Abstract

It is a well known fact that Education is widely regarded as the route to economicprosperity, the key to scientific and technological advancement, the means to combat unemployment, and the foundation of social equity. Based on this fact, the Federal Government of Nigeria like other developing countries has at different times made frantic efforts in increasing the number of children enrolled in primary schools though there are still many more who are not enrolled and who do not complete the programme. This massive expansion has been possible by the infusion of large sums of monetary allocation to primary education. Although the functionality of this level of education is not doubted, in addition to the structural changes made to improve the system, it has been saddled with current problems ranging from issues of child labour, child abuse and the Almajiri system. This paper discusses how the child labour, child Abuse and the Almajiri system in Nigeria serve as an impediment to Nigeria Primary Education system
and some of the structural changes made to meet the demands of the society. Furthermore, it highlights the earlier identified issues as they affect primary education delivery in Nigeria. Also this paper provides recommendations on how the identified current problems are to be resolve by the Government.

Keywords : Child Labour, child Abuse, Almajiri system and Primary education in Nigeria.

1.1 Introduction

Primary education is the gateway to formal education. It is an essential component in the echelon of educational system of every nation. In order to be fit or qualify for other levels of education one must first pass through primary schools, as such it is an institution upon which all other levels of education and educational achievements are built. It prepares the mind and trains the child for higher and tougher academic pursuits. It provides young learners with the fundamentals of reading, writing, skill acquisition, information and attitudes necessary for proper adjustment into the society. Unfortunately, though not all recipients of primary
education get to other levels.

In Nigeria, just like any other nation of the world, many children’s health, education and childhood are stolen by an evil menace and cankerworm called child abuse and child labour. Children are physically, emotionally, mentally and educationally abuse, children between 5-17 years old work as long as 8-15 hours a day and earn as little as few nairas, which are usually too meager to secure a meal or even used for themselves, as
their parents or guardian collect the little they earn each day in the sun, in the street, in the market and in the hold- up where they are prone to accident. These children work more tediously and longer hours than normal at their tender age, instead of being in school learning or in the comfort of their home, resting, studying or playing with their
playmates.

Also, sometimes some children work themselves to death in their own homes without pay, simply because the society they live in believe that these children must work as long hours and as tediously as adults in order to meet up with the socio-economic and cultural expectations without their health being considered. This is simply child abuse and child labour.

No matter the reason why children work, child abuse and child labour is an evil that should be eliminated in the society to enable a child grow normally and healthily. The elimination of child abuse and child labour also promote and develop children socially,mentally, physically, morally and intellectually.

This paper therefore analytically approaches the subject matter in view to discuss and expand our depth of our understanding on the impact of child labour, child Abuse and Almajiri system on primary Education delivery in Nigeria as well as suggestions on the way forward to combating the menace.

2.1 THE CURRENT PROBLEMS TO NIGERIA PRIMARY EDUCATION SYSTEM

2.1.1 CHILD LABOUR

Child labor is any work or task a child below the age of 18 years undertakes with a view of being rewarded in cash or in kind or for any other reason at all, and which deprives him of his good health, good education and normal development. It is child labour because the children who do the labour are below the appropriate legal minimum
working age (18 years) based on the *International Labour Organization ILO* minimum age convention or 1973 No 138.
Child Labour has forced millions of Nigerian children out of the comforts of their homes, and out of school into the labour world and does not leave them there. It goes on to drag children to all sorts of ill-health and illiteracy.
Child labour has been fought from many angles both internationally and nationally, yet it still exists and deranges children’s health, and education. The International Labour organization programmes on the elimination of Child Labour IPEC founded in 1992 aims at eliminating child labour. It operates in 88 countries including Nigeria. In 2013, Nigeria made a moderate advancement in efforts to eliminate child labour and provided funds to families to encourage children remain in school.
However, child labour still remains a major source of concern inspite of all these legislative measures and Nigerian children still engage in force labour in various dimensions. In Nigeria, it is common to see school age children roam the street, motor parks, filling stations traffic jams and market stalls begging for alms, engaging in menial labour and hawking goods, while others engage in domestic services, agricultural farm work and other menial jobs all during school hours. In actual fact according to Aliyu, the number of children involved in exploitative work in Nigeria is not known, owing to the wide dispersion of child labourers everywhere.
However, there are many reasons for the wide dispersion of child Labour in Nigeria. Some of which are as follows: poverty, broken homes/family, cultural factors, family size, greed and illiteracy etc.

