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Introduction
The concept of child abuse flowing from child neglect is form of maltreatment which impedes
child survival, development and participation. Children are seen as assets to parents and
government because they are human resources that any society can boast of, therefore, parents
especially in poor countries such as Nigeria, where there are labour intensive occupations.
Ejikeme (2007) defines child abuse as a problem arising from the intention of an adult to carry
out an act that is inimical or detrimental to the physical, intellectual, language, emotional, moral
and social development of a child; while child neglect which involves some degree of
deprivation refers to an intentional failure of an adult to perform physical, cognitive, moral and
social development of a child. However, it is imperative to note in this premise that constitute
child maltreatment in one society may not be considered same in another society, this is because
of cultural differences and belief, practices. From the above, it will be important to trace the fact
that there might be different factors that caused child abuse and neglect since the application of
cultural ideology is not universal; that is, it changes across societies. However, different forms of
child maltreatment exist like: child trafficking, street begging, street hawking, child
discrimination or child preference, early marriage, prostitution, child labour, use of virgin girl-
child for ritual/sacrifice etc. despite tangible evidences or empirical indicators of child abuse and
that occurs in all levels of social class, race, religion and ethnic groups. It is important to note
that the practice of child abuse and neglect is supported by government indirectly when the
individual is seen as a product of the society. Poor socio-economic status of parents trace its
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roots through unemployment and destitution as government does not address social inequality,
unemployment and poverty amongst its citizens, instead people in position work towards
actualizing their selfish ends and those who cannot meet the society values
Poverty is an identical bane as it is a global trend which affects people in various depths and
levels at different times and phases of existence. The extent of association between poverty and
actually no nation that is absolutely free from poverty and unemployment. The major difference
Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and the eight in the world with a population of
140 million by 2006 census with a nominal GDP of $207. Billion per capita income of $1401 it
has tyrants (Ebigbo, P.O., 2015). As a result second largest economy in Africa (Ebigbo, P.O.,
2015). As impressive as the above figures may appear youth unemployment has been one of the
major problems facing Nigeria. A high level of un and underemployment is one of the critical
socio-economic problems facing Nigeria. While the labor force with an increasing proportion of
youth employment opportunities is inadequate to absorb labor market entrants. As a result, youth
are especially affected by unemployment. Moreover, young people are more likely to be
So many factors have in one way or another brought about or increased the rate of child abuse in
Nigeria. These causes are as a result of certain activities and parental actions which has gone
beyond control and has majorly affected Nigeria and its image, some of the factors which
includes poverty, divorce, lack of attention, early deaths of children’s parent/guardian, this and
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many more are the problems the researcher is looking forward to properly analyze and resolve as
the above listed problems has not only affected the country internally but also externally as major
crises have occurred in Nigeria in recent times like the Boko Haram abduction and the abuse
Forms of child maltreatment like; child abandonment, child abduction, child trafficking, street
begging, street hawking, child labour, prostitution, early marriage and the like, deteriote and
cause a total decay of the society. This foster insecurity and anarchy as a result of inadequate
means of meeting legitimate goals or values of the society. This jeopardizes not only the
immediate children but further endangers our relationship with external countries, future
continuum of the children and a tactical genocidal wipe of humanity since child maltreatment
These actions of theirs can be blamed majorly on the government, their parents and the current
situation of the country, these has made a lot of countries loose trust in Nigeria as they believe if
Nigeria can not take care of her own country and her citizens, how can she be trusted with
anything vital. These problems and more are what the researcher is looking forward to critically
i. To examine the relationship between child abuse and Nigeria’s external image
iii. To identify and analyze the effect of poverty on child abuse in Nigeria.
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iv. To provide workable recommendations that can be useful to assist the reduction and
i. What is the relationship between child abuse and Nigeria’s external image?
ii. Does child abuse have any impact on Nigeria’s external image?
iv. What are the workable recommendations that can be useful to assist the reduction and
The researcher’s work focuses on Child Abuse in Nigeria and its Implications for the country’s
External Relations, the research will focus majorly on Nigeria and the activities of child abuse
It is important to carry out this study to draw the attention of the public to the existence and
problems of child abuse and how its affecting Nigeria’s external image. The study is considered
as a humble attempt towards understanding the problems of child abuse in Nigeria. Moreover
this study makes people to be conscious of the problem of child abuse in order to be aware of its
implication for the betterment of the society. It helps also to strengthen parental relationship with
their children and government awareness to the situation of child abuse and how it is majorly
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Finally, the study provides important information and data needed for the understanding and
treatment of children that are involved in the activities of child abuse and the citizens of the
country undergoing the problem of poverty. This research work will also serve as a source of
reference material in the department of Politics and International Relations, Lead City University
that are interested in carrying out a research work in this area of study.
The following definition of terms simply represents the specific meaning that will be given to
Child Abuse
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) defines child abuse and child maltreatment
as "all forms of physical and/or emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect or negligent
treatment or commercial or other exploitation, resulting in actual or potential harm to the child's
neglect of a child or children, especially by a parent or other caregiver. It may include any act or
failure to act by a parent or other caregiver that results in actual or potential harm to a child, and
can occur in a child's home, or in the organizations, schools or communities the child interacts
with.
External Image
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An external image is the totality of all perceptions, feelings, and judgments that third parties
make about Nigeria on the situation of child abuse. These interpersonal perceptions are
automatically linked to earlier experiences with Nigeria on the situation of child abuse being
observed and with the feelings arising from these interactions and evaluations. The image that
others have of Nigeria shapes their expectations of the country, and significantly affects their
Implication
Implication can be referred to as the conclusion that can be drawn from something although it is
not explicitly stated. It can be referred as the effect of child abuse on Nigeria’s external Image
Nigeria
A country of western Africa on the Gulf of Guinea which consist of 36 states, As of 2015,
Nigeria is the world's 20th largest economy, worth more than $500 billion and $1 trillion in terms
of nominal GDP and purchasing power parity respectively. It overtook South Africa to become
Africa's largest economy in 2014. The 2013 debt-to-GDP ratio was 11 percent. Nigeria is
considered to be an emerging market by the World Bank; it has been identified as a regional
power on the African continent, a middle power in international affairs and has also been
identified as an emerging global power. Nigeria is a member of the MINT group of countries,
which are widely seen as the globe's next "BRIC-like" economies. It is also listed among the
"Next Eleven" economies set to become among the biggest in the world. Nigeria is a founding
member of the African Union and a member of many other international organizations, including
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Poverty: - The World Bank defines poverty in absolute terms. The bank defines extreme poverty
as living on less than US$1.90 per day> (PPP) and moderate poverty as less than $3.10 a day. It
has been estimated that in 2008, 1.4billion people had consumption levels below US$1.25 a day
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References
Child maltreatment: Fact sheet No. 150". World Health Organization. December 2014
Ebigbo, P.O. ‘Situation Analysis of Child Abuse and Neglect in Nigeria: Making use of Nigeria
Daily Newspaper’, Journal of African Psychology vol.2, pp. 95-101, 2015.
Ejikeme, K. Guidelines For The Development of Measures to Combat Child Abuse: Geneva:
Salami, C.G.E. (2002); ―Enterpreneurship and Youth Unemployment in Nigeria: The Missing
Link. Global Journal of Management and Business Research, Volume 11 Issue 5 Version 1.0,
April.
Chapter Two
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Literature Review
Hawking by boys and girls is widespread, and Nigeria is the largest black country in the world.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, a population of 173.6 million people were
recorded. It is said that every one out of four Africans is a Nigerian. There are several ethnic
groups, but three major tribes make up the majority of the people: the Igbo in the East, the
Yoruba in the West and the Hausa in the North. Nigeria plays a leading role in determining the
future of Africa, both at the global and regional levels. Although endowed with rich natural
resources and extensive human resources, Nigeria has not developed the necessary technological,
industrial, managerial and political know-how to pull its resources together in a sound economy
to take care of basic needs of its population. As a result, poverty and hard living conditions are
prevalent, affecting children in particular. The country faces social upheaval, cultural conflict,
According to Ebigbo1, children in urban areas are quickly caught up in the daily struggle for
survival and material gain. In the Eastern and Western parts of Nigeria, children may attend
schools in the morning or afternoon and hawk goods outside of school hours, though there are
some children who trade on the streets the whole day. Their income helps their family or house
madams financially or pays for their school fees. Although, some Nigerian children must return
home at the end of the day, a growing number including girls, subsist on the streets parents
clearly recognize that the practice holds dangers for children. According to Nzewi 2, a systematic
survey of cases of sexual abuse of children in three major towns in Nigeria indicated that 60%
involved girls below the age of 12 years. Abuse occurred on three levels: exposure to overt
genital seduction, exposure to genital stimulation, and witnessing adults in the act of sex. It was
discovered that hawking is the major factor which contributed to these three levels of abuse.
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Men may lure young female hawkers by buying up all their wares and giving them money in
addition to this or they may pay them to run errands. These girls may be shown pornographic
pictures in magazines or pornographic Video films. Since the girls have been driven through
poverty from homes, to sell goods from door to door, their parents are happy to receive money
which may in certain instances be vital to the family survival. The girls learn to beautify
themselves daily to draw interest and begin to look forward to hawking. Parents are unable to
intervene since the girls keep their liaisons secret because of societal taboos against sex
discussion.
The concept of child abuse has no specific definition as it varies from individuals, ethnic,
religious and professional bodies. The practice of child abuse has manifested in all socio-
economic classes, religion, ethnic and cultural groups. Child abuse is not a new social problem in
history. There is a considerable evidence to show that prior to the European industrial revolution
and certainly during the period, there had been systematic abuse of children for both economic
an ideological reasons. Since then attempts have been made to seek an explanation to the
problem and important ways of systematically controlling and preventing it as well as treating
the victimized child. Despite the attempt and the considerable attention, the problem still remains
in recent years, a largely neglected policy area, one in which it has not been possible to obtain
any widespread understanding or agreement as to the steps that can be taken to combat It.
According to Carballo4, child abuse is generally defined as ‘any act of commission or in the case
of neglect, omission that endangers or impairs a child’s physical, developmental and emotional
wellbeing’. Child abuse encompasses physical, psychological and sexual abuse and neglect.
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According to Portwood5, children who are physically abused are more likely to face variety of
emotional problems and children who are sexually abused exposed their genitals to their parents,
friends and strangers who engage in sexual acts with them or for pornographic purposes 5.
Kimberly and Kempe reported that child is vulnerable to extreme maltreatment such as child
scolding, prostitution and labour. Female children who are between the ages of seven and
thirteen years experience sexual abuse than male children 6. Some of these children live with their
parents, step parents, single mothers with cohabiting male, abusive parents and substance
abusive family member, who, out of aggression, abuse their own children7. Heyman observed
that child abusers are likely to have experienced abuse themselves. Abusive behavior is
transmitted across generation with studies showing that some 30% of abused children became
abusive parents8. Children who experience abuse and violence may adopt the behaviour as a
model for their own parenting, and parents who cannot differentiate between discipline and
abuse also abuse their own children9 . The potential for maltreatment exists in all social strata
and every family at some points in a child’s development. There is no single explanation for
child abuse. Child abuse results from a complex combination of personal, social and cultural
i. Physical abuse
ii. Physical neglect
iii. Verbal abuse
iv. Emotional/Psychological abuse
v. Street children
vi. Child labour
vii. Child abandonment
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viii. Sexual abuse
Physical Abuse
Physical abuse involves physically harmful actions directed against a child. It involves any
inflicted injuries such as bruises, burns, injuries, fractures, poisoning, striking, kicking or any
other actions that result into a physical impairment of the child 11. Physical abuse of children can
parents, elders or caretakers12. Physical abuse could lead to severe injuries, bruises, burns,
incapacitation, disability or even death. This physical violence may come as a result of lack of
Physical Neglect
Physical neglect can be defined as neglect of the physical appearance, nutritional, medical and
safety needs of the child. It manifests in unkempt appearance, inappropriate dressing, anger,
unbalance diet and non-immunization of children and ante-natal neglect which are aspects of the
neglect14. Child neglect, most times, is unintentional (human reasoning demands that children
should be taken care of), however, certain socio economic and cultural constraints may lead to
the neglect15.
Verbal Abuses
This is another form of abuse which is often taken for granted by parents and guardians. Verbal
abuse of children has been observed as having negative effects on psychological and emotional
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development of the child. It is the most commonly used form of abuse. Verbal expressions make
a child feel bad (about him or she) and this usually affects the esteem of the child16.
