By Joyce Remi-Babayeju
Head of the Nigerian Government, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has flagged off the 29th Nigerian Economic Summit (NES 29) reforms for the protection and increased wellbeing development of the Nigerian children in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda expected to build a $1trillion Economy by 2026.
This gesture signifies the highest political will and dedication to advancing child rights and their access to essential social services, including education, healthcare, nutrition, as integral components of Nigeria’s overarching development strategies.
The Chairman of NESG,Niyi Yusuf, underscored the impact of child rights violations on the nation’s development and called for vigorous action to improve the life of children who are the future of the country.
He said, “Multidimensional poverty in Nigeria is intrinsically linked to child rights violations, with grave economic repercussions. In 2021, Nigeria suffered an astonishing $40 billion loss due to unequal access to education.”
Furthermore, annual per person growth faces a 0.55% setback stemming from declining school enrollments, while the economic toll of violence against Nigerian children is estimated at USD $6.1 billion,” he said.
Country Representative of UNICEF Nigeria, Cristian Munduate, emphasized the urgency of this need to accelerate the development of children.
Mumduate said, “It is heartening to see this Government’s commitment to protect children. Results can be rapidly achieved for children and the nation, if the decision is made today, then 2024, 2025 and 2026 can be 3 years when Nigeria will succeed by achieving gigantic steps for the realization of child rights.”
” The Government has established a Coordinating mechanism for social welfare, and it is a unique opportunity for having a reference group at the highest level, that can bring different strategic stakeholders around one leading path for children to survive, thrive and develop.”
“These concrete results can be measured by a robust Monitoring and Evaluation mechanism, paired with an unwavering accountability framework”.
At the two day NES 29 agenda ministerial roundtable Summit on national child wellbeing, ministers made commitments to translate into action recommendations on a paradigm shift where children are no longer an afterthought but at the forefront of governance, business policies and interventions.
The NESG is addressing the multifaceted challenges confronting the lives and prospects of children in Nigeria as they will continue to benefit from strong assistance from UNICEF and NESG.
Furthermore, the collaboration between NESG and UNICEF, which was initiated earlier this year, represents a significant step towards reinforcing child rights realization in Nigeria.
It contributes to the efforts of the Federal and State Governments
to design the nation’s development strategy integrating child poverty reduction, social sector reforms, and implementing presidential-level accountability measures for reporting and feedback on child rights in Nigeria.
