Even for a full grown man, the pain must be debilitating and unbearable; so what little Sadiq Usman went through can only be described as horrifying. It was late January when social media was inundated with the agonising picture of the young, 4 year-old boy whose eyes were removed in Kaduna State by kidnappers. What depravity! Thankfully, little Sadiq survived the painful ordeal but sadly he lost his vision forever. While some succour might have come to him and his parents from well-meaning Nigerians, including the Kaduna State Government, towards his treatment, we must all, as a country, admit our failure at protecting the young boy from such cruel fate.

The abduction of 14 year-old Miss Ese Oruru was also a major news item recently. Miss Oruru was abducted from her home in Bayelsa State and was allegedly turned into a wife, obviously without the mental capacity or preparedness for a role reserved strictly for adult minds. Through the efforts of the media, civil society groups and the Nigeria Police Force, Ese Oruru was rescued from her abductors and she has since returned home to her parents. We can only hope that her healing process, from the physical and psychological trauma, will be successful.

At about the same time the Ese Oruru saga was unravelling, three female pupils of Babington Macaulay Junior Seminary School, Ikorodu, Lagos were abducted from their school by kidnappers. Abduction of the pupils again threw the country into a frenzy, especially with the kidnapping of over 200 Chibok girls still fresh in our memories. Thankfully also, concerted efforts of the Lagos State Government, Nigeria Police and other critical stakeholders resulted in the rescue of these young female pupils.

It must clearly bewilder us when albeit innocent children increasingly become targets of wicked acts of savagery. At their young ages, children should be free to experience the world around them, assimilating the most important knowledge, values and virtues required for meaningful, peaceful and harmonious living with fellow human beings. It can only be counterproductive however when fear, anxiety and disquiet condition their psyche due to the cruel acts of man’s inhumanity to man they witness or even suffer as victims. This sure portends a threat to the future of humanity.

Adopted 27 years ago by the United Nations General Assembly in 1989, the Convention on the Rights of the Child was “a promise to children that we would do everything in our power to protect and promote their rights to survive and thrive, to learn and grow, to make their voices heard and to reach their full potential.” The Convention indeed seeks to expand the earlier commitment made to children via the Declaration of the Rights of the Child adopted in 1959, where it was agreed that “the child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth”.

Gladly, Nigeria adopted the Child Rights Act in 2003 to “domesticate the Convention on the Rights of the Child.” Now, more than ever before, is the time we need to demonstrate our commitment to the spirit and promises of the Child Rights Act. We need to strengthen our security apparatus to particularly protect all children from evil. When we fail in this we stand the risk of stunted growth and development. We also stand the risk of raising bitter and warped men and women who can then do more harm to the society.

Human beings are products of nature and nurture. Nurturing is where we have the opportunity to help children develop into positive and responsible adult individuals with the right disposition to peaceful co-existence. But an abused childhood can only produce damaged individuals; and we may never have the chance to redeem them from their misery. Here, the popular aphorism becomes very apt: prevention is better than cure.

Ours is a nation hurting from many years of leadership failure, mismanagement of the commonwealth, deprivation and most recently, heightened insecurity of lives and property. Thankfully, the present administration has redoubled efforts towards ensuring safety of all citizens, especially in the troubled North East region where a countless number of children have been victims of terror. But in our hopeful desire for a better Nigeria we need to learn from the wise words of Mahatma Gandhi, who said: “If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children.”

The only way to emplace that great future for Nigeria is to ensure every Nigerian child has a right to grow and develop in an atmosphere of love, peace, safety and harmony. We need to ensure every Nigerian child has a right to good and qualitative education, health care and an opportunity to develop and use his God-given talents for the good of humanity. “Children”, according to John F. Kennedy, “are the living messages we send to a time we will not see.” The success of our present efforts to improve the fortunes of our great nation will only be seen in our future generations and the society we bequeath to them. This is why reinforcing our commitment to Child Rights Act is one important sacrifice we need to make even as we commemorate the Easter season of the uncommon sacrifice.

LET US PRAY

Dear God, we thank You for the hope that our children represent. We also thank You for the joy they bring to our lives. We acknowledge that it is our duty to nurture our children in a way that will glorify You and edify humanity. We therefore seek for divine grace, wisdom and enablement to raise our children to become godly, responsible and astute future leaders of our great country, Nigeria.