The present state of our dear country, Nigeria is still far from our expectations. It is still far from what our forefathers and mothers anticipated at independence in 1960.
The current situation in our country cannot put smiles on the faces of Nigerian children; we still hope for a better Nigeria.
Great Nigeria, the giant of Africa that our founding fathers – Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and others – envisioned is far greater than this. It seems the present Nigeria is still pushing far away from the path of this great vision. However, “the labour of our heroes past shall never be in vain.”
The Nigeria we want is such that free and quality education will be available to children at all levels. We desire an environment that will enable children assume leadership positions in the nearest future. The children are the only hope for the dying leadership in Nigeria and as it is said, “children are the leaders of tomorrow.” In order to breed good leaders that will rescue Nigeria from its present state of chaos, a solid foundation must be laid today, and free, quality education is a platform for laying such a foundation. But as it stands, the educational system in Nigeria is nothing to boast of as evidenced in the following: poor educational infrastructure, poor funding for education, poor motivation of teachers, increased brain-drain/ migration to foreign countries (now popularly called ‘japa’), increased rate of out-of-school children, among others. These could be very much detrimental to the ambitions of our future leaders, hence, we seek for a Nigeria that would enable a bright future for our future leaders that would in turn result in the progress of our nation.
Also, the Nigeria we long for is one with a vibrant, buoyant and sustainable economy that is full of equal opportunities for all children irrespective of their socio-economic background, so as to enable us grow up to be patriots and nationalists of our great nation. Today, the huge exchange rate of naira to one dollar is unbelievable. The huge debts of our country to other countries is very threatening to us as children. With the prevailing circumstances, the question is, “is our future guaranteed?” We want a Nigeria where the exchange rate of dollar to naira would be equal; a debt-free nation for sustainable development. We yearn for a country that would not encourage brain-drain such that children’s talent and potentials would not be killed but encouraged and developed.
Besides, the increasing rate of unemployment in our country today is quite alarming. When children are done with their education, there is hardly any source of livelihood. Since white collar jobs are now inadequate, children should be empowered with life-coping, intellectual, entrepreneurial and artistic skills to enable them become self-reliant in the future and reduce the high rate of unemployment and/ or underemployment in the country which has led to the involvement of some children in anti-social vices such as cultism, armed robbery, fraud, drug abuse, among others.
Moreover, we crave for a Nigeria where healthcare facilities and services would be available in quality and quantity. Due to lack of efficient health facilities in the country, many children have died prematuredly and most of these deceased children were potential great men. Among them were change-makers, potential leaders, doctors, scientists, and many more, but Nigeria lost them all due to inadequate and unaffordable healthcare services. So, we long for a nation where there will be availability and accessibility of quality healthcare services to all children at minimum cost (affordability) because it is often said that “a healthy nation is a wealthy nation.”
Furthermore, the Nigeria we want is one that the leaders are democratically elected to occupy all political offices in a peaceful, free, fair and credible election; one that is devoid of bloodshed, ballot box snatching, violence, falsification of election results and all forms of electoral malpractices. Let’s begin more properly this 2023.
In summary, Nigerian children are seeking a country where the rights of a child could be fully implemented, where quality education is guaranteed for every child, where there is zero tolerance to every form of child abuse, where corruption and anti-social vices will be a story of the past, where there is assured safety and protection for the child, where unemployment will be completely dealt with, where there will be availability, accessibility and affordability of quality healthcare services to every Nigerian child, where the Nigerian child can boast of a restructured Nigeria, such that even foreigners would desire to be in a country as ours.
– Hon Osika, Kaghini-nse Etim is the deputy speaker, Cross River State Children’s Parliament.
