BOKO HARAM: Is This Year’s Children’s Day Worth Celebrating?

Children’s Day is a day set aside in honour of children all over the world, but it is celebrated on different dates globally.

It was first proclaimed in 1925 by the World Conference for the wellbeing of children, after which it was universally established in 1954 by the United Nations General Assembly to encourage all countries to institute a date, although, the universal Children’s Day is celebrated annually on November 20 by the United Nations.

 

In Nigeria, Children’s Day is celebrated on May 27 annually, and is set aside as a public holiday for primary and secondary school children. Children from various schools are selected for a march past parade competition. Parents and other Non Governmental Organizations, organize parties for children in a bid to give them a sense of belonging.

Today marks the 43^rd day since over 200 female students of Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State were abducted by the Boko Haram insurgents. The abductors have held the girls hostage since they were whisked off at 11:45pm April 14, 2014, to an unknown location.

The leader of the Islamic sect, Abubakar Shekau, who spoke sometimes ago, stated that the girls were captured because they were seeking western education. To him, western education is sin; hence, it is to be forbidden. He further said, women are to marry and not to be in schools.

After foreign governments offered assistance to rescue the kidnapped girls from their abductors, Abubakar Shekau came out in a video clip on May 12, 2014, demanding an exchange of the Chibok girls for members of his group in the custody of Nigeria’s security agencies. About 100 girls in a video released by the sect were seen reciting the Quran. The girls have been converted to Islam contrary to their religious beliefs, which is at variance with the rights of a child.

Obviously, these girls are not safe; they have become endangered. You’ll not be wrong if you assert that the Nigerian military is lethargic in the search for the missing girls.

With the spate of things going on in the north-eastern part of the country, our children are not safe. Fear has gripped every parent up to the point that none of them wants their children engaged in any social event. This is in accordance with the Nigerian Union of Teacher’s (NUT) declaration that all primary and secondary schools in the country be closed as at May 22, 2014, in protest against the abduction of the Chibok girls and the murder of 173 teachers.

Is this year’s children’s day worth celebrating? It is supposed to be a day where children all over the world would be aware of the vulnerability of their counterparts to violence, exploitation and discrimination. Children in some troubled parts of the world are recruited as child soldiers.

Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the UN, led the initiative for the education of children, stating that every child must be able to attend school and improve on the skills acquired in schools.

Of a truth, the essence of the celebration is to promote mutual understanding among children, and the initiation of actions towards enhancing the welfare of the Nigerian children.

Our children are the leaders of tomorrow.

Let us protect them.