As I look back at the process of attaining democracy I shake my head in shame at what our leaders have allowed to happen to the future generation. I wonder how much was given to these children.  Anyway, President Good luck Jonathan said on CNN that the Post-election violence was largely possible “because of the huge unemployment in the country, as youths could be paid as little as N500 to do just about anything.”  

While I commend Prof Jega, for a job well done, I note with serious concern that if our children are continually exploited the future of our country will be in jeopardy. These children are the heritage of Nigeria and if used in this manner, unfortunately become losers. Everybody wants a fool, but nobody wants him for a son. (African proverb)Mallam Isa Yugudu, Governor of Bauchi State in the Punch Newspapers of Friday, April 29, 2011, while reacting to the violence that engulfed the state in the wake of the announcement of 2011 Presidential election, which claimed over 100 lives including several youth corpers serving as INEC ad hoc officials was quoted as saying “they (fresh graduates) were destined to experience what they experienced, in other words they were supposed to die the way they did, they were the scapegoats. As unbelievable as his words were it means too, that our children can be allowed to strive for bread and butter at any cost.  .

It is painful if children are made to carry the failures of their leaders. What is strange is the fact that nobody is asking how underage children were allowed to vote and how they came about their voter cards. Not to know is bad; not to wish to know is worse. (African proverb)  I have asked myself over and over again why these children were allowed to vote but these are just my questions because the answers will probably never come.  The matter should be addressed and the truth unearthed. Again, these actions simply highlight the level of poverty. On a final note, Africa, Nigeria should cease been synonymous with child soldiers, disease, genocide, witchcraft and banditry.

Aristotle once said that “All who have meditated on the art of governing mankind have been convinced that the fate of empires depends on the education of youth”  In Nigeria the educational system is being questioned, as the present state of affairs is one of gross mismanagement and implementation. The system is faced with undervelopment, poor infrastructure and an atmosphere of insecurity. It has failed to provide the necessary facilities capable of creating a conducive environment for children and it continues to experience challenges attributed to fundamental imbalances.  An example is the issue of overcrowding experienced in various public schools, an issue that has placed enormous challenges on both the schools and students. There have been reported cases of school buildings collapsing and children losing their lives in the process. The result of dilapidated buildings.   

Then, there is the critical issue of exorbitant fees charged at public schools. With a continued hike in fees, the average Nigerian is unable to afford to send his children to school. The Nigerian elite on the other hand have resorted to private schools though very expensive, they are the in-thing now. Nigeria at 50 cannot effectively boast of good public schools. Recently, two young Nigerian twins in the United Kingdom, Peter and Paula Imafidon, became the youngest children to enter secondary school, the youngest to pass A/Level Mathematics at only seven. In 2009 they passed A/Level Mathematics set for them by the University of Cambridge. They both attended the public state primary school in the United Kingdom. In Nigeria, Children of the elite, not in private schools are in various countries like Ghana, South Africa and many countries in Europe for their primary, secondary or University education. Umar Abdul-Mutallab the brain behind the attempted murder of 289 people with plastic explosives while on board Northwest Airlines Flight 253 en route from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan, on Christmas day last year, left Nigeria when he was about 10 years old for his secondary school education in the Republic of Togo before proceeding to the United Kingdom for his university education. 

Ayodele, Godwin and Maria have all lost a parent, when I met Maria she was not in school, her mother has three sets of twins before her father died, and today her mother makes a living as a farmer with little or nothing to show for it. In this condition, there is no hope for education, feeding and clothing are almost impossible. Life is difficult. Ayodele is nine years old and is unable to continue with her education, though she had a double promotion in primary school, education is not an option for her too. Godwin’s  case is not different; he has been sent home on numerous occasions but is back to school with the help of a charitable organization.

These are just examples of what many other children are facing. Though education is a prerequisite to all other things it is simply not affordable to the less privileged, hence Ariel and Will Durant believed “education is the transmission of civilization”

There is need therefore to understand the nature of the educational system as the present decay in the public schools is a reflection of the economic situation.  The continued rot is enhanced by poor governance, mass poverty and unemployment as the average Nigerian lives on less than a dollar a day, in spite of the enormous available natural and human resources. With this amount, parents are expected to feed, cloth, provide basic necessities and pay for expenses in the public schools such as books, school uniforms and report cards.

