By Babatunde Ayedoju

Here in Africa, children constitute a major force in the family. In fact, the presence or absence of children in a home can determine whether the home will be a happy one or not. That is why immediately after a wedding, almost everybody becomes curious, watching out for signs of pregnancy in the wife.

When such signs are not forthcoming, there can be a problem which may even lead to the collapse of the family. Children can be that important in an African family setting. However, when a couple is able to give birth, the joy of the couple and that of their family members know no bounds.

The birth of a child is heralded with joyful celebrations, as everybody wants to play with the child. Unfortunately, as the child grows older, he/she begins to lose the celebrity status gradually. The implication is that, the same child who was previously the centre of attraction in the family and even in the community may now have to face the reality of a life that is full of abuses. Such abuses may come in form of sexual harrassment, child trafficking, forced labour and denial of education, among many others.

Consequently, a lot of children grow up without enjoying the privilege of being celebrated by anyone, except for a few whose parents decide to mark their birthdays with cake, biscuits and photoshoots. Another set of children that tend to be celebrated are twins, but this is mostly for spiritual reasons.

However, at some point, some people felt that children generally should have a particular day when the society would celebrate them, apart from their birthdays (there are actually some children whose parents do not believe in celebrating birthdays), and irrespective of whether they are twins or not.

That led to what is called Children’s Day, but there is a need to trace the history of this particular day that is so special to children across the world.

There is no global consensus on the origin of Children’s Day celebration. According to a particular school of thought, Reverend Charles Leonard of the Universalist Church of the Redeemer, Chelsea, Massachusetts, United States, first celebrated Children’s Day in June 1857.

The Reverend Father usually dedicated every second Sunday Service in June to children. Father Leonard then called the day Rose Day and later renamed it Flower Sunday. Another school of thought says that Children’s Day celebration originated from Turkey where it was first observed on April 23, 1920. However, it was not until August 1924 when some 54 representatives from different countries across the globe gathered in Geneva, Switzerland, to discuss the well-being of children that countries began to take interest in their children.

Referred to as the ‘Geneva Declaration On The Rights Of The Child,’ the gathering made a strong appeal for the spiritual needs of children, relief for children in poverty, prevention of child labour, reassessing the way children were educated and other issues related to the welfare of children around the world.

That led the United Nations General Assembly in 1954 to declare November 20 as the Universal Children’s Day, generally referred to as Children’s Day. November 20 is an important date as it is the date in 1959 when the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. It is also the date in 1989 when the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Therefore, since 1990, World Children’s Day has been marked as the anniversary of the date that the UN General Assembly adopted both the Declaration and the Convention on children’s rights.

After the declaration, various governments around the world designated a day, different in each country, as Children’s Day, to encourage and bring joy to children. Nigeria chose May 27 date to replace the date for Empire Day, which is no longer celebrated. It was first observed in Nigeria in 1964.

Today, we are marking another edition of Children’s Day in Nigeria. How has the children day celebration affecting the children? In other words, are they gaining anything from it? Should we continue with the celebration? Is the government doing enough for the Nigerian child? Where is the government lacking in meeting the needs of Nigerian child?

Dr Salman Adisa, from the Guidance and Counseling Unit, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria believes that whether Children’s Day is worth celebrating or not depends on the angle one is viewing it from.

He said: “If you look at it now, almost all tertiary institutions have been closed down because of strike. There is also insecurity. In the past, both teachers and students were happy on Children’s Day, but now the teachers are not happy. Even the students themselves are afraid because of kidnapping. Some parents may not even allow their children to go for the celebration.”

On if the government has done well enough for the Nigerian child? Dr Adisa responded: “The government has not done well enough for the Nigerian child. There are many good programmes for the children but they have not been well implemented. Go to some schools, you will discover that children are still sitting on the floor. Classrooms are still crowded with 80 or more than a hundred pupils in a classroom. Meanwhile, the children need proper attention to learn. Then, there are frequent strikes, due to poor attention given to teachers’ welfare.”

As a way forward, the seasoned educational counselor recommended that the goverment should implement government policies and tackle corruption effectively. He pointed out the need to go back to the good old days and find out the proper way to manage education, saying that we need to “do the right right thing practically, not just on paper.”

Taiwo Adeniji, a student in his early 20s, says that the Children’s Day celebration has been very impactful for him. He said: “I have gained a lot from the Children’s Day celebration. Personally and from past experiences, I get to have a feeling of liveliness whenever I meet children from different homes, schools and places. Another thing is exposure. I get to to see beyond the four corners of my parents’ house and celebrate with other kids. It also helps to annihilate inferiority complex in children, as in my case.

“It gives the avenue for children to be well recognized and taken care of. For instance, some parents use that opportunity to bond with their kids by taking them out, buying gifts and having quality time of fun with them.”

Adeniji believes that the government is not doing enough for the Nigerian child. He said: “The Government supposed to guarantee the well being of children in their jurisdiction, which in turn tells in the future of the community by whatever the child becomes. Government should also look into crimes such as child trafficking, insecurity, kidnapping and rape.

While noting that parents sometimes do not have resources to take care of, train and invest in their children, Adeniji suggested that “Government can set up a programme to help such parents. For instance, there are children who need healthcare and their parents are not financially buoyant. The government should have systems that can help such families. Likewise, education should be made available to all children, even to those who can’t afford it.”

While noting that some parents do not always have the right information for their children, he said that the government could help create awareness and enlightenment programmes that would attend to such parents.

He also recommended that government should create avenues like playing grounds and recreational centres for children, saying, “Where we have a healthy and sound children in a society, the future of that society is positive.”

In the words of Abayomi Akinwande, a student and teenager, “Children’s Day, as we all know it, is the celebration of the kids from ages zero to 12. Teens are not included. When I was still celebrating Children’s Day, I gained a lot from it. On that day, we would usually bill all our aunties and uncles for money or material gifts. However, but everything would end up in our parents’ pockets and they may never give them back to us.

Akinwande added: “The government is not doing well in this aspect. They should be creating programmes where children can have fun for free, unlike the once people are organising recently where almost all the programmes organised are monetised and children have to pay before they can enter or have access to the environment,” he said.