Introduction

The law is dynamic, YES!!! But can critical issues like corporal punishment as a form of discipline ever change to that of those that brought civilization to us, knowing that our cultural differences are enormous. The international community have in some occasions reacted to the practice of corporal punishment in Nigeria.

The European Union stated that canning an underaged girl in one of the northern states in Nigeria was against human rights. The European convention on human rights article 3 clearly stated that ‘no one should be subjected to any form of torture, inhuman and degrading treatment.

Nigeria as a country even though we took up the civilization the British gave us we still hold our traditions and culture in high esteem. I personally conducted a research on some young person’s between the ages of 18-30 and they were of the opinion that corporal punishment should not be completely written off. Mind you these are educated Nigerians,the people we call civilised,so the African man mentality won’t let us get rid of corporal punishment on our children as a form of discipline.

I was privileged to spend so much time with one of those who were of the opinion that corporal punishment was not a thing for them, I found out it was easier said than done, he was provoked by his annoying little sister guess what? She was slapped. And on approaching him as to why he went against his words this was his line ‘spare the rod and spoil the child’ they need to be corrected.

Presently in Nigeria it is legal for parents to use force to correct or discipline their children. Article 295 of the criminal code states “a blow or other force, not in any case extending to a wound or grievous harm may be justified for the purpose of correction. Also article 55 of the penal code states”nothing is an offence which does not amount to infliction of grievous hurt upon any person and which is done;by parents or guardians for the purpose of correction of his ward or child below the age of 18.

I have first hand experience of how mischievous children can be,coupled with the fact that some of their choices can lead to a great doom,in situations like this what will be done? Just ‘spare the rod and stare at them or probably just scold them which the UNICEF are currently against as it could lead to some psychological disorder. The UNICEF statistics collected in 2011 states that 91% between the ages of 2-4 experience violent discipline both physically and psychologically in their homes,these psychological aggression includes shouting,yelling,insults etc.

Also bringing it down to Nigeria a surveys was conducted among some elementary school teachers in Ilorin they were 172 in number, 80% of them were of the opinion that school teachers can punish the students. The renowned authors concluded that corporal punishment should be abolished from schools and instead alternative non abusive methods of discipline should be used,but the question is what other method aside canning and scolding.

An opinion poll was conducted, these are the few responses :

Blossom: I was stubborn as a child, doing whatsoever I wanted,coming back late was my thing,going other places in disguise of going to school, fighting neighbours among other mischievous things.as a result my parents decided to use corporal punishment to put me in check, the greater the indiscipline the greater the punishment,it got to the point of using dry pepper on me. But I can proudly say it made me a better person, the fear instilled in me conditioned my actions.

Miracle: corporal punishment went a long way in conditioning my actions but self discipline helped too. At some point I got used to the flogging and they devised an alternative method locking me up in the toilet.

Dozie: I was never stubborn as a child and as a result I was never flogged,scolding was the method used on me though punishment was used on my other siblings, so I would say it depends on each child.

As stated in the beginning this is critical, the lines seem as if they can never met. A great scholar professor uzodike observed before the passage of the child right law ‘that the less it is accepted within the Nigerian society that children are the properties of their parents,the more the authorities will take laws seriously and actually interfere in the exercise of certain rights which are inimical to the interest of the children’. But in a country like Nigeria where so many duties are imposed on parents will the same parents not take children as their personal property seeing they have done alot for them.

In 2003 the national Assembly passed a legislation into law “the federal child right act” this is the only law that is close to ending corporal punishment in Nigeria. Article 11 States thus that no child shall be subjected:

To physical,mental or emotional injury,abuse, neglect,or maltreatment including sexual abuse.
to torture,inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
C.to attacks on his honour or reputation.

D.no child shall be held in slavery or servitude while in the care of parents and guardians.

But unfortunately this is only enforce in the federal capital and a few states,though there are plans to make it automatically applicable to all States. Article 11 have not been interpreted as prohibiting all corporal punishment in child rearing.

Children are been abused on a daily basis,some come up on our social Media pages, the agencies in charge children welfare see them yet little is done to curb the abuse. Few months back social media heard of a guardian that used hot iron on their ward and as usual little was done about it, no body learnt any lesson from that incident.

Solutions and conclusion

Finally I sit down and think of the generation that will come after us if corporal punishment were to be completely eradicated. it worked for the Whites because they have other effective methods of discipline like “grounding” but we don’t. Some questions came up:

Won’t completely eradicating corporal punishment bring crisis in homes? As children will sue their parents indiscriminately

Won’t parents give up on their children easily since they don’t have the right to discipline them. in the case Dumpson v Daniel the judge stated that ‘no matter the cultural differences the Nigerian father was wrong to have punished the child. truly corporal punishment might not be 100% in the best interest of a child but allowing them make wrong choices without instilling fear in them is not is not to their best interest, so striking a balance between both is where the issue lies.

I am of the opinion that corporal punishment can be practiced so far it does not breach human rights because completely eradicating it does more harm than good. This set of people(children)are too young to make reasonable decisions for themselves so there’s a need for them to be Corrected, I am also advocating that an age restriction should be adopted, when a child can now make independent decision it is right for that opportunity to be give to him or her as they are also humans not puppets.

References

National mirror, Lagos 24 February 2011

European convention on human rights

Samuel Edeh C, The Supremacy of The Realist School of Thought Vis a Vis Other Schools of Thought as it Relates to The Nigerian Legal System

Criminal code art 295

UNICEF statistical analysis of violence against children(2014)

Abdulraheem Mahmoud,A.O metal(2011) observation of teachers in Ilorin, Nigeria. Accessed September 7

Eunice N. Uzodike “implications and limits of parental rights in Nigeria”(1990)

Child Right Act 2003

Dumpson v Daniel M, N.Y.L.Y. October 16 1974.

Edeh Samuel C. “Methods of Social control Through Law: The 6 Major Techniques” – https://bscholarly.com/methods-of-social-control/

Ozumba ifeanyi adaeze

300l

Faculty of law University of Nigeria Nsukka

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