The federal government says it is working to submit a backlog of reports on the rights of Nigerian Children to the United Nations and Africa Union expert committee on the rights of African children.

MacJohn Nwaobiala, co-chairman of the National Child Rights Implementation Committee, disclosed this in an interview in Abuja.

Mr Nwabiola, who spoke on the sidelines of the ninth quarterly meeting of the NCRIC, said Nigeria had yet to submit four reports (fifth to eighth reports) to the UN and AU bodies.

Regarding the reasons for the backlog, he said that the NCRIC was not functional between 2010 and 2018, there was no budget line for the committee, and meetings were not held due to some administrative challenges.

Mr Nwaobiala pledged that NCRIC would work to ensure Nigeria did not default again in submitting child rights situation reports.

Nkiru Maduechesi, UNICEF’s child protection specialist, said they assessed progress in terms of child rights implementation in Nigeria. She said that almost all the 36 states in Nigeria have implemented the Child Rights Act (CRA) in their various states.

“It is good to know that all the 36 states have enacted the child rights law and structures are in place across the states. We have the specialised police unit, the family court in some states who are  putting in place efforts towards child protection.

“However, a lot still needs to be done in terms of public financing of social services pertaining to child’s rights in Nigeria. A lot still needs to be done in making child protection and child’s rights a priority because by guaranteeing the rights of children, we are guaranteeing the future of Nigeria.

“Right now, there are large number of children who are still out of school, the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is not yet universal across the state and there is high violent rate against children,” Ms Maduechesi stressed.

Ms Maduechesi, however, appreciated the government’s efforts, adding that UNICEF would support the government’s efforts to ensure the well-being and rights of children are guaranteed in Nigeria. 

(NAN)