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Henry Okonkwo
Local government councils in Nigeria, particularly in Lagos State, have been charged to prove their commitment to child protection by implementing their states’ Child Rights Law in their domain through making bylaws that would ensure better local implementation.
This charge was made recently by two non-governmental organisations (NGOs). They are the Terres des Homme (TDH) and Advocates for Children and Vulnerable Persons of Nigeria (ACVPN). The occasion was the public hearing of the bill for a bylaw on Child Rights Protection (CRP) being proposed by the Legislative Council of Oshodi / Isolo Local Government Area.
The public hearing which took place at the council secretariat also unveiled four other bills (on the environment, the prohibition of trading around the perimeter fence of primary schools, corporate/ mobile loading and offloading haulage, and revenue items), lined up for deliberations before being passed into law.
But speaking particularly on the bill for a bylaw on child rights protection, TDH’s Head of Country Office, Mrs. Olapeju Osoba, expressed delight on the move by the local government, saying the promulgation of the CRP Bill into a bylaw would be a big step in the right direction.
Mrs. Osoba described Oshodi community as a major settlement point for vulnerable and migrant children that troop into Lagos daily, noting that the approval of the CRP Bill would help secure them from being preyed upon.
“Oshodi/Isolo Local Government Area is a settler community because it’s a local government where children come from all over Nigeria and beyond to settle in. So it is not out of place that we are considering their well-being,” she explained.
Mr. Ebenezer Omejalile, co-founder of the ACVPN, also explained that the domestication of the Child Rights Act and its implementation of bylaws at the local level, would fuel the drive, and enthrone increased awareness on the need to protect the rights of the child.
“There is a need to ensure that children are empowered all round to take their pride of place in our society and the world at large. And until we get it right at the implementation level, children will continue to be victims of all sorts of abuse,” he said.
Explaining the concept behind their formulation of the child rights protection bills, the local government’s Leader of the Legislative Council, Hon. Rasheed Obasa attributed it to an increase in cases of child abuse. According to him, child abuse has become a threat to a better tomorrow, “hence the need to adapt the State Law on the protection of child rights and create a conducive environment for child rights advocates to operate in.”
While congratulating the leadership of Oshodi/ Isolo Local Government, Mrs. Osoba charged other local governments to borrow a leaf from the council to enact similar protection in their areas.
“Government at the local level is the closest form of government to the people, and as long as it is like that, local governments must begin to give attention to the issues of child protection. So I call on other states and local governments to borrow a leaf from Oshodi/ Isolo Local Government Area that has made concerted moves towards domestication of their state’s Child Rights Act,” she said.
