Right advocacy stakeholders have sought for better ways to protect the rights of school children in order to ensure they live better life.
The stakeholders who spoke at the 2022 Annual Secondary Schools’ Human Rights Summit in Abuja, also expressed concern over bullying, corporal punishment and other child rights violation acts that could hamper students effective learning and pose psychological threat to their wellbeing.
The summit which was organised by Sterling Centre for Law and Development with the theme, “Better Life for Every Child”, was designed to stimulate the minds of the students towards civic rights and duties and to achieve early human rights education in line with the UN declaration on human rights education and training among others.
The executive secretary of the National Human Rights Commission, Anthony Ojukwu said there are ongoing plans by the commission to engage the public and schools in efforts to avoid recurrence of sexual and gender based violence and bullying in the schools.
He said the commission was establishing human rights clubs in schools to promote children awareness of their rights and complain when their rights are violated.
The coordinator of the centre, Deji Ajare called on the government agencies, the human rights commission, civil society organisations, to create awareness on the provisions of the Child Rights Act and the need for the executive arm of the government to put in place mechanisms for daily reportage of cases of violations of child rights.
On his part, director-general of the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution Abuja, Tswah Bakut, represented by Dr Mohammed Ndakogi said, “All hands must be on deck as parents, government and stakeholders to collectively give the Nigerian child a new direction.”
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