Guardian Nigeria
As Nigerians celebrate 2024 Children’s Day, Niger State Governor, Muhammad Umaru Bago, and stakeholders have expressed the need for the government, parents, guardians, and the society at large to ensure the protection of children and to inculcate good morals in them.
Bago gave his advice in a message to mark the 2024 Children’s Day celebration, signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Bologi Ibrahim.
He noted that it was necessary to provide children with basic needs of life, such as shelter, food, health and education, describing them as priceless gifts from God.
While acknowledging the negative impact of insecurity on children in the state, Bago said all hands must be on deck to safeguard children against the activities of terrorists and prevent them from crimes.
Bago spoke just as stakeholders urged governments at all levels to develop policies and laws to protect children against the dangers of online media and technology.
The stakeholders, who included the Oyo State Coordinator, Child Protection Network (CPN), Oluwatoyin Ogedengbe; the Proprietress of Tenderlift Care Mission Schools, Ibadan, Dr Rosemary Odigbo; and others, made the call during a parent-teacher forum organised by Tenderlift Care Mission Schools.
They emphasised the importance of keeping children safe from various negative acts associated with online media and technology.
The forum had the theme: ”Protecting the Nigerian Child from the Dangers of Online Media and Technology”.
In her remarks, the Guest Speaker and state coordinator of CPN, Ogedengbe, noted that as a result of their curiosity, children would always want to try out a lot of things without bothering about the consequences.
She said the importance of family in protecting children could not be overemphasised, noting that though there were ways to protect children, it would be best to start with education in the home.
According to her, the first step to protecting children from online media and technology is to enlighten them about what online media and technology are all about and their dangers.
She said that appropriate education was the number one key because when children are well educated on online media and technology, they can identify the inherent dangers.
“The exposure, what kind of content they are being exposed to? You want to monitor the kind of content they consume. You want to also protect them in terms of the time they spend on the media, social media, and electronic media. You want to also ensure that they are protected, and you want to expose them to the positive sides of technology from as young as possible, as long as when they can begin to reason,” she said.
In her remarks, the proprietress of Tenderlift Care Mission Schools, Odigbo, noted that the theme was chosen because it was time to begin to voice out the dangers and threats that online media and technology posed to children.
Odigbo stressed that though there were benefits associated with online media and technology, when children are involved, there were some dangers, that they must be protected from.
