According to a 2022 UNESCO report, approximately 20 million children are not enrolled in school in Nigeria. First and foremost, this number amounts to 20 percent of the country’s population. Also, it is more than some of the overall population of various countries in Africa, such as Guinea, an African country with a population of 13.53 million as of 2021, according to the World Bank. This is a worrying trend in the country, one that all and sundry must come together to find lasting solutions to.
In major Nigerian cities, these out-of-school children constitute the louts and thugs hanging around bridges and sleeping out in the cold. The result is that they try to survive by all means through vices such as pickpocketing and robbing passersby of their belongings at night. Oshodi Bridge in Lagos is a popular location where this occurs every night. However, there are other sets of underprivileged children who stay out in the streets begging for help from the Federal Government.
These children continue to face the vicissitudes of life.
Their voices have become more strident than ever as they continue to face the daily realities of living out there. These children are seen in every part of the country, especially in urban areas and in the streets during school hours. Some of them engage in menial jobs and domestic servitude, while others beg in the streets. Some are garbage collectors, while several others are subjected to different forms of exploitative labour in violation of the Child Rights Acts which was enacted by the Nigerian government about 20 years ago.
Even 20 years after the enactment of the Child Rights Act (2003), Nigeria is still grappling with the issues of child labour and out-of-school children syndrome. In addition to having 20 percent of its population out of school, the figure of out-of-school children is the highest in the world. According to UNICEF in early 2022, one-third of Nigeria’s children are not enrolled in school. Some of these disadvantaged children in the streets are now crying for help, calling on President Bola Tinubu to come to their rescue.
Disadvantaged children want Tinubu to take them off the streets.
They told the media that they were hopeful and anxiously awaiting the current administration of President Tinubu to come up with policies and programs that would take them off the streets to classrooms where they can realize their dreams and God-given potentials. Twelve-year-old Ibrahim Abubakar who is a garbage collector and popularly known as “Baban bola” in the streets, said, “We await President Tinubu to take us out of streets to classrooms; we want to go to school, but we have no means.”
Newsmen had met him looking scruffy recently at Sabon Gari area of Kano. He told reporters that he was in Kano without his parents and that he was engaged in garbage collection and picking out scrap metal and waste materials from dumpsites to sell for recycling purposes to survive. He has been doing this since he was seven years old, having escaped with some neighbors from Adamawa State when their village was attacked by insurgents. Abubakar said he would one day want to “wear uniforms and go to school every day like other children.” He also said that there were many children like him collecting garbage for survival.
Urgent intervention needed for these homeless children.
According to the report of the 2018 National Personnel Audit conducted by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) in both public and private basic education institutions, Nigeria has a total of 10.2 million children who are out of school. Most of these children are roaming the street as scavengers, beggars, hawkers, and some of them are recruited for crime. Child scavengers are often seen rummaging with their bare hands through heaps of decomposing waste at dumpsites or trucks in cities across the country in search of recyclable materials. As a result, they become susceptible to diseases such as cholera, malaria, dengue fever, respiratory infection and asthma. Experts have also warned that these diseases could spread to communities.
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Child laborers ask FG for helpful policies – Out-of-school children syndrome still festers even after Child Rights Act. – Express your point of view.
It’s heartbreaking to hear that child laborers are still struggling in Nigeria, despite the Child Rights Act. The government needs to take action to address the root causes of child labor, such as poverty and lack of access to education. Helpful policies need to be put in place to ensure that children are protected from exploitation and given the opportunity to receive an education. It’s important that we work together as a community to support these children and create a brighter future for them.
The Child Rights Act is a significant step for protecting the rights of children, on the other hand, out-of-school children syndrome perpetuates the prevalence of child labor in Nigeria. By implementing the aforementioned policies, the Nigerian government can work towards mitigating child labor, providing educational opportunities for all children, and breaking the cycle of poverty and exploitation.
Child labour is prohibited. There is need to ensure we protect the rights of these little children. We should ensure they are well catered for by their parents and the government.
The problem stem the unfavourable government policies which is not helpful. At times the policies formulated are not enforced. Nigeria is still grappling with the issues of child labour and out-of-school children syndrome because of high level of corruption. In the days of these politicians there were free education but why now must you pay heavily before you or your children can go to school. Even the educational standard in the country has dropped drastically. One thing I observed is that the APC governors are not ready to work. They just want to make the money and leave the seat.
The Child Rights Act is an important step in defending children’s rights, yet the out-of-school children syndrome keeps child labor common in Nigeria. The Nigerian government may seek to reduce child labor, and end the cycle of poverty. Providing education for them
Child laborers ask FG for helpful policies, To address the underlying factors that contribute to child labor, such as poverty and lack of academic advantages, the government must take action. To guarantee that children are shielded from exploitation and given the chance to go to school, helpful measures must be put in place.
Out-of-school children syndrome still festers even after Child Rights Act, this children right need to be protected government need to solve issue of child labor and help this children to be bought up well and enjoy benefit opportunity educated
It is important that we take measures to safeguard the interests of these young children. Child labour should be abolished by implementing policies that will put heavy punishment on perpetrators of such act.
It is so pathetic that a country like Nigeria will have 20 million children that are not enrolled in school and of course the figure is more that this. The high level of corruption has brought this upon us. In those days there is free education even up to the University level. Why is it like this in this generation. The richer are getting richer why the poor are impoverished. If the government fail to address the increasing number of out of school children now in the future we should be ready for the repercussion.