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Prevalence, Abuse & Exploitation of Street Children The Federal Republic of Nigeria is located
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Boys -- A Growing Menace On The Streets Of Lagos
A group of armed street children
is on the rampage in the streets of SORRY STORY OF NIGERIA’S STREET KIDS: Wasted by poverty in the land Their outlook paints a vivid
picture of their state of helplessness. They appear unkempt and totally
hopeless of what the future holds. In their tattered clothes, they find homes
in the most filthy and awkward places like abandoned buildings, under
overhead bridges and school premises. Usually,
they retire to these “abodes” at dusk and dash out early in the morning
before the prying eyes of security agents or
the rightful owners of the structures turn out for business. ***
ARCHIVES *** UNICEF - The Big Picture U.S.
Dept of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - In urban areas, children work as domestic servants, street hawkers,
vendors, beggars, scavengers, shoe shiners, car washers/watchers, and bus
conductors. Bur of Democracy,
Human Rights & Labor - Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005 SECTION 6
WORKER RIGHTS – [d] Economic
hardship resulted in high numbers of children working to enhance meager
family income. Children frequently were employed as beggars, street peddlers, bus conductors, and
domestic servants in urban areas. Little data was available to analyze the incidence
of child labor. The National Modular Child Labour Survey Concluding
Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) - 2005 [69] In view of the increasing number
of children living and working on the street and street families, the
Committee regrets the lack of information about specific mechanisms and
measures to address their situation. [73] The Committee notes with
appreciation the State party’s ratification of the ILO Convention No. 138
concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment and the ILO Convention No.
182 concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of
the Worst Forms of Child Labor in October 2002. However, it remains concerned
at the significant number of children in Nigeria working as domestic
servants, in plantations, in the mining and quarrying sector, and as beggars
on the streets. Nigeria:
What to Do With Street He said the Child Rights Act as
enacted has given the government some powers to prosecute parents or
guardians who maltreat children by sending them to beg or hawk on the streets
when they should be in school. Badru added that
such children, after some time, are forced into armed robbery or even become
tools in the hands of robbers who used them as gun keepers because they are
underage. "For example, in Lagos,
people come from all parts of the country to 'hustle'; it is now getting to
an alarming stage where you see underage children come on their own. So when
this happens there is no where to stay except under the bridges. They join
bad gangs and many other vices and armed robbers use them as an opportunity
to keep guns because they are under aged", he said. Some other children, the special
adviser also noted, aside running away from home because the guardians or
parents are maltreating them, some parents even send them to be used as house
helps elsewhere by collecting money. "For those children, when
they are maltreated there, they run away and knowing fully well that if he
goes back home, he would be taken back there or to another place for the same
purpose", he said. Digital Diary: Nigerian
street children tell their stories of life without security Isaiah has spent 5 of his 15 years
living on the streets of Lagos, Nigeria, the second largest city of Africa.
Like hundreds of other children, he spends his days and nights in this sprawling
metropolis trying to fend for himself. “It is not easy living on the street but
what can I do?” asks Isaiah, one of 25 children who have told their stories
on Nigerian national radio through a UNICEF-supported project. “I have two sisters that I have not seen in
five years, I have smoked Indian hemp like other boys of my age, got beaten
by bigger boys, robbed of my money, took my bath in the canal and slept under
the bridge,” Isaiah says in one broadcast. “The good thing is that I am
alive!” Given the opportunity to go to school, Isaiah says he would
like to become a lawyer. “I want to be defending people,” he explains. Nigeria:
First Ladies - To Be Or Not to Be? Recently, the first lady of Bauchi State , Hajia Yagudu spoke about the
plight of the Almajiris (street children). This is an issue that has been on for so
many years in most parts of northern Nigeria .
