Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, has said that deliberate efforts must be made to put an end to the exploitation of children across the country.
In a statement to commemorate the 2018 Children’s Day, the Speaker also expressed concern that many Nigerian children are deprived of access to education and called for all hands to be on deck to correct this.
“We at the House of Representatives are deeply concerned about the challenges which plague Nigerian children. Child labour, molestation and other acts of exploitation should have no place in our society and we all must work towards creating an enabling environment which allows all our children thrive.”
“Many Nigerian children are on the receiving end of issues such as being subjected to domestic violence and being deprived of education. These children are our future and this is why the House of Representatives recently adopted a motion on the need to put an end to child labour, molestation and other forms of abuse. We are hopeful that the Executive will implement the resolutions of the House by taking the required steps and hereby call on states which are yet to, to domesticate the Child Rights Act.”
“Ours is a country with one of the highest rates of children out of school in the world and the federal government in conjunction with states must design and implement policies which will change this. Our children are our future, and the glory of this nation depends on each and every one of them being equipped with the necessary skills to contribute their quota to national development.
“Our schools must be safe, parents who live below the poverty line should be able to put children in school at no extra cost and in areas where enrolment is particularly low, incentives may be offered while parents are also made to face penalties for not enrolling their children in school. Only when all our children have access to education can we speak of breaking the vicious cycle of poverty,” the Speaker said.
