Kwara state government on Tuesday inaugurated the Child Right Implementation Committee (CRIC) to ensure the protection of children’s rights across the 16 local government areas of the state.
Speaking at the inauguration, Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq charged the committee to fulfill its statutory mandate of coordinating the implementation of the Child Rights Law.
The governor said he is committed to championing the course of women’s empowerment, liberation, elevation, emancipation and the well-being of every Kwara child.
The governor, who was represented by the Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development, Hajia Saadat Modibbo Kawu, noted that it is disheartening to hear global news of social ills which are pointers to moral decadence and loss of value system, advocating the need to care for home, monitor the academic progress and behavioural deficiency of the children.
In her address of welcome, the State Commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs. Olaitan Buraimoh, noted that the state government is passionate about the welfare of women and girls, the development, which she said led to the inauguration of the committee to work in line with the UNICEF guidelines to ensure Child Protection Rights in the state.
Buraimoh, who said that the Ministry of Women Affairs under the present administration had through various programmes and activities impacted the lives of vulnerable women and girls positively, added that it is also defending the Rights of the Kwaran child.
“Also, it is because of the priority given to women and children by this administration that the Ministry of Women Affairs in collaboration with the United Nation Children Fund (UNICEF) is inaugurating the Child Rights Implementation Committee to create a framework that align with global best practice to foster an environment where children can thrive and flourish.
“Moreover, we are proud to say that the state has created an enabling environment for children to prosper by first inaugurating the 5th set of children parliament, comprising children from all the 16 local government areas. The children who were carefully selected across the nooks and corners of the state underwent rigorous screening and electoral process before being voted in as young parliamentarians. The platform is expected to create an opportunity for our children to deliberate on the matters which affect their well-being.
“In addition, it could be recalled that the Ministry has launched a rigorous sensitization campaign against all forms of violence against women and children. In the same vein, the state through the Ministry also commissioned two Sexual Assault Referral Centers (SARC) at General Hospital, Ilorin and Sobi Specialist Hospital, Ilorin respectively to provide medical, legal and psycho-social support to victims and survivors of sexual and gender-based violence.”
Also, the state commissioner for Social Development, Mrs. Afolashade Oluwakemi Opeyemi, said her ministry would always work with the Ministry of Women Affairs to guarantee and protect Child Rights in the state.
The Attorney General of the State and Commissioner for Justice, Barrister Senior Ibrahim Sulyman, charged the Committee to make the interest of the children paramount so that the noble intention behind the inauguration of the Committee is not defeated.
On his part, the Chairman of Ifelodun Local Government Area of the State, who doubles as the ALGON chairman in the state, Mr. Jide Asonibare, charged the committee to work with the Ministry of Justice for necessary laws to be enacted, saying that local government councils are making good arrangements to domesticate the committee in their respective councils.
The Olojoku of Ojokuland, Oba AbdulRasaq Adegboyega Afolabi, called for adequate funding of the committee for members to achieve their goals, stressing the need to also work with religious leaders, traditional rulers and other key stakeholders to sensitize and reduce Female Genital Mutilation in the state.
The First Makama of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Oniye, also emphasised the need for the state government to fund the committee to guarantee the protection of child rights.
The UNICEF Child Protection Specialist, Kaduna, Doctor Wilfred Mamah, commended the state government for inaugurating the committee after 17 years of the passage of the Child Rights in 2006.
Mamah lamented the high rate of female genital Mutilation, out-of-school children and an increase in the number of children at foster centres in the state, charging the newly inaugurated committee to network and protect child rights by ensuring that all the problems identified are addressed urgently.
READ ALSO FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
and then