Emotional/Psychological abuse usually starts with physical abuse and emotional neglect.
Emotional neglect is a psychological internal perception 17. The effect of emotional abuse can be
crippling. They are usually diagnosed by psychiatrists and psychologists. Emotional abuse is an
as a form of parental hostility in terms of terrorizing, rejections and insults. It manifests in forms
of aggression, retreatism and general feelings of incompetence. Emotional neglect also comes in
forms of emotional deprivation, lack of cares, love and empathic attention towards a child.
Street Hawking
Street hawking by children is another form of abuse. Street hawking encourages sexual abuse.
This may occur in three levels: exposure to overt genital seduction, exposure to genital
stimulation and witnessing adults in the act of sex. Man may lure young female hawkers by
buying up all their wares and giving them money. These girls may be shown pornographic
pictures in magazines or pornographic video films or the sexual organs of the would be
assailants18.
Child Abandonment
This is another form of child abuse. Child abandonment is the most frequently reported form of
child abuse and neglect. Most children involved are usually new born babies and those between
the ages of 1-3 years. Children can be abandoned in gutters, pit latrines, on rubbish dumps in the
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bush or along pathways near places like police stations, hospitals e.t.c where they can be easily
Child Labour
Child labour is a prominent way of abusing children. In the poorer parts of the world, like Asia,
South America and Africa, acute and wide –spread poverty can be seen as the main cause. If
children do not work, their own survival is at stake 19. In the African traditional Society, children
were source of labour for farming. However, with emergence of industrialization and
urbanization, such practice becomes dysfunctional and contemporary; such practice is referred to
as child labour. Child trafficking is particularly pernicious type of child labour. It is a practice
through which young people below 18 years are handed over by either or both parents or by a
guardian to a third person, whether for free or with the intention of exploiting the person or the
Sexual abuse is defined as ‘involving any minor child in the sexual gratification of an adult’.
Sexual abuse includes: oral to genital, genital to genital, rectal contacts and showing
pornography to child or using a child in the production of pornographic films. Sexual abuse most
is commonly practiced by an individual known by the victim, parents or other family member.
Rarely is the abuser a stranger. Intra familial and incest sexual abuse is difficult to document and
manage because the child in an additional abuse is coerced not to tell or reveal the abuse while
attempts are made to preserve the family unit20. According to Otensanya, in discussing sexual
abuse in Africa, argues that one has to be careful to take cultural peculiarities of the practices into
cognizance. For example, some children get married as early as five years, though; sexual
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intercourse may not come up until she is around ten or twelve years of age, especially in the
Northern part of Nigeria where there are several cases of forced marriages and giving out of
Child abuse has a lot of negative impacts on the victims, and the society at large. The prevailing
cases of child abuse, according to research studies, indicate that every day, a significant number
of children are exposed to serious abuse and neglect leading to physical and psychological injury
and serious long term consequences22. When people are abused it can affect every aspect of their
lives, especially self-esteem. Teens that are abused often have trouble with sleeping, eating and
concentrating. They may not do well at school because they are angry or frightened. They also
have a form or kind of distrust for others. They may feel a lot of anger toward other people and
Teenage Pregnancies
In the past decades, sexual activity has increased among adolescents and also the number of
unplanned teen pregnancies. Pregnant teens have been found to be significantly more
maladjusted than the adult women. Disassociation and depression are immediate effects of child
abuse. Disassociation was found to be associated with reports of becoming pregnant or having
abortion in high schools and child abuse history was significantly correlated with make report of
girl friends becoming pregnant and reports of girlfriends having abortion in high school. Teenage
years becoming pregnant’. The term in every day speech usually refers to women who have not
reached legal adulthood, which varies across the world, who become pregnant23.
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Causes of Teenage Pregnancy
Teenage pregnancy can be caused by several factors, some of which are explained below:
Sexual Abuse
Studies have found that between eleven and twenty percent of pregnancies in teenagers were as a
result of rape, while about sixty percent of teenage mothers had unwanted sexual experiences
(abuse) preceding their pregnancy. One in five teenage fathers admitted to forcing girls to have
sex with them. Multiple studies have indicated a strong link between early childhood sexual
Up to seventy percent of women who gave birth in their teens were molested as young girls. In
some countries, sexual intercourse between a minor and an adult is not considered consensual. In
Dating Violence
Studies have indicated that adolescent girls are often in abusive relationships. They have also
reported that knowledge of their pregnancy often intensified violent and controlling behaviour on
the part of their boyfriends. Many teenage mothers had been beaten by their boyfriends. 51% had
experienced attempts of birth control sabotage and 21% experienced schools or work sabotage.
Studies have also found that girls whose fathers left the family early in their lives had the highest
Childhood Environments
Research has shown that women exposed to abuse, domestic violence and family strife in
childhood are more likely to become pregnant as teenagers and the risk of becoming pregnant as
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a teenager increases with the number of adverse childhood experience. Studies have also found
that boys raised in homes with a battered mother or who experienced physical violence directly,
Low educational expectations have been identified as a risk factor of teenage pregnancy. A girl
who is not so educated and has a mother that is illiterate is also more likely to become pregnant
as a teenager if the mother also gave birth in her teen. Adolescent pregnancy can also be caused
parental supervision.
Foster Care
Foster care youths are more likely, than their peers, to become pregnant as teenagers. Studies
found that the birth rate of girls in foster care was more double the rate of their peers outside the
There was a belief that street hawking prepares the children for adult roles, this belief does not
take cognizance of the fact that the juvenile hawkers on the street are exposed to numerous
hazards ranging from physical violence to loss of wares, risk of accident, robbery, kidnapping
and even murder for ritual purposes. They are exposed to vagaries of weather (extremes of cold
or heat), to insects and reptiles bites, to hunger and deprivation. The most troubling, perhaps, is
the fact that some are sexually exploited and forced into prostitution with the risk of unwanted
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pregnancies and contracting sexually transmitted infections (including HIV). Kathleen argued
that child labour has physical consequences on the children. These range from malnourishment,
disease, musculoskeletal disorders from heavy labour, physical and sexual abuse. Korbin,
Malinosky and Hansan, opined that child labour can result into bodily injuries to the children and
expose them to toxic agents in the process. Basu and Van protested that socially, children can
experience negative effects on their educational development and performance. Illiteracy, low
school attendance, and low enrolment have developmental and performance implication and
Onuzulike grouped the consequences of street hawking by children into three, namely: Physical,
diseases, food poisoning and traffic congestion. Psychological consequences of child street
hawking include: stress, fatigue, depression, anger and resultant ills. Social implications include:
unwanted pregnancies, prostitution, smoking, robbery, truancy and poor academic performance
among others.
Street hawking does not endanger only the lives of the hawkers, but also the food hawked and
the consumer society at large. Contamination can occur from indiscriminate exposure of food
items to air, dust, flies and dirt. Child street hawkers spend most of their time outside the home in
a bid to sell their wares. They do not only hawk during the early mornings but at night and
during harsh weather. Some of the hawkers are welcomed home with battering by their parents or
caretakers when they could not make profit from their wares or when they could not finish
selling their wares. Above all, hawking affects academic performance of the children. Most of
the hawkers who hawk in the morning hours before going to school are perpetual latecomers to
school. They lack concentration in class work due to fatigue and stress. These result to poor
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academic performance, delinquency and truant behaviour. They tend to show behavioural
problems, low self – esteem withdrawal syndrome, oppositional behaviour and learning
difficulties.
Children hawkers may end up becoming „‟street children or children of the street” when they
run away from parental or guardian abuse, leaving them to eke out a living on their own. The
physical and health consequences of children participating in the sales and service sector in Latin
America, Asia and Africa include diseases (respiratory problems) injuries, rape and molestation,
delinquent activities. Such children may face robbery, inadequate sleep due to fatigue and long
Children hawkers also encounter problems related to their psychological well – being. These
include stigmatization by the press and public, feelings of disheartenment, stress and irritability,
personality disorders, anti – social behaviours, alienation, and isolation from their family . There
are negative effects on education and overall human capital formation (Murphy et al., 1991).
Children hawkers tend to keep bad company and are negatively pressured to engage in
delinquent behaviors (Hughes, 2009). The common trend emerging from the synthesis of
literature is that street hawking has detrimental effects for children’s health, social and
Under the Nigerian Law, a person can be classified into four folds namely: an infant (age 1-
6years),a child (age 7-13year), a young person (14-17years) and an adult (18year and above).
However, the child Rights Act 2003 classified any person who is below the age of 18 years as a
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child. In the same vein, the Convention on the Rights of the child (CRC) defines a child „as any
human being who is below the age of 18, years except the law of the child’s country states
otherwise‟. For the purpose of this work, the child is referred to as any human being below the
age of 18 years.
It is important to note that Labour Act, Criminal Code, Penal Code, the Constitution of the
Federal Republic of Nigerian Constitution. (1999), Child Right Act (2003) and the Convention
on the Rights of the Child (CRC) shall be our guide under this legal framework. According to the
convention on the right of the child (CRC) to which Nigeria is a signatory, a child is defined as
„a human being below the age of 18 years, except the law of the child’s country stated
i. Every child has the right to his/her life and the development of body and mind.
ii. Government of member nations must ensure that child suffers no discrimination.
iii. Children shall not be forced to leave or be separated from their parents unless by the
iv. The upkeep and upbringing of the child is the responsibility of the parents but the
v. States shall protect children from all forms of sexual abuse, neglect or exploitation.
vi. A sentence of death shall not be passed on any child below the age of 18 years.
vii. Children shall be free to enjoy their culture, religion and language and shall be given
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viii. The rights presented in the convention should be widely made known to both adults
The thrust of these rights is to assure that every child born into world is accorded in his or her
childhood and youth, the fullest opportunities for self-realization, by being entitled to
opportunities and facilities which guarantee healthy and normal development in all spheres of
human life.
The law governing the rights of a child in labour issues in Nigeria is the Labour Act. Section 59
(b) of the Act provides that no young person shall be employed in any work which is injurious to
his health or which is dangerous or immoral. The Act further provides that no child under the
Age of 16 years shall be employed in circumstances in which it is not reasonably possible for
him to return each day to the place of residence of his parents or guardians. The section forbids a
child less than 16 years from working underground or on machines. It further forbids young
persons from working for a longer period than four hours in one day. It places additional
restrictions on the employment of a child or young person on a ship or any vessel and it prohibits
absolutely, the night employment of young persons. From the above, one can see that the Labur
Act does not prohibit child labour, rather it only places restrictions on where, when and how
2.1.4 Rights of a Child under the Criminal Law and Penal Law
Our guiding laws are the criminal code applicable to the southern part of Nigeria and the penal
code applicable to the Northern part of Nigeria. Section 300-302 of the criminal code becomes
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imperative for our consideration. Section 300 in particular states inter-alia: It is the duty of every
person having charge of another who is unable, by reason of age, to withdraw such charge and
who is unable to provide himself with the necessities of life, whether the charge is undertaken
under a contractor or is imposed by law which arises by reason of any act, whether lawful or
unlawful, of the person who has such charge to provide for the other person the necessaries of
life, and he is held to have caused any consequences which result to the life or health of the other
person by reason of any omission to perform that duty‟. This section, like sections 301 and 302
of the criminal code criminalizes the omission or failure to provide necessities of life to a child
and imposes liability for any consequence which may arise from such omission or failure.
