Amidst the perilous times in which Nigeria is currently embroiled, there is a tendency to overlook particular threat to children who no doubt are highly vulnerable in times of crisis. These threats have been manifested in several forms and across parts of the country, including camps reserved for internally displaced persons. Beyond that, there have been reports of unwholesome incidents in various parts of the country that tend to increase the danger facing children and these need to be more vigorously addressed by governments at all levels.

There is no doubt that we live in dangerous times that try men’s souls. Over the years, there has been a steady and progressive deterioration of those cherished values which form the superstructures for the building of the country’s national ethos. The old image of Nigeria as a going country of peacefulness, fraternity, cultural and moral renaissance seems blurred. There is complete collapse of state machinery for protection of lives and property, thus letting anarchy loose upon Nigeria. The Hobbesian bellum omnium contra omnes (war of all against all) characterised by barbaric bloodletting, communal bloody feuds, kidnaps, banditries, gun-running and so forth now reigns supreme in different parts of Nigeria.

Uncertainty, confusion, fear and apprehension rule the lives of many in Nigeria. The country seems to be fast attaining a free-for-all status where nobody seems to be in charge of anything or anybody. Nigerians go to bed and wake up inundated with the sad news of another bloodletting abduction or senseless killings.

It is most tragic that over the years, blood of innocent children has been steadily and alarmingly spilled, unnecessarily too, while hostilities against Nigerian children are equally increasing. For example, in the last seven years, Boko Haram terrorist and abductors in the North have freely stormed different schools and seminaries murdering, maiming, raping and abducting their victims. Till date, the whereabouts of Leah Sharibu, the school girl abducted in the Dapchi, Yobe State by some Boko Haram terrorists for refusing to convert to Islam, remains unknown despite the assurances of the Buhari government that it would do everything possible to ensure that she regains her freedom.

Equally disturbing is that children aged between five to 18 years without basic education are left to loiter about the streets by their callous parents. The few lucky children enrolled in public schools are exposed to all sorts of dangers. For over 12 years now, many school pupils in several communities in Akinyele Local Government Area of Oyo State have systematically been denied the right to basic education due to the danger posed to their lives by a shooting range inside the Headquarters 2 Division of the Nigerian Army, also known as Odogbo Barracks. The school pupils hardly go to school. They and their parents now live with foreboding fear and trepidation of being hit by bullets from the army barracks during shooting exercises. At least, a resident was reported to have fallen victim of such incidents. Consequently, the academic performance of the affected school pupils has abysmally dropped. For the same reason, some parents have completely withdrawn their children from the school close to the barracks.

Apart from the danger looming large in their schools, the homes of the school pupils are not safe either. For instance, during its fact-finding mission in the area, a news reporter confirmed that he visited over 30 homes alleged to have been ridden with stray bullets from the army barracks.

In far away Anambra State, some pupils are equally living in fear. Weeks ago, the Anambra State Advertising and Signage Agency (ANSAA) accompanied by fierce-looking gun-toting men invaded a private School in Awka to enforce non-payment of signage fee by the school. ANSAA had accused the school of flouting the court order obtained against it by the state government and the only way it felt it could enforce the order was to storm the school and remove the school’s signboard that directs people to the school. On sighting the gun-wielding men storming their school, the school pupils, most of them toddlers, cried uncontrollably culminating in their parents rushing to the school to rescue them. An eye witness narrated that the armed personnel even moved into classrooms to drive out the pupils and their teachers as proof that they wanted to close down the school.

From these and similar incidents, Nigerian children are clearly endangered. Therefore, governments should act fast and put the necessary machinery in place for their protection. When parents are forced to pull out their children from school for any reason, it worsens the increasing number of out-of-school children. Already the 2018 National Personnel Audit Report on public and private basic education schools in Nigeria, recently released by the Universal Basic Education Commission, showed that Oyo State has 418,900 out-of-school children, which represents 20 per cent of the total population of children eligible for school in the state. Therefore, the Oyo State governance must act fast to redress the ugly situation. There is no doubt that gunshots, firearms are inimical to children’s health. And although explanantion from the military suggest that the communities came to the military environment, shooting exercises close to habitants are indeed detrimental to the wellbeing of the children and residents in the affected areas. If need be, the Oyo State government should relocate the schools or the army Barracks to other convenient places.

The Anambra State government should also investigate the invasion of the school in Awka and the harassment of the school pupils of the school by ANSAA. The culprits of the illegal invasion and harassment should be brought to justice, while a repeat of such should not be condoned. Intimidation and harassment of innocent school children during school hours cannot be rationalised as legitimate ways of enforcing non-payment of a fee. Instead of storming the school during school hours, ANSAA should have gone to the school at school closure time or on weekends when the school pupils are not in school.

We must recognise that like adults, children are entitled to the enforcement of their rights, for instance, as enshrined in the Child Rights Act 2005. Unfortunately, only 16 out of the 36 states of the federation have so far embraced the Act. Those states objecting to the Act on cultural and religious reasons should embrace the Act in the interest of the Nigerian children. Now is the time to reach a consensus on the legal framework that will protect children from exploitation, abuse and death.

A society that allows its children to be killed or de-humanised is heading for extinction. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of the Child states that “mankind owes the child the best it has to give.” The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) 1989, signed and ratified by Nigeria, states that every child, before and after birth, should have a right to life, basic education and freedom of expression. Therefore, our children should be given the opportunity to develop physically, mentally, morally, spiritually, socially in a healthy environment and in conditions of freedom and dignity. That is the only way we can hope to nurture the future leaders of tomorrow. Our future is built on the triumph of youthful potential. If those potentials are ruined, the country’s future is invariably ruined.