The Head, Interpol Systems Nigeria and foremost security expert,
Sir Chikwe Udensi, has called on Abia State government to give prime
concern to the protection of lives and rights of Abia children saying
they represent the future of God’s own State.
Udensi, in a statement in Abuja, called on the Abia State government to look
beyond the conventional style of celebrating Children’s Day, usually
characterized by the organization of social activities for them in just a day,
but to roll out salient reformative and educational programmes and policies
over time, which will positively transform the children to become globally
competitive from childhood.
He explains that children carry the hope for our brighter tomorrow and the
dreams of our great future.
The security expert lamented that Abia children are confronted with enormous
challenges and horrendous situations on a daily basis.
“Apart from the privileged ones, majority of Abia children are faced with trauma and awful circumstances ranging from living on the streets, communal conflicts, deprivation, hunger, drug abuse, child trafficking, lack of juvenile justice system, child abuse, rape, violence, poverty and several other social vices,” he listed.
He revealed that according to a recent survey by the National
Population Commission, with support from UNICEF and the United States Centre
for Disease Control and Prevention, six out of 10 Abia children experience at
least one of these forms of violence before they reach the age of 18. With
this, it is obvious that Abia still has a long way to go in preparing our children
for the future, even with the passage of the Child Rights Acts which implementation
is yet to see the daylight.
He bemoaned the fact that majority of Abia children do not even know what
their rights are.
“Even as Abia children celebrate Children’s Day today, some of them will be
hawking on the streets till late in the night, which exposes them to all the
dangers of such hours, especially the females who are being lured to secluded
areas and raped,” he grieved.
He, therefore, urged the state government to give precedence to protection of
the lives and rights our children, give them qualitative education, afford them
conducive environment for learning, initiate programmes and policies which will
avail them the opportunity to acquire basic skills for entrepreneurial
development as they grow up. He also advised the government to bridge the gap
between privileged children who are in school and less privileged children whose
parents cannot afford formal education for them.