Section 301 provides for the study of every person who as head of family, has charge of a child
under the age of 14 years, being a member of his household, to provide the necessaries of life for
such a child and is held to have caused the consequences which result to that child whether or not
the child is helpless. These sections are meant to ensure that a young child in the charge of
another is properly cared for. Penal code (section 238) of the code criminalizes cruelty to
children. It states that “any person having the charge or care of a child under the age of 15 years
or being in a position of authority over him, who willfully ill-treats such a child in a way as to
cause injury to the child’s health is guilty of an offence punishable with imprisonment of up to
two years or with fine or both”. Section 275 of the penal code punishes procreation of a girl
under the age of 18 for immoral purposes. Likewise, section278 of the same penal code punishes
the buying and selling of any person under the age of 18 years for immoral purposes. While
section 284 of the penal code punishes any person who has sexual intercourse with a girl under
14 years with or without her consent. In a related version, sections 223-225 of the criminal code
sanction whoever trades in prostitution, facilitate the transport of human beings within or outside
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Nigeria for commercial sexual exploitation and makes profit from related activities. In addition,
no sentence of death can be pronounced on a child or a young offender who is under 17 years old
at the time of the commission of the offence. As such children and young persons are to be tried
The 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria does not specifically distinguish
between the applicability of its provisions relating to children and adults. But it enumerates
under its Chapter IV certain rights tagged Fundamental Human Rights which are inalienable
rights of all the citizens of the country, children and young person’s inclusive. These are rights to
personal liberty, human dignity and freedom from slavery and torture, freedoms of thought,
opinion, conscience and religion, expression, association and peaceful assembly, movement, fair
hearing in both civil and criminal cases, freedom from discrimination on ground of sex, race or
ethnicity, religion, political persuasion e.t.c. The rights enumerated above are recognized and
confirmed by both the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights and the United Nations
In addition to the above, there are fundamental objectives and directive principles of state policy
set out in chapter D section 13-24 of the constitution. Section 17 (3f) in particular provides‟ “the
state shall direct its policy towards ensuring that – children, young persons and aged are
protected against any exploitation whatsoever against moral and material neglect. This
specifically addresses the protection of children against exploitation in form of child labour in all
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Several rights of Nigerian child are listed under the Child’s Right Act, 2003 but those that are
i. Right to Dignity: section 11 of the Act provides that every child is entitled to respect for
the dignity of his person and accordingly, no child shall, among other things, be held in
slavery or servitude. Every child has the right to parental care and protection, and no
child shall be separated from his parents against the wish of the child.
ii. Right to Education: section 15 states that „every child has the right to free, compulsory
iv. Protection against abduction: No person shall remove or take a child out of lawful
custody.
v. Protection against Child Labour: Section 26 of the Act States that „no child shall be
subjected to any forced or exploitative labour or employed to work in any capacity except
vi. Protection against Buying, Selling, Begging and Prostitution. Section 38 outlaws buying,
selling, hiring or dealing in a child. A child must not be used for the purpose of begging
for alms, hawking of foods, guiding beggars, prostitution, domestic or sexual labour or
vii. Protection against Sexual Abuses: section 29 provides that no person shall have sexual
intercourse with a child. Such offence is rape and is liable on conviction to imprisonment
for life.
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viii. However, the most relevant parts of the Act to our study are: Protection against Child
Labour, buying, selling, begging and prostitution. These two parts address the topic under
this research.
The legal frameworks examined so far, clearly show that, children must be protected and taken
care of by all means by the parents and by the government of every nation. They are set of
people that are helpless and therefore, must be helped by all available means.
challenge to development agents and policy makers, there hardly seem to be such unanimity in
what poverty means. The debate on the conception of poverty is quite elaborate. But from a
generic stand-point, poverty is a social construct explained and defined as it suits the actor or
particular points in time. But despite the conceptual variances, there is a consensus that poverty
The problem of definitional variance is put in strait line when we bring to bear that any analytical
exploration of the concept of poverty can only be meaningful within a particular historical setting
of time and place, and must be erected on the prevailing conventions and circumstances of the
society in question.
For the purpose of this study, we will examine poverty under four approaches:
25
Poverty defies objective definition because of its multi-dimensional nature. There is yet no
universally accepted definition of poverty. There is always the difficulty in deciding where to
draw the line between the poor and the “non-poor”. Aluko refers to poverty as a lack of
command over basic consumption needs, which mean, in other words, that there is an inadequate
level of consumption giving rise to insufficient food, clothing and/or shelter, and moreover the
lack of certain capacities, such as being able to participate with dignity in society 30. Poverty has
been defined as the inability to attain a minimum standard of living 31. The report constructed two
indices based on a minimum level of consumption in order to show 1`1the practical aspect of the
concept. While the first index was a country specific poverty line, the second was global,
allowing cross-country comparisons32. The United Nations has introduced the use of such other
indices as life expectancy, infant mortality rate, primary school enrolment ratio and number of
persons per physician. Poverty has also been conceptualized in both the “relative” and “absolute”
sense. This is generally based on whether relative or absolute standards are adopted in the
determination of the minimum income required to meet basic life’s necessities. The relative
depicts a situation in which a given material means of sustenance within a given society is hardly
enough for subsistence in that society. What is most important to deduce from these different
definitions is that, poverty must be conceived, defined and measured in absolute quantitative
ways that are relevant and valid for analysis and policy making in that given time and space. In
Nigeria, the prevalence of both relative and absolute poverty is duly recognized and even
mentioned in various National Developments Plans (1975, 1980). Concern for poverty scourge
received a further boost during the 1975 Annual Conference of the Nigerian Economic Society
(NES) and during the 1997 Annual Conference of the same NES. The 1975 NES conference was
26
devoted entirely to sensitizing the nation to the poverty menace view that poverty existed when
living. Some of the components of living were specified in the individual papers and more
importantly the urban poverty was well enlightened. While the 1997 Annual Conference was
different methods of alleviating poverty in Nigeria. It was agreed that majority of those who are
poor are not producers themselves. This group of people forms part of dependent population
because they have no direct earnings of the type typically evaluated in distribution studies. And
partly there is no guarantee that an increased income would be spent on essential services.
Therefore, it was agreed upon that improvement is basic needs such as medical, housing,
education, regular access to nutritional food and so on remains the best option. Dudley sees
poverty largely in the light of the need for personal growth in Nigeria. According to him, the
basic needs, which any society should provide for its members should include such things as
food, clothing, shelter, education, health, work and mobility. Dudley provided some basic
indicators of the state basic services especially in relation to the poor in Nigeria. Most of the
discussion was at a national aggregate level. Other than showing the general adverse situation in
the rural and urban areas, inequality, potable water supply, he also refers to issues of nutrition,
for instance, it was stated that 30 percent of the households in Oyo State are malnourished. He
also stated that in Lagos State more than 72 percent of the households live in one-room houses.
He also highlighted that access to health services may vary from two-third of the population in
the South to one-third in the North. Under the principle of basic needs, Steward did a
comprehensive study on Nigeria poverty. She alludes to the fact there is substantial under-
reporting in basic indicators especially in child mortality, diseases and morbidity. She also states
27
that there is positive urban bias in government expenditure for basic services significantly
inadequate income to meet basic food needs let alone basic services The issue of conceptualizing
poverty within a basic needs framework, specifying these needs and settling minimum levels for
them within the Nigerian context, has been the focus of studies by Ogwumike and Odubogun.
These studies generally defined poverty as a household’s inability to provide sufficient income to
satisfy its need for food, shelter, education, clothing and transportation. Minimum standards for
food are based on nutritional requirements in terms of calories and protein consumption habit
and customs are also allowed for in the selection of the food items to give the required national
stock. Shelter and education, the number of person per room and the number of children
attending school (and the level of schooling) respectively, are adopted as minimum standard.
However, the problem of defining minimum standard for clothing and transportation has
persisted.
Given that poverty has been correctly conceptualized, traditional approaches to measurement
usually start with the specification of poverty line and the value of basic needs considered
adequate for meeting minimum levels of decent living in the affected society. Poverty can be
measured using the head count ratio which is based on the ratio or percentage of the number of
individual or household whose income are not equal to the poverty line to the total number of
gap” ratio. Here the deviation of the poor’s incomes from the poverty line is average and divided
by the poverty line or expressed as its percentage. A major work on Nigeria using the core basic
28
needs approach is that of Ogwumike. His work examined the utility of poverty measure that
takes into account the basic needs of life based on Nigerian scene.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) that a staggering 112.519 million Nigerians live in
relative poverty conditions is alarming. This figure represents 69 per cent of the country’s total
population estimated to be 163 million. More worrisome is the fact that the poverty rate is rising
at a time the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate is put at 7.75 per cent. In a 26-page
report, “The Nigeria Poverty Profile 2012,” released, last week, in Abuja, the Statistician-
General of the NBS, Dr. Yemi Kale, noted that the figure might increase to 71.5 per cent when
the 2013 figure is computed, especially if the potential impacts of several anti-poverty and
employment generation intervention programmes are not factored in. The 2012 figure, the report
said, was arrived at based on a survey of randomly selected 20 million households with an
average of between four to six family members using the relative poverty measurement.
According to statisticians, this measurement compares the living standards of people living in a
given society within a specified period of time. Also, other poverty measurement standards used
in measuring poverty by the NBS such as absolute measure, the dollar per day measure and the
subjective poverty measure, show that the poverty level is on the increase. For instance, absolute
measure puts the country’s poverty rate at 99.284 million or 60.9 per cent; the dollar per day
measure puts the rate at 61.2 per cent; and the subjective poverty measure puts it at 93.9 per cent.
The report, which provides details of poverty and income distribution across the country, put the
2014 poverty measurement rate at 54.4 per cent. It also shows that income inequality had risen
29
The highlight of the report shows that the North-West and the North-East had the highest poverty
rates in the country in 2012 with 77.7 per cent and 76.3 per cent respectively. However, the
South-West geo-political zone recorded the lowest at 59.1 per cent. Of all the 36 states of the
federation, Sokoto had the highest poverty rate (86.4 per cent), while Niger had the lowest at
(43.6 per cent). The 2014 poverty rate showed that Jigawa State had the highest rate of 95 per
cent while Anambra, with a poverty rate of 22 per cent, was the least poverty-stricken state. We
deplore the increasing poverty level in the country as shown by the survey. It is a pity that many
Nigerians are living below poverty line in an oil-rich country. The paradox is that while a
privileged few Nigerians are living in opulence, majority are wallowing in abject poverty.
The Federal Government should do something drastically to redistribute the national wealth in
such a way that it will benefit a greater number of Nigerians. The extant scenario where only a
few Nigerians are enjoying from the collective patrimony while majority are excluded is
unacceptable and may likely breed social discontent if not well and quickly addressed. The
government should embark on job creation drive to ensure that majority of the citizens are
gainfully employed. We believe that the high rate of poverty in the land is as a result of massive
unemployment. There is a growing army of unemployed school leavers at almost all levels of our
education system, especially the tertiary. Graduate unemployment in Nigeria has reached an
alarming rate that something needs be done urgently to curb it. Perhaps, more attention should be
paid to vocational and technical education that can make its graduates to be self-employed
instead of searching for elusive jobs. The agricultural sector offers brighter hope for massive job
creation. But, the snag here is that the sector is not yet mechanized enough to unleash such
potential. Governments in the North-West and the North-East, the most affected geo-political
zones, should wake up and come up with pragmatic measures to halt the unacceptable level of
30
poverty in their region. The affected states should curb the festering almajiri culture and
philosophy and ensure that their citizens are given access to education and job opportunities.
A system that encourages some class of people to solely depend on other peoples’ wealth and
generousity for their livelihood as practiced in some northern states will always breed high level
of poverty. It is regrettable that some wealthy people in the North encourage and support this
ideology of over-dependence. There is no doubt that things can be better if this orientation of
dependence is changed. Job creation in this wise should not be limited to paid employment. Let
governments at all levels work in concert to reduce to the rising rate of unemployment in the
country by embarking on practicable job creation drives. Before delving into the categories of
poverty in such a naturally well-endowed nation, Nigeria – a pride that should have intoxicated
Nigerians to render self sacrifices to salvage their country – I may pose this questionable
An unwell thought out answer would create confusion in the Nigerian context. This is because it
is as much harder for a Nigerian to accept that he is rich than to accept that he is poor. Many rich
Nigerians do not believe that they are rich. One of the famous Nigerian leaders once claimed that
all he knew about himself was that he was comfortable, meaning that he does not accept being
However, three levels of poverty are adduced from Nigerians. One, there are those who are poor
but do not believe that they are so. For this group, they struggle – sometimes by all means
possible – to find ways of keeping their bodies and souls together. They are not limited to:
31
ii. Those unable to feed thrice a day with good meals
iii. Those unable to cater for their own children in terms of education, health and shelter
Two, they are those who are not poor but they believe that they are equal to the poor. This group
is made up of the insatiable minds who will refuse to pay a labourer his paltry reward upon the
abundance they swim in. They compete to be the greatest in wealth amassment which
arithmetically translates to impoverishing more Nigerians. One of such may be gathering the
fortunes of a quarter of the entire population of Nigeria. They are not limited to:
iii. Hardened criminals involving in bank robbery, pen robbery, 419, arms smuggling,
And three, there are those who are neither rich nor poor and they believe in what they are. This
Poverty is really a big challenge in Nigeria because there can be no hiding the fact that a hungry
man is an angry man. The masses and the youth, statistics have shown, are poor. Poverty is the
cause of many of our problems. It has led many Nigerians to attach no value and regard to life
itself.
