Our actions and policies, and the institutions we create, should be eloquent with care, respect and love.” He then went on to donate one third of his monthly pay to the fund during his presidency.
Even though things have not improved significantly in South Africa, this is the way visionary leadership thinks. Starting with Leah, there should be urgent conversations of leaders of the country about the future of the children. These talks should consider the provision of quality education, health and protection for all the children of this country. It is Nigeria’s only hope for a future.
– Twitter @niranadedokun
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