ACROSS Nigeria, children face numerous challenges that threaten their basic rights to survival, protection, and development. The Nigerian government must wake up from its lethargy, and citizens must consistently demand accountability to ensure the realisation of children’s rights.
At a media dialogue to commemorate the 2025 Day of the African Child, the Chief of UNICEF in the South-West, Celine Lafoucriere, warned that insufficient and inefficient budgeting undermines the realisation of children’s rights.
“Budgeting for children shouldn’t be treated as a separate exercise,” Lafoucriere said. “It should be embedded in the core planning for Nigeria’s population, guided by concrete data on where the most vulnerable children are, and what their needs are in terms of clean water, education, healthcare, nutrition and protection.”
She added, “In a place like Lagos, education is still largely self-funded by schools and families. Where is the investment in protecting children, in giving them a fair start in life?”
According to UNICEF, approximately 54 per cent of Nigerian children experience multidimensional poverty, lacking in at least three of seven critical areas: nutrition, health, education, water, sanitation, housing, and information. The report revealed that 65.7 per cent of children in rural areas are affected, compared to 28.4 per cent in urban areas.
UNICEF data indicates that around 11 million children in Nigeria experienced severe child food poverty last year, which translates to one in every three Nigerian children below the age of five.
The UN agency stated that nearly 47.4 per cent of children live below the national poverty line, while about 24.6 per cent are affected by extreme poverty.
Attacks on schools and insecurity—most notably kidnappings—have further hindered education, particularly in the northern parts of the country. Consequently, more children are displaced, reported missing and are subjected to some form of violence.
Tragically, the Initiative for Research, Innovation and Advocacy in Development reported that Nigeria had approximately 18.3 million out-of-school children in 2024, making it the second highest globally. No country makes progress when 18.3 million of its citizens are deprived of education.
A 2022 survey by the International Labour Organisation showed that 32 per cent of children between the ages of five and 17 are involved in child labour, and 23 per cent are engaged in hazardous work.
The Child Rights Act (2003), a law that guarantees the rights of all children and directly deals with issues of child abuse, child labour, and forced marriage, among others, has been passed by 36 states of Nigeria and the FCT, but only 26 of them have officially gazetted it. Other states should prioritise matters affecting children and follow this trend.
When these social maladies, which threaten the future of Nigeria’s next generation, are contrasted with the enormous budgets and spending of state governments, a wide and troubling gap becomes apparent.
This violation of children’s rights must be opposed and eradicated.
Until all the rights of all children are fulfilled, the rest of society cannot rest. The principle is simple: leave no child behind. All tiers of government need to demonstrate their seriousness about children’s rights and welfare.
They need to prove that children are indeed the future. States should partner with global agencies to implement welfare schemes that will benefit children in both rural and urban areas, and those forced into Internally Displaced Persons’ camps.
Individuals, particularly youths, the media, and civil society organisations should be actively involved in the decisions that revolve around the planning and implementation of state budgets for children and hold state governments accountable when they fail to deliver on social welfare for Nigeria’s youngest citizens.
Punch Editorial Board
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