In 2003 the National Assembly enacted the Universal Basic Education Act, a means by the Federal Government to achieve Education for all by 2015. The Act was expected to increase enrolment in public Primary schools and ensure nine years of continuous Education for every Nigerian child. Again, the abolishment of school fees for only primary schools was extended to the junior secondary school; this made little impact as many children work to make ends meet rather than go to school.

The United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (Unesco) says more than 10 million children in Nigeria are currently out of school and the Minister for Education in Nigeria Hajia Aishat Dukku believes the figure is higher because of the children of Fishermen in the Niger Delta and those attending the almajiras  in the North.  The almajiras are mostly Northerners receiving Islamic Education from Clerics and religious leaders. 

The reverse is the case in other parts of Africa, in Kenya according to UNICEF, the abolition of school fees increased access to education, as the number of primary school students rose by nearly two million.

Nigeria is seeking to be one of the best 20 economies by the year 2020, a quest many see as unattainable with the prevailing mismanagement of resources, poor maintenance of existing in fractures, inadequate in fractural facilities, corruption and insecurity all these have in some way hindered access to qualitative education. If truth be told the less privileged work hard to send their children to school simply because they want their children to live improved lives but the reality, it is an uphill task.

Mauritius is the best country to grow up as a child in Africa, according to a new index. The ranking was produced by the Africa Child Policy Forum, an independent advocacy agency. About 40 indicators, including access to education and basic health care, were used to assess whether a country is child-friendly. The ranking showed that some poor countries scored well compared to richer ones. Among the top countries were Namibia and Malawi with the bottom being Sao Tome and Principe, Gambia, Central African Republic, Eritrea and Guinea Bissau. Kenya came top in protecting children from harm and exploitation.

To properly define what child abuse is like, in the African context, one needs to look at the parameters within which it exists, bearing in mind that the average African family is usually ignorant of this societal problem which is interpreted differently when brought to bare. First, it is considered a taboo. Secondly, cases are not reported because of the stigma attached. An abused child is stigmatised in the society. With a situation like this, it is therefore important to know that children culturally and traditionally have no rights. In the societal view, children are expected to be appreciative if their basic needs are met. For instance, spanking a child is culturally accepted in Africa and according to Titi Tade, a social worker and counsellor in Lagos, Nigeria. There is a thin line between spanking that is appropriate and not so it a parent’s responsibility to understand what is most appropriate, culture aside.

Nevertheless, underage children who work as domestic servants, street hawkers, vendors, beggers, shoe shiners, car washers and bus conductors are very vulnerable to buse because this group of children in the labour market have a huge chance of being abused daily by people they come across while trying to make a living. For female hawkers, it encourages men to take advantage of them. On the other hand, these children cannot be blamed because they help put food on the taut food on the table at home and pay their school fees.

So they are left with no option or easy way out. Ms. Tade says, Poverty is the root cause, because parents do not necessarily want to send their children out to fend for themselves and, parents who encourage their children to hawk do so because they have no alternative source of raising funds. 

Ioanna Sotirhou, a journalist from the daily newspaper Elethrotypia specializing on immigration topics says the second generation of immigrants is well established until they become 18. At this age they are not allowed to have a resident permit unless they get a job otherwise they are faced with expulsion from Greece. In many cases they have to go abroad to get a falsified certificate, this enables them to renew their permits like new comers to Greece.  

On the other hand the children of Albanians living in Greece can easily get a paper which will always be legal and false because they were born here. The big problem is with the children of African origin.

According to the nation wide study 15 percent of children aged between 8 and 12 have been abused.  

The study carried out by professor Christina Antonopoulou shows that sexual and physical violence, mainly sexual is very prevalent in Greece.  

Professor Antonopoulou says she was not surprised at the number because the numbers are actually higher. This figure is just a tip of the iceberg.  

It is an issue that occurs 80 percent of the time in the family environment. The perpetrators are usually family members, friends of the family or known persons to the children. The problem is Greece is the only country without a programme on Sexual education, a programme that should be started at Kindergarten