32
According to the former Senior Special Adviser (SSA) to a former President on Poverty
Alleviation, Dr. Magnus Kpakol, in a paper titled, “NAPEP Programmes As Enabler For Rapid
Summit in Calabar, the Cross River State Capital, 74 million Nigerians are poor. The figure,
which was so as at December 2008, dropped by one million from 75 million in 2007. He said the
population of the nation’s poor people was 80 million in 1999, i.e., when Nigeria returned to
democracy.
According to him, the poverty rate was higher in the northern part of the country. His analysis
showed the following percentage of the poor in all the six geopolitical zones of the country.
South-South - 35.1%
With the fact so nakedly stated, it means that a lot has to be done by governments at all levels to
improve on the life of the people and enrich more of the people. The level of development of a
people is measured by the number of the citizens who are well-off. Nigerians have not erred in
any way not be well-off in the sea of wealth and bounties. Jobs should therefore be created to
33
engage the teeming population. It is only when this is done that majority will earn their
livelihood from legitimate sources while corruption and anti-development factors would be
Daily Trust of Thursday, January 27, 2013 reported Nigeria’s high poverty level as gathered by
governmental and non-governmental organizations in Nigeria. The report quoted that over 12
development. The Punch of February 14, 2012 reported the National Bureau of Statistics to have
said that 112.519 million Nigerians live in relative poverty conditions. This figure which was
contained in the 2012 poverty profile report of the agency represented 69 per cent of the
country’s total population. Fears hovered that the figure might increase to 71.5 per cent in 2013as
the 2012 figure showed data collected from 20 million households having an average of between
According to the report, the North-West and North-East recorded the highest poverty rates in the
country in 2012with 77.7 per cent and 76.3 per cent respectively. The South-West geo-political
zone recorded the lowest at 59.1 per cent. Among the 36 states of the federation, the report stated
that Sokoto had the highest poverty rate (86.4 per cent), while Niger had the lowest at (43.6, per
cent). As at 2014, Jigawa State had the highest poverty rate (95 per cent), while Anambra, with a
poverty rate of 22 per cent, was the least poverty-stricken state. In 2014, Nigeria’s relative
poverty measurement stood at 54.4 per cent but increased to 69 per cent or 112.518 million
Nigerians in 2012. Therefore, using the absolute poverty measure, 54.7 per cent of Nigerians
were living in poverty in 2014 but this increased to 60.9 per cent or 99.284 million Nigerians in
2012. Also, Leadership Newspaper of 3rd May, 2012 reported a federal minister of youth
34
development, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, as declaring about 67million young Nigerians to be
jobless, a figure out of which 80 per cent don’t possess a university degree. Bolaji, who
capacity of youths to build successful careers and businesses’ in Benin City, Edo State capital
attributed the high unemployment rate to years of failure at different levels, but explained that
“lack of job is a consequence of lack of skills”. At the Annual Microfinance Conference and
Entrepreneurship Awards held in January 2013 in Abuja, the Central Bank Governor, Sanusi
Lamido Sanusi, stated that 70 percent (105 million out of which were over 12 million
unemployed youths, mostly educated and potentially productive) of Nigerians were living below
the poverty line, up from 54 percent a year or two ago. Sanusi said such high incidence of
The economics of poverty, child abuse, external relations, poverty reduction, alleviation and
eradication has conquered a central theme on the academic research agenda. In recent time, many
economies of the world had experienced significant changes in economic growth. Nigeria has
recorded Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate appreciation in the past seven years with
6.5% in 2005; 7.0% in 2009; 7.9% in 2010 and 7.7% in 2011 respectively.The overall growth
rate can be misleading however, it tells us nothing about the sectoral composition of growth and
its real effect to livelihood of the citizens. It could be possible for the real economic productive
sectors which touch and sustain the survival means of major population to stagnate or decline
35
The 2011 annual socio-economic report reveals the rate of unemployment is higher in the rural
area (25.6%) than in the urban area (17.1%), which is invariably reflect directly in their standard
of living and poverty status .Thus, unemployment rate in the country is a direct indication of
those who are been deprived from essential well-being either in absolute or relative term of
poverty.
World Bank, (2000) refers to absolute poverty as insufficiency of or the total lack of basic
necessities like food, housing and medical cares. It embraces the inadequacy of education and
and transport facilities. While in relative terms, people are poverty-wracked when their incomes
development. Building future generation would certainly be adherent to the construction of solid
foundation and to sustain the younger ones. This could be doable via reducing, alleviating and
eradicating the absolute and relative poverty to children. Roelen and Gassmann, asserts that;
“Children are largely dependent on their direct environment for the provision of their basic
needs. Since they are not independent economic actors by themselves, they rely on the
Poverty often manifest itself from the natural inheritance (a child born in poor family
background would grown up poor) thereby, reducing child poverty would impulse to adult
UNICEF, advocats that every children living in poverty would experience deprivation of the
material, spiritual and emotional resources and they are in need of them to survive, develop and
36
grow well. In the same vein, those children are unable to enjoy their rights, and to achieve their
full potential or participate as full and equal members of society. These deprivations may either
be in education, health, nutrition, water, sanitation, shelter, information, income or any other
fundamental rights.
Child abuse consists of any act, or failure to act, that endangers a child's physical or emotional
health and development. Child abusers inflict physical, sexual and emotional trauma on
defenceless children every day. The scars can be deep and long-lasting. Unfortunately, the more
subtle forms of child abuse such as neglect and emotional abuse can be even more traumatizing
According to Owuamanam, the African Charter on the rights and welfare of the child recognizes
that the child in any African setting occupies a unique and privilege position and that the child
should grow up in a complete state of wellbeing to be provided by the family for full and
harmonious development of his personality. The requirements embedded for a complete state of
wellbeing are basic amenities, parental responsibilities in all dimensions, freedom to belong,
adequate shelter, personal growth, autonomy, purpose in life, environmental mastery, and
positive relations with others. Poverty has made it very difficult for many African children to
Poverty is one of the major problems facing families in Africa. Poverty creates an environment
that is very damaging to the development of children in every way, and affects their mental,
physical, spiritual and emotional well-being. It threatens the children’s rights to education, good
nutrition, stable health, survival, protection from exploitation and harm and also exposes them to
37
There are various types of child abuse. There are physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse
and neglect. Physical child abuse is an injury resulting from physical aggression. Even if the
injury was not intended, the act is considered physical abuse. Sexual child abuse is a sexual act
Emotional child abuse is any attitude, behaviour, or failure to act that interferes with a child's
mental health social development. It can range from a simple verbal insult to an extreme form of
punishment. Neglect is a very common type of child abuse. According to Child Welfare
Information Gateway more children suffer from neglect than from physical and sexual abuse
combined. Yet victims are not often identified, primarily because neglect is a type of child abuse
Child abuse occurs in many forms and across all socio-economic groups. It is a known fact that
some parents who live in poverty do not maltreat their children but research shows that children
who grow up in poverty can be more vulnerable to some forms of maltreatment, particularly
neglect and physical abuse. They also have an increased risk of adverse experiences and negative
outcomes, both in the short and long term. These outcomes include poor health (physical and
as well as becoming victims of crime. Children who experience both poverty and maltreatment
are doubly disadvantaged because the experience of maltreatment may in turn further undermine
There is no single definition of poverty but the two most commonly used concepts are absolute
poverty and relative poverty. Absolute poverty refers to a state in which income is insufficient to
prove the basic needs required to sustain life (that is, food and shelter). Relative poverty defines
38
income or resources in relation to the average, and recognizes that human needs are socially
derived and therefore vary according to social contexts and the ability (or inability) to participate
in the social norms of one’s society. Townsend considers that individuals, families and groups are
in relative poverty “if they lack the resources to obtain the types of diet, participate in the
activities and have the living conditions and amenities which are customary or at least widely
study conducted in the UK is then SPCC’s Child Maltreatment in the Family. The research
comprised of a random probability sample of 2,869 young people aged 18-24, who were
interviewed about family life in childhood, their parents’ and other people’s behaviour towards
them, their own wellbeing and views on the treatment of children. In this study, about one-third
of all respondents agreed with the statement that “there were always a lot of worries about
shortage of money” in their families when they were children, but this proportion rose to 65
percent among those who had experienced serious physical abuse or serious neglect, and 71
percent of those who had experienced emotional maltreatment- no social class trends were
identified for emotional maltreatment using other indicators. This study confirmed the
association between socio-economic status, financial problems in the family and parental child
abuse, though it is much stronger with physical and emotional abuse and absence of physical
care than with either sexual abuse outside the family or absence of supervision40.
The findings also showed that compared to young professional respondents, young people
working in semi-skilled or unskilled jobs were three times more likely to have suffered serious
physical abuse, and ten times more likely to have experienced a serious absence of care in
39
childhood; compared to respondents in higher education, they were twice as likely to have
A major cause of child abuse can be traced to poverty. According to eNote.com, there is now
overwhelming evidence of a strong relationship between poverty and child abuse. The great
majority of families to whom child abuse have been attributed live in poverty or near-poverty
circumstance42.
Also Gelles and Drake, Brett and Pandey pointed that there is strong evidence that poverty is
associated with child abuse. Xierali conducted a study in eight counties in Cincinnati and
Northern Kentucky area of United States of America. He found out that child abuse counts
strongly correlate with the poverty measurements; and that areas with poverty concentration tend
to have higher child abuse counts 43. Drucker also concluded, in his research that although child
abuse occurs across the socioeconomic spectrum, evidence shows that poor families are more
likely than those with more economic resources to be identified and labeled as maltreating44.
Various features of child abuse negate the United Nations convention and O.A.U charter on
Right of child in 1989. The basic principles of children's rights among others are: every child has
the right to live and develop; every child is entitled to adequate rest and recreation; every child is
The abused children are costly investment deficits for the society. This is because they arc prone
to high incidence of personality disorder and lack social skills for dealing with others. Some
abused children often repeat the vicious cycle by becoming abusive parents. This study is
therefore based on finding the relationship between poverty and child abuse, in Nigeria46.
40
Throughout history children were considered the property of their parents, and therefore used as
they saw fit. This slave like relationship led to increase of children who experienced abuse may
adopt this behaviour as a model for their own parenting. Children are abused in numerous ways
physically, emotionally and sexually. Abuse affects people in various ways, and in the process of
growing up, many do not realize the problems they encounter are directly attributed to the abuse.
Seventy percent (70%) of the children abused and neglected numerous kinds of dubious
characters. The fatalities were to children under the age of five years old. Small children are
especially vulnerable to physical injury such as road accident, ritual killings hunger and all sort
of hazards. Children are been abuse in different way. Ranging from child labour, begging, sexual
Most children are molested and abuse by their parents, the people suppose to show then love and
affection. Beating of children is almost universal in Nigeria homes and is applied frequently, as a
mode of discipline for almost any type of misdemeanor, however trivial. Some forms of
punishment meted out to children are extremely harsh and are both physically and emotionally
punishment for petty stealing within the household, resulting sometimes in infection and leaving
permanent marks of shame. Sometimes, pepper is applied to the incisions, or to sensitive parts of
the body such as eyes or genital to cause excruciating pains. Two groups of children tend to be
especially vulnerable to the risk of abuse with the home.. It was a wide spread cultural practice
for poor families to make arrangements for the fostering of one or more of their children, usually
with more prosperous relatives or community leaders, pastors, teachers or malamai, the aim is to
improve opportunities for education and eventual employment in exchange for the child’s labour
41
Increasingly, this traditional system has become subject to abuse, with children ending up in the
commercial middlemen, children fostered in such circumstances are likely to receive less
effective, care and support than other children in the household and sometimes to be ruthlessly
exploited. Other children become domestic servants or “house helps” as paid employees, rather
than foster children. In both cases, these children tend to work long hours, which often start
before the rest of the family awakes and continue to until late at night. As a result these children
are often also poorly fed and dressed and denied education or adequate health care.