2.1.2 CHILD ABUSE

A child may be abused in any family or neighbourhood. It is not something that
people like to talk about but it can happen to a child who attends your local school,
church or mosque. Before we go further, who is a child? A child is a young human
being between birth and puberty.
Legally speaking, a child is somebody under a legally specified age who is considered not to be legally responsible for his or her actions.
According to the Black’s Law Dictionary, a child is a person under the age of majority.
In Nigeria, the age of majority is put at 18 years. Therefore, a child is a person under the age of 18 years.
So, even our laws have recognized the lack of full appreciation of what responsibility means to a children and has availed them allowances when the taking of responsibility for certain actions of theirs is in question.
What then is child abuse? This question is very important, especially in Nigeria
where the concepts of respect for elders and good manners (which can only come when a child is properly disciplined) are not matters to be toyed with. Child abuse is a severe mistreatment of a child by a parent, guardian, or other adult responsible for his or her welfare.

The Black’s Law Dictionary defines it as an intentional or neglectful physical or emotional harm inflicted on a child.

A child is considered abused if he or she is treated in a way that is unacceptable in a given culture at a given time.

Anthropological studies show clearly that what is viewed as abusive in
one society today is not necessarily seen as such in another.

What we may consider as child abuse in Nigeria may not be viewed as such in South Africa or Ghana. However, this cultural relative nature of child abuse does not mean that there are no common standards at all. The fact that certain practices are culturally approved in some societies does not mean that they must remain unchallenged either from within or from outside those societies.
Efforts have been made by both governmental and non-governmental organizations to discourage child abuse in Nigeria, however, a lot more needs to be done especially by parents, guardians and other adults because they are usually directly involved in these practices.

Types of Child Abuse
There are four different types of child abuse that lead to harm:
(a) Physical abuse
(b)Sexual abuse
(c) Emotional abuse
(d)Neglect.

Research has shown that majority of child abuse victims in Nigeria are from the primary school, such abuse has an indirect consequences on the Education of the child, such child find it difficult to concentrate on his or her studies is learning disorder, including poor language and cognitive development, aggressive behavior and other behavioral problems,depression, criminal disposition etc which will leads to setback to the Nigerian primary Educational system.

2.1.3. THE ALMAJIRI SYSTEM

It has almost become a normal feature, a cultural norm – children roaming the streets in certain parts of (mainly northern) Nigeria. Almajiri as the children are commonly referred to derives from the Arabic word Al-Mahaajirun , which literally means a learned scholar who propagates the peaceful message of Islam.

Regrettably, the Almajiri culture has since outlived its purpose and has become a breeding ground for child begging and in the extreme cases, potential materials for recruitment into terrorist groups. The pupils who were meant to be trained to become Islamic scholars have now had to struggle to cater forthemselves, begging rather than learning under the watch and supervision of some semi-literate Quranic teachers or Mallams who themselves lacked the requisite financial and moral support. Hence, the system runs more as a means of survival rather than a way of Life.

Deprived of a normal and descent upbringing, Almajiri children who are usually little boys between the ages of four and 15 may have been direct products of polygamous or broken homes or simply economic challenges in the family. They lack adequate family cover. The child or children is/are sent out to the streets under the guise of Almajiri, as soon as thefamily’sresources are overstretched.

The Almajiri grows up in the streets without the love, care and guidance of parents; his struggle for survival exposes him to abuse (homosexuality and pedophilia), used as a slave, brainwashed and recruited for anti-social activities and used for destructive and violent activities. This is the picture of the pitiful plight of an Almajiri child in Nigeria.

The Almajiri culture epitomises child abuse, social exclusion and chronic poverty in all ramifications. Because the system is believed to be rooted in Islamic religion and Fulani cultural practices, many attempts to reverse the trend or put an end to such abuse of humanity has always hit a brick wall.

The fact that Islamic teaching strongly forbids begging, except in very special circumstances which include a man’s loss of properties or wealth in a disaster, or when a man has loaned much of his money for the common good, such as bringing peace between two warring parties, already proves that Almajiri system as it is being practised today is totally un-islamic.

The Almajiri system been practice in the Northern Nigeria serve as one of the current biggest problem facing the Nigeria primary Education, as young boys in their teens who are supposed to be in school learning are allowed on the street to go fend for themselves. “We can see the manifestations in child begging, child destitution and child trafficking” said Prof M.T Ladan of Law at Ahmadu Bello University Zaria.