Plenty of lip service has been paid to it but the problem still persists. The
implications are all too telling. Thousands of school age children are out of
school on the streets begging for alms. Sisters
Unite for Street Children Ibrahim Tijani,
a young boy of 17 said that he used to sleep under the bridge in Oshodi sometimes under a car or a bus or inside a dry
gutter. He does not know his parents as he was left alone by his parents when
he was three years old. He started
attending the Foutain of Life Church, Oshodi where they took a particular interest in him
because they thought he was well behaved. He worshipped with them every time
especially on Fridays for the night vigils and Sundays for worship. They accomodated him and promised
to help him settle down. Eventually, after two years of which he did not run
away, a member of the church took him to the Child
Life Line Centre, Ibeshe vilage,
Ikorodu where he currently resides. Since he is an
old boy, he is learning the art of welding while the Centre takes care of his
other needs. For
Street Children, What Kind of Future? The problem of street children in several
cities in Nigeria, especially, Lagos, the commercial nerve centre of the
country, appears to have defied every solution. However, a private
initiative, geared towards empowering their parents and enrolling the street
kids in schools may resolve the age-long practice, if supported by the
citizenry. Pupils
of Precious Childcare Foundation during an anniversary “In some cases, their parents sent
them out to go and bring money in; in fact, they had become bread winners for
their parents and some are just abandoned children right from childhood. So I
went through these experiences and I felt that something should be done to
take care of this category of children,” she explained in an interview with
the Nigerian Tribune. Therefore, Princess Adetokunbo Wande Abimbola established a non-governmental organisation called Precious Childcare Foundation (PCF) in 1995 with the objective of educating and
empowering the abandoned and neglected children as well as highlighting the
social and health problems facing this group with a view to finding solutions
to them. It is a big mistake to be barren and not adopt [The Vanguard, Nigeria, May 29,
2006] For many years, the state of the Nigerian
child has never been one of good tidings. In spite of public and private
efforts geared at alleviating the sufferings of the Nigerian child, the
reality stares us in the face with children still hawking wares on the
street, many too numerous to estimate not being in school and many at birth
abandoned to fate on street corners and on rubbish heaps. Those who are
lucky among these categories of people have
landed in the padded arms of Rev. Mrs Dele George
and hubby, co founders of the Strong Tower Mission who for years, have been
on a mission to rescue abandoned children. What are the issues that make people abandon children? Of course the issue is poverty. I would say that the national income per head in this country is still very low compared to Europe or US in spite of the fact that Nigeria is very blessed with material and mineral resources and even manpower. Area
Boys -- A Growing Menace On The Streets Of Lagos
A group of armed street children
is on the rampage in the streets of SORRY STORY OF NIGERIA’S STREET KIDS: Wasted by poverty in the land Their outlook paints a vivid
picture of their state of helplessness. They appear unkempt and totally
hopeless of what the future holds. In their tattered clothes, they find homes
in the most filthy and awkward places like abandoned buildings, under
overhead bridges and school premises. Usually,
they retire to these “abodes” at dusk and dash out early in the morning
before the prying eyes of security agents or
the rightful owners of the structures turn out for business. Consortium
for Street Children Children work as vendors or hawkers,
beggars, shoe shiners, car washers and watchers, head-loaders, scavengers and
bus conductors. The majority are boys but there are
a few girls. Street families, a variant of street living, are also becoming
prominent Dateline
Nigeria — Tomorrow Can Wait The entire urban landscape of NGO Periodic Report for Nigeria [DOC] The number of children who live and sleep on the streets has been on the increase in most major urban areas in Nigeria. There are so many locations in which children are found to be living on the street. Street families are also becoming prominent in certain urban slum areas. These destitute families can be found living under bridges, in public toilets and in markets. Their children too are in extremely precarious condition and urgently require intervention and assistance. Information
on the Child Welfare League Of Nigeria [PDF] In Social
Correlates And Coping Measures Of Street-Children OBJECTIVE: This paper sought to achieve two
objectives: First, to identify the social correlates attributable to
street-children in south-western The nature of continuous exposure
to the street and its associated lifestyles make street children vulnerable
to the use of psychoactive substances. 1000 youth have been identified
for an agricultural project under the ''Good Boys and Good Girls'' program.
The youth will be placed on allocated land where they will farm cassava and
maize, two of VSA ARTS OF NIGERIA
GOES AWAKENING THE CREATIVE OF THE LESS PRIVILEDGED
CHILDREN
- In a major drive to bring reformations and opportunities to these so called
"Street Children" VSA arts of Nigeria has embarked on an Art awareness
project at the Juvenile Remand & Rehabilitation center in Ibadan, Oyo
state. The EFA 2000 Assessment: Country Reports - Nigeria - Self Help Effort 12.2.9 RESCUING, REHABILITATION AND RETURNING STREET CHILDREN - The Street Children phenomenon in Nigeria is gradually assuming alarming proportions, particularly in urban areas. The immediate cause of this phenomenon appears to be deeply entrenched poverty From
Domestic Abuse to the Streets It had been stated that in Nigeria
children as young as four or five years old were sometimes taken into
families as domestic helpers because their parents were poor or in debt.
These children are prone to sexual abuse and exploitation. When ill treated,
they run away and end up in the streets where they are vulnerable to
commercial sexual exploitation (CSEC).
Nigerian
“Shade Tree Theatre” with Street Children Shade Tree Theatre is a project with
working children in the streets of Street
Children's Experiences In The Injustice System [DOC] Amongst the list of practices that
street children in Pre-trial detention of children
has been found to last as much as one year. Some criminal cases are just left
unattended to while children languish away on remand. Children in the homes
feel the police have forgotten them there. Children are not given the chance
to speak or defend themselves; Children are held in handcuffs; Sometimes
children become hopeless and feel like they want to die; Children do not
reply to the police statement. 4.
Addressing Child Labor and Promoting Schooling - a. Child Labor Initiatives UNICEF
has established a series of programs for street children in Street Children And The
Juvenile Justice System In Lagos State Of Nigeria Report discusses the framework for
the juvenile justice system in All material used herein
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Human Trafficking in [Nigeria] [other countries]Street Children in [Nigeria Child Prostitution in [Nigeria] [other countries]