Poverty has driven millions of Nigerians children into types of labours that are exploitative,
hazardous and prejudicial to their welfares and development. Poverty, along with certain cultural
traits, has also resulted in the spread of child begging. Furthermore, middlemen have exploited
the desperation and ignorance of parents, particularly in the rural areas, to procure children for
commercial trafficking. These trafficking rackets have assumed alarming proportions channeling
huge numbers of children to the employment market of major towns. Some children out of
hunger, tend to engage in begging to meet necessity of life. Begging is much more widespread in
the north, where alms giving is widely regarded as a religious duty. By far, the larger category of
beggar in this part of the country is associated with the “Almajiranci” system. It is a kind of
semi-formal system of Qur’anic education, in which children, mostly boys, are sent by their
parents to take up residence with Islamic teachers which are referred to as “malams” the aim is to
learn Qur’an and other Islamic text. Traditionally, the malam and his pupils lived entirely on the
generosity to the community, royal patronage and gift sent by the pupil’s parents. However as
poverty becomes more widespread, the old tradition of communal support for the “almajiri”
declined and the “malams” began to rely entirely on sending their pupils out for begging.
42
Child begging has many negative effect on the almajirai first, it is time-consuming in that it does
not allow a child to learn, secondly, some of the Almajirai faced with hunger due to the
dwindling resources of their benefactors, end up engaging in deviant types of behavior such as
theft and pick-pocketing, thuggery and vandalism, in contradicting with the upright moral code
they are supposed to be learning. Millions of Nigerian children face special problems of
These problems not only compound the risks of survival create for biddable obstacles for the
development of children, but are major challenges in their own right, requiring special protection
Before the 18th century industrial revolution in Europe, children with their parents usually
engage in work-related activities which were mostly domestic, family establishments. Such
activities were seen as normal, being part of the child's socialization process. Today, all that has
changed. Fyfe captured this change in cultural attitude by saying: Child labour was once
common and considered morally acceptable in many industrializing societies. Attitudes about
work and childhood have undergone a great transformation since the late 18th century however,
in many countries; the notion that children should work has been rejected. Within the developing
world where child labour often remains prevalent, such attitudes about childhood and child
The Aston, 1989 in an article monitored in the web put this in a better perspective. He said ‘to
overcome labour shortage, factory owners had to find other ways of obtaining workers. One
solution to the problem was to buy children from the orphanages and work houses. The children
became pauper apprentices. This involved the children signing contracts that virtually made them
43
The implication of the above statement is that in Europe, child labour came about as a response
to the increasing demand for labour occasioned by the industrial revolution. With the
development of industries, children were subjected to employment terms, some of which they
could hardly comprehend, leaving them to the mercy of their employers. Similar developments
are today true of the surge in the number of child labourers in Asia.
Lopez, in an attempt to investigate the relationship between child labour and agriculture in
Mexico revealed that ‘the practice is growing under the impact of the country’s successive
economic crisis and the rise in export-oriented agriculture. Joint ventures between Mexican and
U.S, European, and Japanese markets are achieving greater Competitiveness at the cost of
children working in the fields’. According to him, in an attempt to meet with the growing rate of
industrialization, especially in developing countries like Asia and Latin America, they found it
expedient to engage children in labour. Wright, 1996, expressed a similar view in his article "The
Littlest Victims of Global Progress". He comments that the drive by Thailand to join the Newly
Industrializing Countries (NICS) of Asia impacts heavily on the children. He further reiterates
that "becoming an NIC destroys the social fabric of this society, and the kids are paying the
highest price". This view lends credence to Basu, when he said ‘economic growth over the past
seven years has had a negative impact on the social system, particularly family structure.
44
Endnotes
1. Ebigbo, P.O., 1989. Situation analysis of child abuse and neglect in Nigeria making use
of Nigerian daily newspaper. Journal of African Psychology, 1: 95-101.
2. Nzewi , E.N., 1988. Street hawking: An etiological factor in the sexual abuse of children
In: Second Biennial: National Scientific conference on child Abuse. Nigeria.
3. Obiako, M.N., 1986. Sexual abuse of children: The nigerian styles: Anppcan / lauch,
october/november. Nigeria.
4. Carballo, M.‘Parents Mistreatment’ World Health Organization, Geneva, 1995.
5. Portwood, S ‘The Impact of Individuals Characteristics and Experiences on the
Definitions of Child Maltreatment’ Child Abuse and Neglect, vol.22, pp.437-452, 1998.
6. Kimberly, S ‘Article on Maltreated Children’. Online Available: http//:unesco.org,2001.
7. Villigrosia, M ‘Sexual Abuse among Female Children’. Online Available :http//:.Act
hhs.gov,2002.
8. Heyman, S. and Slep J.I ‘Child Abuse’. Microsoft Encarta. Online Available:
45
http://microsoftcorporation.org,2002.
9. Gelles, R.J ‘Child Abuse as Psychopathology: A Social Critique and Reformulation’,
American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, vol. 43,pp. 611-621,2001.
10. Finkhelor, David‘Report on the International Society for Child Abuse and Neglect
(ISPCAN)’.Online Available : http://ispcan.org,2001.
11. Ross, S.M ‘Risk of Physical Abuse to Children of Spouse Abusing Parent’ Child Abuse
and Neglect, vol.20 no.7,pp. 587-598, 1998.
12. David, G Violence against Children, Harvard University Press, USA, 1979.
13. Patience, J ‘Childhood Sexual Abuse’, Child Abuse and Neglect, pp.11-12, 1996.
14. Olukoshi, A.O. The Child in the Contemporary Nigeria: An Introduction to Issues,
Lamirex Printing Press,Lagos,1990.
15. Ebigbo, P.O. ‘Situation Analysis of Child Abuse and Neglect in Nigeria: Making use of
Nigeria Daily Newspaper’, Journal of African Psychology vol.2, pp. 95-101, 1989.
16. Patience, J ‘Childhood Sexual Abuse’, Child Abuse and Neglect, pp.11-12, 1996.
17. Briere, John Child Abuse Trauma: Theory and Treatment of the Lasting Effects
(Interpersonal Violence: The Practice Series) Sage Publications, Newbury Park, London,
1992.
18. Givannoni, J.M. Definitional Issues on Child Maltreatment: Theory and Research on the
Causes and Consequences of Child Abuse and Neglect, Cambridge University Press, .
Cambridge, 2000.
19. International Labour Organization ‘Global Report on Child Labour’. Online Available:
http//Ilo.org,1978.
20. Child Help USA ‘Child Abuse Prevention: National Child Abuse Hotline’. Online
Available: http//www.childabuse. com, 2012.
21. Otensaya, B ‘The Psycho- Social Dimension of Sexually Transmitted Disease: A Case
study of Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital’, MSc Thesis, Department of
Sociology, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria, 1987.
22. Hamnasu, Takele ‘Impact of Childhood Abuse on Adult Health’, Amberton
University,2000.
23. Brook – Gnn, J. and Furstenberg, F.F. ‘Adolescent Sexual Behaviour’ American
Psychologist, vol.44,pp. 149-259,1989.
24. Rebecca, W Child Abuse: Implication for Child Development, Sage Publication, Oaks,
2004.
25. Treffers, P.E.C ‘Teenage Pregnancy: A World Wide Problem’. Online Available
:http//:ncbi.nlm.nih.gov,2003.
26. UNICEF ‘A League Table of Teenage Births in Rich Nations. Innocent Report Card No3
’Online Available :http//: unicef.org, 2004.
46
27. National Research Centre for Women and Families ‘Teen Pregnancy: Rate Reaches a
Record Low in 1997’.Online Available: http//:Cdc.go/nchs/,2001.
28. Drybury, H ‘Teenage Pregnancy’, Health Repots,vol.12 no.1,pp. 9-18,2002.
29. Olajide Oluwafemi “Urban Poverty and Environmental Conditions in Informal,
Settlements of Ajegunle, Lagos, Nigeria”, Department of Geography and Planning, Lagos
State University, Ojo, Lagos, Nigeria. http://allafrica.com (2010).
30. Aluko M. A. O. The Institutionalization Of Corruption And Its Impact On Political
Culture And Behavior in Nigeria Nordic Journal of African Studies 11(3): 393-402
(2002).
31. (World Bank, World Bank, ‘World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 1980.
32. Wayande, Peter.. State Driven Conflict in the Greater Horn of Africa, Revised Paper
Presented at the USAID Organized workshop on Conflict in the Great Horn of Africa;
Methodist Guest House, Nairobi, May 21-23 (1997).
33. Berman, IMF Human Index Report for Sub-Saharan Africa (2003:4).
34. Echebiri, Lilian. Review of Legal and Political Challenges to Domestication of the Anti-
Corruption Conventions in Nigeria, Transparency International Nigeria/Zero Corruption
Coalition: Lagos (2006).March 2006.
35. Vieira, J; Moura, F and Viegas, J., “Transport policy and environmental impacts: the
importance of multi-instrumentality in policy integration”, Transport Policy 14, pp.421-
432 2007.
36. Owuamanam, D.O, Owuamanam, T.O, Akinleye, G.A, Odu, B.K(2008). Introduction to
Psychology of Education. Vintage publishers, Ibadan, Nigeria.
37. Child Welfare Information Gateway (2007). U S. Department of Health and Human
Services. Retrieved on 31/8/2007.
38. NSPCC (2008). Poverty and Child Maltreatment. Child Protection Research Briefing.
The Online Child Protection Resource. www.nspcc.org. uk/inform.
39. Townsend, P. (1979). Poverty in the United Kingdom: A Survey of Household Resources
and Standards of Living. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.
40. Cawson, P. (2002). Child Maltreatment in the Family: The Experience of a National
Sample of Young People. London: NSPCC.
41. Hopper, C.A. et al (2007). Living with Hardship 24/7: The Diverse Experiences of
Families in Poverty in England. York: The Frank Buttle Trust.
42. eNotes Viewpoints (2008). Poverty Causes Child Abuse. eNotescom. http
://www.enotes.com
43. Xierali, I. (2006). Poverty and Child Abuse Counts. University of Cincinnati. United
State of America.
44. Drucker. P.M. (1997). The Consequences of Poverty and Child Maltreatment on IQ
Scores. The Vincentia Center for Church and Society.
47
45. United Nation Children's Fund (1989). United Nations Convention on the Right of the
child and organization of African Unity Charter. Lagos Country Office.
46. Aluko, J.A (1996). Child Abuse, Neglect and Prevention. A paper presented at African
Network for the Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect Conference
in Jos.
Chapter Three
Theoretical Framework
A theory is a set of interrelated concepts, definitions, and propositions that explains or predicts
events or situations by specifying relations among variables. The notion of generality, or broad
application, is important. Thus, theories are by their nature abstract and not content- or topic-
specific. Even though various theoretical models on child abuse and poverty may reflect the
same general ideas, each theory employs a unique vocabulary to articulate the specific factors
considered to be important. Theories vary in the extent to which they have been conceptually
Stephen Turner has noted in his chapter on “Theory Development,” social science theories are
better understood as models that work in a limited range of settings, rather than laws of science
which hold and apply universally, this research work will therefore emphasize on the theory of
class domination, Political Theory, Socio-Economic Theory and Anomie Theory to further
explain on Poverty and Child Abuse and its Implication for Nigeria’s External Image.
The fact that the corporate community is closely linked to the upper class makes it possible to
convert economic power into social power, which operates by creating respect, envy, and
deference in others, making them more likely to accept what members of the upper class tell
them". This quotation from Domhoff brings insight to his class domination theory and research.
48
The corporate community and the upper class have a close socialization with one another. These
groups influence their control over society which includes the middle class, lower class, interest
groups, and other institutions. The strong bond between these two groups as Domhoff suggests is
the reason why the upper class dictates control and ownership in the Nigeria.
The class domination by the upper class is socially conditioned. All of the upper classes ideology
is shaped in school, social gathers, clubs, and etc. "Thus, boarding schools are in many ways the
kind of highly effective socializing agent called total institutions, isolating their members from
the outside world and providing them with a set of routine and traditions that encompass most of
their waking hours". The socializing agent of total institutions that Domhoff mentions shapes the
upper class members by associating them only with members that are in the upper class. This
method empowers its members to believe that they are superior to others because they are in an
exclusive environment. The environment that the upper class creates for its members offers a
great deal of interaction and conversing. Its members form strong bonds with one another and
can economically, financially, and socially benefit from those bonds later in the future.
