Based on the available figure on the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) website, over 10.5 million children are out of school in Nigeria, which is the highest rate globally. Nonetheless, 47.7 percent are said to be girls’ aged five to 14 years and have never set foot in schools rather engaged in hawking.
Though the country is experiencing a deficit in the educational infrastructures, other parents, particularly in the northern region, prefer their children to engage in hawking than being in the school. The aforesaid behaviors of some parents have thrown and exposed children’s life to jeopardy.
Undoubtedly, street hawking has humongous implications for children’s physical and emotional well-being, particularly girls. It, has, however, exposes them to sexual abuse, physical exhaustion, vehicle accidents, death malnourishment, drug and substance abuse, and prostitution.
On this note, and in commemoration of World Women’s Day, I want to implore as well as draw the attention of the Federal Government to the need to implement the Act prohibiting children hawking as part of efforts to bring an end to violence against women in Nigeria.
Nigeria is a signatory to the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was established to protect children from getting involved in any activity which negatively affects their health and well-being. The convention also emphasises the need for government to protect children from exploitation.
Besides, Nigeria’s Child Rights Act has similar provisions; it says children should be protected from trafficking or street hawking. I still wonder why the implementation of these laws becomes so difficult for the government, even while the nation is experiencing insecurity in different forms.
If the Nigerian government wants to reduce child abuse and trafficking among other abuses, it must implement the Act protecting children from any form of domestic violence. Doing this will help to curb the menace of rape, kidnapping and drug abuse among other insecurity challenges facing the nation.
I also call on individuals, parents as well as other bodies to watch carefully monitor the movement of kids rooming the streets in the name of hawking to protect them from getting into danger.
Ukasha Rabiu Magama,
Ukasharabiu95@gmail.com.
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