3.1 EFFORT MADE BY THE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT TO TACKLE THE CURRENT PROBLEMS TO THE NIGERIAN PRIMARY EDUCATION SYSTEM

3.1.1 CHILD PROTECTION

The Nigerian Government has formally adopted three International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions setting a minimum age for the employment of children at sea, in
industry and underground. In addition, the country signed a Memorandum of
Understanding in August 2003 in cooperation with ILO to launch a country programme under the International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC). The Government showed further commitment by implementing the West Africa Cocoa Agriculture Project (WACAP) and by passing the Child Rights Act Sections 28 and 29
into law. The Child Rights Act prohibits exploitative Labour and enforces sections 58 -64 of the Labour Decree of 1974, now the Labour Act. All legislation is designed to protect children from exploitative work. Some states, like Anambra State, have also banned children from working during school hours. While substantial legislation is now in place, legal enforcement remains another challenge to be met.

3.1.2 Some organization supported interventions

UNICEF Nigeria undertakes a mix of activities to raise awareness and combat child labour across the country, including:
1. Advocating for the ratification and enforcement of international laws that protect
children.

2. Supporting the passage of the Child Rights Act at the State level.

3. Supporting an inter-agency approach especially with ILO-IPEC on child Labour.

4. Supporting a National Baseline Survey with government partners and ILO, which will include data on sexual exploitation, child violence and youth militia.

5. Supporting the Federal Office of Statistics (FOS) to develop child protection indicators and assessment tools which will assist with the monitoring of child labour and other child protection issues in Nigeria.

6. Signing a memorandum of understanding with the University of Lagos for the establishment of a University Chair to oversee the compilation of relevant peer
reviewed child protection research including child Labour.

7. Supporting African Network for the Protection against Prevention of all Forms of Child Abuse, Nigerian Chapter (ANPPCAN) to establish two sentinel centers to monitor child protection abuse in Enugu and Port Harcourt.

8. Continuous technical and supplies support for residential care institutions
nation-wide caring for children who lack primary caregivers.

4.1 RECOMMENDATIONS
From my observation on child labour, child abuse and almajiri system as the current problems to the Nigerian primary education system, the following recommendations crystallized:

1. First of all, Raising public Awareness is very important, as this should include improving child knowledge
of work hazards raising parental awareness of the human capital
loss that may be associated with child labour and changing the
emphasis of policy makers.

2. Secondly, legislations and regulations should be enacted to stop families from sending their children out to do tedious work, also law enforcement agency should be mandated to arrest any child hawkers especially during school hours and late evening in Nigeria cities, and make parents to pay for their release.

3. Thirdly, Educating children – making basic education compulsory will
solve the problem especially in rural areas children can be scheduled to attend school and work without conflicting.

4. Also, the Universal Basic Education Board (UBEB) should increase public awearness through mass media on the importance of education, especially basic/primary education, as it is the foundation of every child.

5. Again, the Nigerian Government through the Universal Basic Education Board (UBEB) should adequately reform the almajiri system to meet the modern day demands and realities.

6. In the Southern part on Nigeria where parents use their children for begging, the police should continue to arrest and punish these parents until the stop this shameful activity.

7. In the Northern Nigeria, schools have been built during Goodluck Jonathan’s administration for the almajiris, but children do not attend most of the schools, the government should through the Universal Basic Education Board (UBEB), should ensure such structures are well utilize for primary education.

5.1 CONCLUSION

Child labour, Child abuse and the almajiri system are the current problems facing the Nigeria primary education system, as serious as it seems, it’s avoidable societal evil that is threatening the
existence of the ideal family and by extension, the future of Nigeria having regards to the fact that children are tomorrow’s leaders. Many victims of this current problems end up as
delinquents or criminals; some others underperform in school and are unable to come out with the goods as far as education is concerned because of the mental and psychological effects of child abuse. Some others don’t even get to attend school at all as they are sent away to serve as “house boys” and “house girls”. Victims of sexual abuse are psychologically and emotionally scarred and thus, may not perform optimally in their respective endeavours. All these leave us with a broken and battered society which is not good for the development and advancement of society. This is why all hands must be on deck to ensure that the appropriate policy and pragmatic measures are to be undertaken immediately by the Universal Basic Education Board (UBEB) to reduce the incidence of child abuse which has negative health, social and economic consequences. The sooner the needful is done the better.
Meanwhile, this problems call for stringent measurements as the only way out is to make parents know the dangers of not educating their children and I shall conclude with a word from *Mill (1970)* who stated that for a parent not to educate the child is a breach of duty not only towards the child but towards the members of the community generally, who are all liable to suffer seriously from the consequences of ignorance and want of education in their fellow citizens.

EMMANUEL BULUS JNR is a final year Law student of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria Nigeria, he can be reach through [email protected] or 08131052299.

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