These exclusive institutions that the upper class creates also causes a form of separation from
other classes offering another benefit that contributes to class control. "The class that controls the
means of material production controls the means of mental production" (Lecture O'Connell).
This quotation given by Professor O'Connell in lecture can also help explain Domhoff's point of
view. The Upper class's socialization with the corporate community gives them access to the
means of material production. An example of this access relates back to the exclusive institutions
of the upper class. Social clubs are another way for upper class members to socialize and impact
the economy and society. Social clubs are significant because many members that are involved
49
are part of the upper class and corporate community. These social clubs show another benefit of
power for the upper class. Members that are part of the upper class and corporate community can
influence the ideas, and decisions of other members in the same position. This means that social
clubs are ideal places for members of big corporations to network. Domhoff gives an example of
this networking when discussing the Bohemian club. "Using a list of 1,144 corporations, well
beyond the 800 used in the studies for 1970 and 1980, the study found that 24 percent of these
companies had at least one director who was a member or guest in 1991" (Domhoff pg 59).
When you have corporate representatives interacting with one another in a social environment it
creates powerful bonds between the upper class and the corporate community. These bonds
influence the control of political, economical, and social decisions that are made and determined
only by the upper class. This then leads to the fact that the upper class governs society.
"Involvement in these institutions usually instils a class awareness that includes feelings of
superiority, pride, and justified privilege”. This class consciousness of the upper class reflects the
power they hold. The upper class and the corporate community have established similar goals.
These goals can be expressed in this statement by Domhoff. "More importantly, the fact that the
upper class is based in the ownership and control of profit-producing investments in stocks,
bonds, and real estate shows that it is a capitalist class as well as an upper class" (Domhoff 75).
Since the upper class and corporate community is also associated as a capitalistic class can
explain why they protect one another and help control the other classes. Professor O'Connell
relates this quotation to upper class domination "The most effective tactic of the upper class in
dealings with the lower class is to destroy their imagination so they can't envision a different
world" (Lecture O'Connell). The upper class establishes that their goals and ideals are what
50
everyone should look up too. Domhoff relates that because of this the lower classes develop a
false class consciousness which benefits the upper class and corporate community.
This theory which is different from the Pluralist theory and Class Dominance theory looks at
Elitists. The difference of this theory compared to Domhoff's perspective is that is doesn't look at
classes. Instead this theory looks at the leaders that control societies. "Although corporations are
one important power base according to elite theorists, they do not see the corporate community
as predominant over other organizational leaders, as class-dominance theorist do" (Domhoff 17).
In Conclusion, Domhoff's theory revolves around the relationship of the upper class, and
corporate community. Contrasting Domhoff's views are the Pluralist theory and Power Elite
theory. Pluralist look at citizens ruling themselves, and the Power Elite look at leaders being in
control.
Khan1 defines political corruption as “using positions while in power to grant undue favour and
benefit to ones relatives, friends and key supporters”; while Kramer2 sees political corruption as
“the behaviours of (elected) public officials which diverge from the formal components – the
duties and powers, rights and obligations – of a public role to seek private gain’. Theobald 3
argues that “Corruption impedes economic growth, stifles entrepreneurialism, misuses scarce
national resources, weakens administrative capacity, contributes to serious political decay and
undermines stability, democracy and national integration”. Similarly, Mauro’s4 study lends
evidence to a link between corruption and the composition of government spending. He finds
that corruption correlates with lower levels of spending on education, an important finding in
51
light of the evidence that educational attainment is an important determinant of economic
growth.
Morgan5 argues that the evidence of corruption’s impact on political regime is varied; in some
cases, corruption leads to political instability; in others, it undermines reform and contributes to
the continuation of corrupt leadership in power. In still others, corruption has supported the rise
of new political forces, some against corruption and others utilising it as a means of
consolidating their own political power. Making emphasises on the general negative effects of
political corruption to development, the Calendar encyclopaedia 6 points out that corruption poses
a serious development challenge. In the political realm, it undermines democracy and good
More generally, it notes that corruption erodes the institutional capacity of Bayelsa state
government as procedures are disregarded, resources are siphoned off, and public offices are
bought and sold. Officials may increase the technical complexity of public sector projects to
conceal or pave way for such dealings, thus further distorting investment.
Political corruption in this Long Essay, however, should be taken as the misuse by political
government officials, particularly presidents / heads of states (both military and civilian), of their
political powers for illegitimate private gains (especially embezzlement or stealing of Bayelsa’s
State wealth)7. This paper is based on the realities about the issues Petro-Politics Corruption and
Poverty in Bayelsa State; the argument on the impact of political corruption is well chosen.
Political corruption is everywhere but the gravity and impact in Bayelsa State is devastating -
52
Political corruption is a salient problem in Bayelsa State, but it has failed to produce the right
concern it deserves because it has to do with the leaders, and most times is therefore hidden from
the public.
Of particular importance and emphasis is that, though people will agree that political corruption
is widespread in most poor countries, in the nature of things, it is not possible to enlarge very
much on that simple statement. Therefore instability (because of poverty, peace and development
issues) in Bayelsa State is blame largely on factors other than political corruption. This is
because these acts are perpetrated by the leaders who hold power and represent the image or
symbol of their countries, thus circumstantial or inferred accounts of corruption are usually
politically sensitive, if not legally actionable, and for these obvious reasons research on
corruption, particularly political corruption is difficult and scholars are not very open while
discussing political corruption. Vuuren8 for example argues that undertaking research on
corruption is both demanding and notoriously difficult, since it is a crime that almost always
The concept of state emerged from two traditions, namely: the Marxist 10 and the Weberian
traditions. While Marx perceived it as the product of the social system characterized by class
contradictions, struggle and domination, Weber sees it as an institution sui generis, existing to
safeguard and regulate the social system. Scholars of these two orientations have analytically
identified the state to be of different forms such as the capitalist state, socialist state,
overdeveloped state, colonial state, neo-colonial state, rentier state, prebendal state, collapsed
53
state, juridical state, predatory state, and the fictitious state among others. The different features
of the state and their social impact found across the continents, account for these variations.
However, Stein and Giddens classified these varieties into two. These are: (a) the
conceptualization of the state based on the indices of structure, apparatus of power and their
functions. This is called the state-centered approach, a realist outlook that perceive the state as a
unitary actor with interests to pursue, an organizational statism, and as an analytical concept. (b)
The conceptualization that perceives the state as a consequence of the character of the society,
that is, class structure, social norms and the civil society. This approach called the Socio-
Economic approach encompasses the pluralists, who perceive the state as an arena for
competition among interests. It include also the structural functionalists who perceive the state as
instrument of social integration, and the Marxists who see the state as an expression of class
struggle and domination. The common feature of these sub-groupings is their appreciation of the
fact that the state is derived from or reduced to the society. Thus, any state is a reflection of its
society, a consequence of the dynamics of its interests, and norms hegemonization among
competing inter-and intra-class and ethnic groups. The character of these configurations and the
outcome of their rivalry structure public institutions, their roles and power structures, and
programmes. Thus, Ake11 defined the state in this perspective as modalities of class domination.
This society-centered theoretical approach is very relevant to this study because of its ability to
employ the instrument of class, its formation and politics to elucidate the persisting scenario of
poverty in Nigeria. It shall enable the paper to establish the character and impact of class
formation and consolidation on the evolution of economic policies, development projects and
poverty alleviation programmes, and their correlation with the rising trend of poverty in Nigeria.
Precisely, the approach highlights the fact that these economic development programmes are
54
generated to satisfy personal goals. Ikpeze et al., 12 who called this approach the pluralist school
More often than not, the distributional consequences of public policies are intended result of the
private interests which have been instrumental in their design, passage and implementation. (And
referring to Nigeria, they observed,) For the entire country, the manipulation of public policy for
private purposes comprises yet another disjunction in our fractured history. In this case, power
consolidation is ensured by attracting and rewarding supporters, and favouring certain groups. In
which case, the entire process is characterized by corruption and wealth formation through policy
formulation and implementation. The process is highly inimical to collective interest and
development.
Anomie theory sees corruption (deviant behaviour) as emanating from the social structure of the
society, which exerts a definite pressure upon certain individuals in the society to engage in
nonconforming or conforming conduct. Merton has succinctly put this in another way when he
assert that a society in which there is an exceptionally strong emphasis upon specific goals
Durkheim called “anomie”. Metiboba notes that each culture establishes goals and interests
which people are encouraged and expected to pursue and prescribes the method to be followed in
seeking these approved objectives. It is when these means fail to match the goal of the individual
As a matter of fact, the Bayelsa State society tends to over-emphasize individual goal attainment
at the expense of the legitimate means of achieving these set goals. In Bayelsa State, material
55
acquisition has virtually become the ultimate goal and the society does not appear to be
concerned with how one “makes” it. All that is important is that one has “arrived.” The marked
discrepancy between the goals and means in our society invariably leads to various forms of
Endnotes
1. Khan, Mohabbat. Political and Administrative Corruption: Concepts, Comparative
Experiences and Bangladesh Case; A paper prepared for Transparency International –
Bangladesh Chapter; University of Ohaka: Bangladesh (2004).
2. Kramer, John.. Political Corruption in Post-Communist Russia: The Case for
Democratisation, Paper presented at the XVIIth World Congress of International Political
Science Association (IPSA): Seoul, Korea, Aug (1997).,
3. Theobald, Robin. Corruption, development, and underdevelopment, Hampshire,
Macmillan (1990).
4. Mauro, Paolo. The Effects of Corruption on Growth, Investment, and Government
Expenditure: A Cross-Country Analysis: Corruption and the Global Economy, Institute
for International Economics: Washington (1997).
5. Morgan, Amanda (1998). Corruption: Causes, Consequences, and Policy Implications: A
Literature Review, The Asian Foundation Working Paper Series.
6. Encyclopaedia Britannica ‘Abacha Sani, Corruption Allegation’ available at
http://encyclopaedia.org/wiki/Sani_Abacha (07/02/2007).
7. This includes where a leader could not give account of public funds on his trust, example
IBB’s $12b Gulf windfall in 1990.
8. Vuuren, 2006.
9. On political corruption in Africa, see Ikejiaku, B.. Poverty-Conflict Nexus: the
contentious issue revisited: European Journal of Sustainable Development, 1, 2, 127-150
(2012).
10. Marx K, Engels F. selected Works, Vol. 1. Mosco Foreign Language Publication House
(1852/1958).
11. Ake C The Political Economy of Nigeria, London; Longman (1985b).
12. Ikpeze NI, Soludo CC, Elekwa NN. Nigeria: The Political Economy of the Policy
Process, Policy Choice and Implementation, Canada; IDRC Books (2006).
56
Chapter Four
There is a vast array of factors that give rise to child abuse in Nigeria. Under a given cultural
milieu, poverty, social exclusions, ignorance and illiteracy may drive or predispose certain
reported that some children were pushed into street hawking for maintenance needs of their
family1. These children are ‘breadwinners’ of their various families at their early age. And, sadly,
it is a common sight in Nigeria to see children aged 5-16 years pushing trucks for money,
hawking, working as bus conductors and beggars when they are supposed to be at school
learning. Admittedly, such institutionalised cultural practises as given birth to many children for
agricultural and other wealth-generating purposes, female genital mutilation (or circumcision),
child marriage and the old practise of twin-killing are tantamount to child abuse in the eyes of
the law. Specifically, the culture of female genital mutilation is “a traditional practise that
involves cutting or altering the female genitalia as a rite of passage or for other socio-cultural
reasons”2. This common culture is practised in 28 African countries (including Nigeria) and in
The nature of socialisation given to children by the adult population and the type of family or
neighbourhood under which they are socialised determine whether a child will be abused or not.
57
And the chances of a child who grow up in a broken home or a society where harmful cultural
practises are condoned will be high. Since such children are intentionally or intentionally
exposed to abusive conditions, they may grow up to see the learnt behaviour as normal and an
acceptable practise to reckon with in life. Ezeoke, Awam and Enekwe stated that unstable
families and some cultural ceremonies increase the propensity for child abuse while marital
instability, domestic violence, poor parental relationship, quarrels and clashes of interest can lead
to decreased responsiveness and less parent-child relationships 4. These authors illustrated that
parents who are under pressure may transfer their aggression, social strains and environmental
pressures to their children (hence child abuse). Mba rather suggested that changes in financial
conditions, employment status and unhealthy workplace may disrupt family stability 5. The stress
caused by such changes can lead to child abuse and neglect of varied dimensions and magnitude.
