RIGHTS-NIGERIA: NGOs Criticise MPs for Throwing Out Children’s Bill

By Toye Olori Reprint | | Print |

Toye Olori

LAGOS, Nov 6 2002 (IPS) - Rights groups in Nigeria have reacted angrily at last week’s decision by the House of Representatives to throw out a bill seeking to protect the country’s 60 million children.

‘’It is very sad that our legislators are bringing in religion to a bill that would benefit our children,” says an official of the Enugu-based African Network for the Prevention and Protection Against Child Abuse and Neglect, in a telephone interview from eastern Nigeria.

Legislators from the mainly Muslim north rejected the bill, claiming it promotes values alien to Nigeria.

‘’We rejected the bill because it did not take into consideration the different religions and culture of the Nigerian society. People in the north prefer early marriage to avoid promiscuity among our girls, but if you are making it compulsory that girls must marry at the age of 18, you are encouraging waywardness,” says Mohammed Kumalia, leader of the All Nigeria Peoples Party in the House.

In the north, the girl child is usually given out in marriage at tender age, usually from 11 to 13 years. The bill, therefore, seeks to prevent parents from using their children as farm hands or sending them only to Quranic (Islamic) schools, as children below the age of 18 must, by law, be in school in Nigeria.

Kumalia argues that if the bill is passed, it will give children the liberty to disobey their parents. ‘’Children will now be asking for unrestricted freedom. They can report parents to the police if beaten. This is purely an alien culture, which cannot work in Nigeria,” he says.

Others, however, disagree. ‘’It is demoralising,” says Toro Oladapo of Women in Nigeria (WIN), a Lagos-based non-governmental organisation. ‘’We have thought all along that if this bill was passed it will alleviate the plights of Nigerian children and make government more proactive but the reaction we got from the House of Representatives is highly discouraging.”

‘’It shows that the legislators are not really sensitised on the plights of our children. If Nigeria ratifies International Conventions on the Rights of the Child and now our lawmakers are turning back, it speaks a lot about what is happening in our country. It shows we do not believe in the international conventions and that we are not going to implement them. It is ridiculous,” says Oladapo.

She says legislators need to be educated on the importance of the bill. ‘’It is something that is of interest to all Nigerians,” Oladapo says.

‘’I think we have to go back and harmonise our thoughts and see how best we can push this bill through and sensitise the legislators on the need to ratify it. We will not give up because the bill is very crucial to the development of the country. It is in the interest of our children and their future, so we cannot just fold our hands and give up,” she says.

Oladapo says no part of the draft bill be expunged to assuage the legislators from the north.

‘’So far, I don’t see any clause that should be removed. And, I don’t see anything wrong in legislating that marriage age should be 18. After all, many health hazards are associated with early marriage such as V.V.F which is common in the north because children as young as ten give birth, as they are married off early,” she says.

VVF is Vesico Vaginal Fistula, a condition in which teenage mothers, some as young as 11 years, have their bladders punctured when incision is wrongly made by traditional midwives trying to ease the passage of the baby during labour. It is a common health problem in the north.

Oladapo urged legislators to put religion aside. ‘’Using religion at this time does not help anybody. It will only continue to draw us backward and I do not think it is in the interest of our country. Other countries are moving on, signing charters like this one, while we are trivialising it and bringing issues of religion,” she says.

John Ndukwuaba, a Lagos-based lawyer, says ‘’the legislators should have been enlightened on the dangers posed by early marriage, one of the reasons for rejecting the draft bill”.

‘’Throwing out such an important bill further casts us in bad light internationally, because while other countries are legislating on the development of their children who are leaders of tomorrow, we are busy throwing out a legislation that would help improve the lot of our children. It is sad,” Ndukwuaba told IPS.

Aisha Ismail, Minister of Women Affairs and Youth Development, says the rejection of the bill by the legislators constitutes a major setback to the efforts of her ministry to protect the rights and welfare of the Nigerian child.

‘’The bill contained all that were required to ensure proper care of children in keeping with the relevant laws of the country as well as the International Convention Charter,” she says.

Nigeria is signatory to several international conventions on the rights of children, including the 1989 United Nations Charter on the Rights of the Child, which it has ratified.

The Children’s Rights Bill, which was prepared by the government, after consultations with legal experts, rights groups and women organisations, seeks to protect children against all forms of abuses, either by parents, guardians or individuals.

Debate on the bill split legislators into two camps, with the Muslim north arguing against it, while the Christian south applauding its merits.

Nigeria, with a population of 120 million, is split 50/50 between Muslims and Christians.

RIGHTS-NIGERIA: NGOs Criticise MPs for Throwing Out Children’s Bill

By Toye Olori Reprint | | Print |

Toye Olori

LAGOS, Nov 6 2002 (IPS) - Rights groups in Nigeria have reacted angrily at last week’s decision by the House of Representatives to throw out a bill seeking to protect the country’s 60 million children.
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