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The Nigerian Children’s Parliament said at its plenary session on Thursday that the security situation in some parts of the country poses a threat to the unity and corporate existence of the nation.
The parliament's observation came from the 2012 National Children's Day special sitting to commemorate the May 29 Democracy Day in Abuja.
The Speaker of the parliament, Master Idara Thompson, said there was the need for various governments to create an enabling environment that would make the dreams of the children come to reality.
Speaking on the theme, ``Let’s build a culture of peace and security for the Nigerian child’, Thompson said that insecurity of lives and property should be everyone's responsibility.
He stressed the need for Nigerians to imbibe the culture of peace, adding that peace was paramount to all in any society.
“For how long are we going to live in fear of the unknown. Let’s look at the activities of the Boko Haram in the North and kidnapping in the East. This type of environment can’t make a child think properly.
“We need a lasting solution to this problem. I think that if the relevant agencies and government institutions saddled with the responsibility of tackling this challenge do their job, then we will have the desired peace.”
Also, the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Zainab Maina, said it was the duty of everyone to build a conducive environment for children as future leaders.
She said the various governments had realised that no meaningful development would be achieved if the children who constitute more than 50 per cent of the population were left behind.
“Obviously, no nation can aspire to attain its development goals if it neglects the larger proportion of its population, the children.”
Earlier in his address, the Minister of Information, Mr Labaran Maku, said that children were generally peaceful in nature, blaming the adults for introducing violence into the society.
The minister said that children were an integral part of a successful effort to prevent conflict and build peace, hence their inclusion in the processes to address the causes of conflict. (NAN)