Conditions or factors that lead to the abuse of children are multiple and counteract, but relative.
Some family members have demonstrated individual or group psychopathology in their abusive
actions than other family members. Psychopathology, on its own or coalesced with other
abnormal personality traits or social aberrations, may precipitate child abuse6. Parents who were
abused or neglected as children are more likely than other parents to abuse their own children
and wards; however, they may justify their actions by claiming that this act is part of
socialisation. Lack of good parenting skills, unrealistic expectations about a child’s capabilities,
ignorance of ways to manage a child’s behaviour and abnormal child development may further
contribute to child abuse and neglect7. Accordingly, child abuse is traceable to unfriendly socio-
cultural conditions, unhealthy familial relationships, and physically and socially disorganised
pathologies and environmental strains are common among child abusers. On the contrary, these
58
stressful socio-cultural and severe psycho-medical conditions could push affected adult
The cause of child abuse is intrinsically linked to a serious breakdown in cultural values and
social norms, resulting from the ever-growing conflict between tradition and
African scholars lent credence to this notion; for instance, Domiya as recorded in Momoh,
attributed the cause of child abuse to the breakdown in traditional values, poverty and attempts to
make ends meet8. These factors drive parents and guardians to indulge in the unwholesome
practise of subjecting their children and wards to hawk, farm and involve in other loathsome
commercial activities in order to break even. Haralambos and Holborn affirmed that the
development of urban centres (commercial and industrial precisely) has destroyed the traditional
sense of community that is associated with rural villages, thus undermining the informal
mechanism of social control and giving room for crimes (like child abuse) 9. Nwadiaro and
Nkwocha reaffirmed that the rapid urbanisation which was necessitated by industrialisation of
the urban centres has given rise to different kinds of crime (like child abuse and neglect)10.
The predictor of child abuse in Nigeria is also linked to our religious belief. In the Northern part
of Nigeria, for instance, the cultural practise of ‘Almajiri’ (Islamic student beggars) is a prime
example of religious-motivated child abuse practise in the country. This act is a strongly
acceptable practise among Muslims in the Northern Nigeria. As a religious culture, these Islamic
students (‘Almajiri’) either engage themselves or someone else engages them in ‘street begging’
(in the name of soliciting for arms). They roam the streets, constituting public nuisance and
59
4.2 Problems of Child Abuse in Nigeria
There are many problems associated with child abuse in Nigeria. Child abuse has short and long
terms negative implications on the social, psychological, emotional, economic, educational and
medical well-being of victims. Children are compelled to hawk by their parents, guardians or
caregivers and are, sometimes, severely punished for their inability to finish the amount of goods
or article of trade apportioned to them to sell for the day. Terr explained that child abuse
interferes with a child’s ability to develop meaningfully 12. An abused child consistently
demonstrates socially undesirable behaviour and is usually nonconformist in the society. The
child may display a multiple psychological and behavioural problems as well as experience a
difficult time developing and maintaining healthy relationships. This maladjusted behaviour in
turn increases the risk of long-term decreased productivity, long-term economic dependency and
Thousands of children are engaged as a house help, or are placed under the care of a relative who
engage them in various forms of forced labour on farms, factories and private homes or
establishments. A representation of this fact is the case of a-4-year old child in Abakaliki (the
Capital of Ebonyi State, Nigeria) who was brutally battered on the forehead by his uncle’s wife
A shocking video-clip of a-twelve-year old male child in the same town was on several occasions
(between November and December, 2015) displayed on Ebonyi Cable Television (ECTV). This
child was bathed with hot water by a woman he renders services to as a house help on the
60
grounds that he cooked excessive yam. The victim was admitted and abandoned in the Federal
Moreover, other daily personal observations revealed that child abuse exists among secondary
school students in Nigeria. As once a part-time teacher and National Youth Service Corps teacher
in secondary schools that are located in the Southern and Northern Nigeria respectively, the
corresponding/lead author of this paper observed with dismay and chagrin that many students
indulge in hawking within and outside the classrooms. These students sell their articles of trade
within the school premises and, sometimes, during lesson hours or class period.
They are given snacks, groundnuts, candies and church-related items to sell at school. By
implication, such students pay little or no attention to their academic activities. Or perhaps,
despite the seriousness and natural intelligence of such students, the affected students would only
succeed in paying a divided attention to their studies which invariably impels academic success
and progress. No wonder Heady postulated that children who work as well as go to school may
find themselves less able to learn, resulting from exhaustion or insufficient time to complete both
Furthermore, some students are temporarily withdrawn from school or made to play truancy by
their parents or guardians during planting and harvesting seasons in order to engage them in
subsistence agriculture or farming, which is a major occupation in many rural areas in Nigeria
(informal and personal observation of the researchers as once a secondary school teacher in the
country). This development, according to Obaji, adversely affects the academic performance of
students and retards the growth and development of such a child as well as prevents him or her
from achieving full functionality in later life 15. Oluwole commented on the situation whereby
children are used (whether in or against their own volition) for house helps instead of being sent
61
to school16. He then described the situation as a major obstacle to the achievement of Education-
For-All (EFA). Adduced in this paper is the fact that child abuse, if allowed to continue unabated,
will torpedo the Federal Government of Nigeria’s efforts and plan of achieving or reaching the
global goal of Universal Primary Education (UPE) for all by 2015- cum-2020.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO), according to Momoh, estimated that 95% of
children who are under the age of 15 are engaged in an unpaid family work. In Edo State and
other parts of Nigeria, such family workers are also engaged in street hawking, farm-handling,
shop-keeping, etc. This situation is usually as a result of economic and financial incapacitation of
parents to provide the basic necessities of life. In virtually all Igbo societies in Nigeria, children
are often seen in markets and on the high streets trading or engaged in dehumanising commercial
activities to support their families economically 17. The trend is particularly worrisome in major
commercial and industrial Nigerian cities, including all the State Capital Territories in the
country, such as Kano, Owerri, Port Harcourt, Abakaliki, Onitsha, Obolo Afor, Lokoja, Aba, 9th
Mile Corner, Ore, and the like. It is a common sight in these urban, commercial centres to see
children doing menial jobs in factories and industries; darting around the highways and express
roads, selling wares while some now into art of prostitution and organised begging.
The aftermath of child abuse is so devastating that it is usually difficult, if not, impossible for an
affected child to regain his/her normal personality and social identity which have been insulted,
damaged, brutalised, injured, condemned, destroyed, labelled and stigmatised over time. Such
children, Ubom argued, experience a wide range of personality disorder. Some of them grow up
to hate their parents, become harlots, Casanovas, school dropouts, armed robbers, drug addicts
and traffickers as well as show evidence of nervousness, depression and psychosis 18. Ocholi
62
stated that sexually abused children suffer from sexual disorder, isolation, stigma, guilt,
Specifically, sexually abused children suffer physical, emotional and social problems that can
interfere with their ability to live healthy and productive live. They may contract sexually
transmitted infection such as reoccurrence of urinary tract infection known as Visco Vaginal
Fistula (VVF) (common with women who undergo cultural circumcision or genital mutilation,
early or child marriage, prolonged labour under traditional/unscientific healthcare services, etc).
Abused children generally could develop suicidal behaviour, refuse discipline or abuse others.
The long term effects of child abuse include fear, anxiety depression, anger, hostility,
inappropriate sexual behaviour and poor self-esteem20. Child abuse, especially child sexual abuse
is of particular concern because children who have been abused experience a long list of
sexualised behaviour, among others21. Accordingly, child abuse in this context can be describe as
any act or omission to act which violates the inalienable rights of children, jeopardises their
chances of growing and developing positively as well as threatens their safety valve for survival
rise to other societal problems–it leads to different kinds of deviance, delinquency, crime and sin
in society. Khamal as recorded in Aguene affirmed that in joining bad gangs, street fighting,
visiting gambling places and vagrancy with the intention to commit crime are rampant among
those young girls and boys (children) roaming and hawking on the streets, hence child abuse22.
The concept of multidimensional child poverty and disparity was viewed in the UNICEF
Future societal value and development is in the hands of the younger generations. Thus, fulfilling
their rights and value at early stage of their childhood would certainly transform them to achieve
UNDP-NHDR proclaimed that, “poverty situation cannot be objectively assessed beyond the
results of the National Living Standard Survey due to data limitations” 24. However, NLSS reports
that, the key determinant variables to poverty in Nigeria which include; age, primary school
education, secondary school education, tertiary school education, house hold size, rural
unemployment, paid employed, self-employed and unpaid workers. These have direct
implications to the vulnerable creature (child) as poverty situation depend on the responsiveness
The poverty indicators are growing faster at increasing rate which shows the worsening situation
in the country as it complement to GDP growth “that is not pro-poor”. In 1980, 72.8% of the
population are having non-poor status in the country, which drastically fall down to less than half
within the last three decades interval to 31.0%. This resulted to poor strategies and commitments
by the government in enhancing the life of poor citizens in the country. Thus, poverty is an
integral function to unemployment which has effect on the per capita income of the citizenries in
To this effect, any increase in population without stimulus incentive that would keep the number
economically viable may cause to “artificial check out” by the masses due to prostrations, anger,
redundancy, illiteracy and hunger among others. Among the major reasons of child poverty is the
64
replication of poverty status from adults (parents) to child and young person and failure of state
to provide societal needs for children. These social needs include; education, health, nutrition,
water, sanitation, shelter and information which are imperative to child development. Absence of
these provisions may lead to societal disorder and may contribute towards spread of crimes in the
society.
In the report of study by MICS 3 spell out that the children population (age, 0-17) in Nigeria cut
up to 48% of the country’s population. Therefore, increase severe deprivations would certainly
deter the real economic growth in the future when all working population are becoming aged
(unproductive).
The multiple indicator cluster surveys (MICS), detailed its explanation on the above variables
which reveal the prevalence nutritional status of children was 25.3% against 23% for the
underweight, stunting 34.3% against 41%(DHS,2008) and wasting 10.8% against 14%
respectively. The percentage of those without sound educational background based on report for
range between the ages of 10 and 14 was 19.6% and 15.0% respectively. Similarly, Nigeria
Human Development Report (2009) revealed the total population with access to safe drinking
water in the country for the trend period of 1990, 2000, 2004 and 2007 as 54%, 54%, 57%, 60%
Therefore, it showed a worsen situation based on this analysis. On the other hand, sanitation
based on the period under review by UNDP-NHDR (2009) was 39% in 1999; 42.9% in 2000;
33% in 2004 and 42.9% in 2007. UNDP-NHDR (2009, P69) admits that “Child poverty has
become recognized as a social issue in Nigeria. About 11 per cent of households with children
fewer than 7 years old went hungry due to lack of money to buy food and 25 per cent of children
are stunted due to malnutrition. Also, of the 59.1 million children in Nigeria, 44 per cent, 26 per
65
cent and 45.1 per cent suffered from water, sanitation, and shelter deprivations, respectively”.
Percentage of children grown up in severe deprivation of basic needs may fall in a “Risk” of
excessive exploitation, rights violation and dehumanization. Child labour and trafficking,
hawking, children living on cities Streets, children involving in political thugs, drug abuse and
other “underground economic practices” are mostly victims of either two or more severe
deprivations of emotional, social, moral, spiritual, thrive and material resources for them to
survive.
The state of most Nigerian Children is unacceptable. Already facing one of the world's worst
survival chances, abuse rates for Nigerian Children are increasing. Already among the least
literate of the world's children, school enrolment rates are not impressive.
“Nigeria is the world's sixth largest oil-producing nation. However, mismanagement and
successive military governments have left the country poverty-stricken. The region Niger Delta
is one of the poorest regions today in Nigeria despite the amount of crude oil generated every
day. Contemporary history of the Niger Delta can be summarized as economic decline and
broken promises”. They face a long struggle if the next generation is to rise out of poverty. Far
too many have been a victim of abuse since the period of Trans-Atlantic slavery through the
world and Biafra war till date. During the Biafra war it was very common to find a child soldier.
Local, national and international community have performed poorly in meeting their
commitments to children in Niger Delta. The regions youth are frustrated and increasingly angry;
they are not been able to build a future for them selves and their community.
The present social economic situation of the country is obviously one reason while there is child
abuse. Street children are common to see in this region. They sell in high motor ways when they
should be in school; some get crashed down by motor vehicles all in the name of making money.
66
Female children are married out at the age of twelve years. Most people will say is part of there
culture. A culture I will say it’s socially constructed. Poverty, deprivation and struggle for
survival usually contribute to the reason why children are severely abused in Nigeria. The
population size is massive. “According to the 2006 recent census, Nigeria population is over 140
million with the Niger Delta region populated with over 22 million including Akwa-Ibom,
Bayelsa, Cross-River, Delta, Edo and Rivers. This group constitute 15.01% of the nation’s
population”. With such a size, it is un-imaginable how many children are been abused. Several
factors have contributed in triggering child abuse in this part of Africa continent including social
economic factor, cultural factors, attitudes and perceptions of adults with regard to child abuse
The consequence of child abuse in general is horrifying. The abuse of a child has a very
devastating consequence for both the individual and the community at large. Undermining the
consequences of child abuse can result in serious problems to the entire communities and state
security. “The individual consequence of child abuse can lead to rape, physical assault,
psychological trauma, serious disease, health risk such as sexually transmitted diseases, pelvic
inflammatory diseases, hepatitis, tuberculosis and other communicable diseases. It may also
result in unwanted pregnancies, forced abortion and abortion-related complications, mental and
consequences include the rise of criminal organisation and other criminal activities, corruption
and problems of national security. These consequences are very problematic. These are some of
the problems already faced in Nigeria. Corruption in government office is undisputable, criminal
activities including armed robbery and burglary is so rampant. Niger Delta in contemporary
Nigeria faces severe crisis. Vandalism fights and killing is constantly in practice.
67
A major problem faced in Nigeria is the fact that less attention is paid by the government to stop
child abuse. Strategies to eradicate the practice are not addressed and even when a bill is passed
them.
More than a decade after the Convention on the Rights of the Child came into force; this is not
an impressive scorecard. Yet promises are still being made at successive international
conferences, Nigeria and other African government have committed themselves to a range of
Endnotes
68
1. Aderinto, A. A. & Okunola, R. A (1998). Push-pull and sustaining factors of child labour
in Nigeria. Ife International Journal, Vol. 6 (1): 178–184.
2. Mohammed, A., Ali, N. & Yinger, N. (1999). Female genital mutilation: programmes to
date: what works and what doesn’t. Geneva: World Health Organisation Press.
3. Jekayinfa, A. A. (2004). Types, causes and effects of gender-based violence: challenges
for social studies education. Gender Discourse, Vol. 1(1): 13–21.
4. Ezeoke, A. C., Awam, S. N, & Enekwe, C. (2009). The agonies of abused children in
Nigeria; counselling intervention as a way out. Journal of Sociology, Psychology and
Anthropology in Practise Vol. 1 (3): 69–82.
5. Mba, A. I. (2003). The problem of child abuse in Nigeria. Edited conference proceedings,
Pp. 79–82.
6. Ajala, E. O. (2009). Detrimental effects of child abuse on the educational development of
children in Oraukwu community in Anambra state, Nigeria. Journal of Sociology,
Psychology and Anthropology in Practice, Vol. 1 (3): 98–111.
7. Erikson, E. (1996). Childhood and society Available from: http://www
mortonpublishers.org. Accessed 26/09/2015.
8. Momoh, S. O., Aigbomian, D. O. & Longe, B. O. (2008). Students’ perception of the
prevalence, forms and causes of child abuse in Edo state, Nigeria. Investigaciones-REOP,
Vol. 19 (1): 5–11.
9. Haralambos, M. & Holborn, M. (2008). Sociology: themes and perspectives (7th ed.)
London: HarperCollins.
10. Nwadiaro, E. C. & Nkwocha, D. I. (2011). Kidnapping for ransom: a prevalent urban
pandemic in Nigeria. Research Journal of Peace and Conflict Studies, Vol. 1(1): 18–28.
11. Olateru-Olagbegi, B. & Ikpeme, A. (2006). Review of legislation and policies in Nigeria
on human trafficking and forced labour. Geneva: International Labour Organisation.
12. Terr, L. (2010). Childhood trauma: an outline and overview. American Journal of
Psychiatry, Vol. 148: 10–20.
13. Editorial. (2009). A-4-year old boy battered for defecating too often. Citizens’ Advocate,
August 30, Pp. 1–15.
14. Heady, C (2000). What are the effects of child labour on learning achievements: evidence
from Ghana. Italy: United Nations Children’s Fund, Innocent Research Centre Florence.
15. Obaji, R. O. (2003). Child labour as perceived by the victim. Guardian News paper,
December 18, P. 12.
16. Oluwole, G. (2002). House helps and madam. The Punch Newspaper, October, P. 20.
69
17. Momoh, S. O., Aigbomian, D. O. & Longe, B. O. (2008). Students’ perception of the
prevalence, forms and causes of child abuse in Edo state, Nigeria. Investigaciones-REOP,
Vol. 19 (1): 5–11.
18. Ubom, U. (2003). Child’s sexual abuse in Nigeria: problems and solutions. Child Sexual
Abuse Project Newsletter, Vol. 1 (2): 10–12.
19. Ocholi, E. F. (2003). Nigerian and poverty: counseling intervention for poverty education
and psychological stability. Edited conference proceedings, Pp. 92–95.
20. Evans, G. W. (2004). The environment, childhood, and poverty. American Psychologists,
Vol. 59: 17–92.
21. Jonzon, E. & Lindblad, F. (2005). Adult female victims of child sexual abuse. Journal of
Interpersonal Violence, Vol. 20: 651–666.
22. Aguene, U. (1998). Social change and social problem Enugu: Prize publisher.
23. United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), (2005). The State of the World of the
Children 2005: Childhood under Threat. UNICEF, New York.
24. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), (2009). Human Development Report
Nigeria 2008 – 2009 Achieving growth with equity, UNDP, Nigeria.
Chapter Five
5.1 Summary
70
This long essay is based on the Child Abuse in Nigeria and its Implication for the Country’s
External Image, the first chapter of this long essay is focused on the background to the study
with a brief historical background of Child Abuse in Nigeria, explaining the concept of child
abuse flowing from child neglect is form of maltreatment which impedes child survival,
development and participation. Children are seen as assets to parents and government because
they are human resources that any society can boast of, therefore, parents especially in poor
countries such as Nigeria, where there are labour intensive occupations, if their early child
socialization is devoid of harmful cultural practices that crippled their chances of survival,
Chapter two of this long Essay focused on the literature review of the research work,
emphasizing on the child abuse and its implications in Nigeria is the largest black African
country. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, a population of 173.6 million people
were recorded. There are several ethnic groups, but three major tribes make up the majority of
the people: the Igbo in the East, the Yoruba in the West and the Hausa in the North. Nigeria plays
a leading role in determining the future of Africa, both at the global and regional levels. Although
endowed with rich natural resources and extensive human resources, Nigeria has not developed
the necessary technological, industrial, managerial and political know-how to pull its resources
together in a sound economy to take care of basic needs of its population. As a result, poverty
and hard living conditions are prevalent, affecting children in particular. The country faces social
According to Ebigbo, children in urban areas are quickly caught up in the daily struggle for
survival and material gain. In the Eastern and Western parts of Nigeria, children may attend
schools in the morning or afternoon and hawk goods outside of school hours, though there are
71
some children who trade on the streets the whole day. Their income helps their family or house
madams financially or pays for their school fees. Although, most Nigerian children must return
home at the end of the day, a growing number including girls, subsist on the streets
Chapter Three of this Research work is based on the theoretical framework as a theory is a set of
interrelated concepts, definitions, and propositions that explains or predicts events or situations
important. Thus, theories are by their nature abstract and not content- or topic-specific. Even
though various theoretical models on child abuse and poverty may reflect the same general ideas,
each theory employs a unique vocabulary to articulate the specific factors considered to be
important. Theories vary in the extent to which they have been conceptually developed and
has noted in his chapter on “Theory Development,” social science theories are better understood
as models that work in a limited range of settings, rather than laws of science which hold and
apply universally, this research work will therefore emphasize on the theory of class domination,
Political Theory, Socio-Economic Theory and Anomie Theory to further explain on Poverty and
Chapter Four of this research work is based on the Critical Assessment of the Problem of Child
Abuse and Poverty in Nigeria as this study pointed out, there is a vast array of factors that give
rise to child abuse in Nigeria. Under a given cultural milieu, poverty, social exclusions,
ignorance and illiteracy may drive or predispose certain individuals to either consciously or
unconsciously abuse children. Aderinto and Okunola reported that some children were pushed
into street hawking for maintenance needs of their family. These children are ‘breadwinners’ of
their various families at their early age. And, sadly, it is a common sight in Nigeria to see
72
children aged 5-16 years pushing trucks for money, hawking, working as bus conductors and
beggars when they are supposed to be at school learning. Admittedly, such institutionalised
cultural practises as given birth to many children for agricultural and other wealth-generating
purposes, female genital mutilation (or circumcision), child marriage and the old practise of
twin-killing are tantamount to child abuse in the eyes of the law. Specifically, the culture of
female genital mutilation is “a traditional practise that involves cutting or altering the female
genitalia as a rite of passage or for other socio-cultural reasons”. This common culture is
practised in 28 African countries (including Nigeria) and in about 20 Middle Eastern and Asian
nations. The nature of socialisation given to children by the adult population and the type of
family or neighbourhood under which they are socialised determine whether a child will be
abused or not. And the chances of a child who grow up in a broken home or a society where
harmful cultural practises are condoned will be high. Since such children are intentionally or
intentionally exposed to abusive conditions, they may grow up to see the learnt behaviour as
normal and an acceptable practise to reckon with in life. Ezeoke, Awam and Enekwe stated that
unstable families and some cultural ceremonies increase the propensity for child abuse while
marital instability, domestic violence, poor parental relationship, quarrels and clashes of interest
The final chapter of this research work is focused on the summary and conclusion which
elaborated on the whole of this research work briefly with a little emphasis on each of the
subheadings i.e. the objective of the study, the research methodology, brief descriptions of the
5.2 Conclusion
73
The long essay aimed at articulating the issue of child abuse and its implication for the country’s
external image in Nigeria. Child abuse is not only a violation of a child’s rights but also a
cultural practise which predisposes a child to conditions that are likely to cause him or her social,
physical, psychological, medical, academic and economic pains. Here, a child is forcefully
abused due to his/her social economic background, leaving them submission to their guardians
and these abuse may have negative implications on his or her growth and development. As our
society becomes more complex, sophisticated, scientific, globalised and technology-driven, the
meaning, nature and extent of its crime problem become escalated and socially constructed and
reconstructed over time. The implication is that some activities or duties assigned to children in
many African societies, which were acceptable and lawful at one point in history, are now
This long essay has come to a conclusion that this act of child abuse has disrupted Nigeria in the
face of global economy due to the fact that these foreign/neighbouring countries believe that the
5.3 Recommendations
i. All levels of government in Nigeria (Federal, State and Local) should advance forward
looking strategies to expedite the fight against, poverty, social exclusion, ignorance and
illiteracy in the country. This development is a futuristic measure that will dissuade and
deter parents, guardians and other family members from giving out their children/wards
to perceived wealthy individuals who, rather than training them in school or trade as
promised, abuse and exploit them at will for personal domestic and economic
74
enhancements. It will also reduce the rate at which parents, guardians and caregivers push
children/wards entrusted in their care to hawk or get involved in farm and menial jobs as
well as other debilitating activities with a view to augmenting their family income.
ii. The Federal Government of Nigeria, through its various agencies, civil society groups,
faith-based bodied and concerned individuals, should on a regular basis organize town
hall meetings and interactive sessions with such traditional associations as Council of
Traditional Rulers (CTR), age grade associations and other relevant community-based
quality of life by liberating educated persons from abject poverty, cultural bondage, social
exclusions and ignorance of human rights and dignity–all these attributes in one way or
another give rise to child abuse. We therefore recommend that the Child Rights Act
(CRA) should be taught to Nigerian children both at school and at home to enable them
understand their rights and when such rights are infringed upon without reasonable
able to stand on their dignity and thus make them less vulnerable and duly protected
against abuses.
iv. Regular and timely sensitisation of members of the public on both electronic and print
media using the official language of Nigeria (English) and ‘Pidgin English’ (popularly
Igbo, among others will certainly reduce the incidence of child abuse in the country to a
large extent.
75
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