Children deserve all the Care and Attention-Prof. Olagoke

As cases of child abuse, trafficking and labor continue to increase in different parts of the world,  with not too encouraging response from Governments of different nations, the Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam of Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke in this interview says that the day is a wake up call for stakeholders to ensure that children are well groomed for future leadership.

What is your message to children as they celebrate the children’s day on May 27 ?

My worries for Government of several nations over issues of festivals and programs and charters of the United Nations for the purpose of human welfare and general development is that it goes beyond the mere ceremonial terrain. Unfortunately, when nations experience traumatic period of wars or ravaging diseases such as the coronavirus pandemic, Spanish flu from 1918 to 1920 and Hong Kong flu of 1968 experiences show that no lesson is ever learnt in a bid to change our psyche on the need to do the needful to better the lot of humanity.

Specifically , the children’s day is expected to pose the challenge of alertness on all stakeholders, naturally billed to take care of children in modelling as a great foundation that must solidified for future leadership. This immediately calls for the need to accept in principle the 17 point agenda of the United Nations on the sustainable development goals, starting from the issue of poverty and hunger, to nip in the board the scary challenges of economic dichotomy that marginalize a majority of the population. For example in Nigeria into the classes of the poor, abject poverty, destitution and the poorest of the poor, recently derisively identified by the government of Nigeria at all levels of governance.

The area of marginalized women, girl child abuse and people with disabilities are all very much inclusive in the trauma of mismanagement.

Within the rank and file of all these marginalized sector of humankind, the arrows of debacle continue to have such children as vulnerable.

The 13.9 million out of school children are equally inclusive. Are these scenarios of cries of the dead from the grave, worthy of celebration through mere celebration by those in the regime of power, affluence and influence, paying lip service to what they vowed to correct during their political campaigns, before they find themselves in the great positions of power.

If truly we want to celebrate our children,the areas of weaknesses and travails of our children, most especially the marginalized ones, are supposed to receive the kind of attention government is devoting to the coronavirus pandemic, with all keenness, facts and figures and vehement struggle, not only to put a stop to its spread, but to find a permanent cure.

Nobody ever knew that the government of Nigerian can be so serious and energetic on matters bothering on threats to life, with all recklessness backing up the funding.

The lives of our children are more sacred and valuable than the coronavirus pandemic or even if we term them to be of equal value for equal treatment and aggression. Children during this period of public health crisis have suffered so much, but only the effects would be visible in the nearest future, when they are to take over the mantle of leadership, with all the set backs we are creating for them today.

For example, all schools shut as a result for the coronavirus pandemic, shall affect the standard of education negatively. The so called online teaching and learning cannot be said to be effective because the environment cannot be said to be conducive for all of them and the monitoring essence is equally low due to the high percentage of illiteracy and ill education of most parents. The general under funding of education is an insult to the intellectuals to the disadvantage of our children. This period, reports of emotional outbursts into psychological trauma are equally on the increase with cases of pedophilia, incest, sodomy, defilement, homosexuality and other cases of sexual abuses, have resulted in the vulnerability of children, particularly the girl child. Kidnapping of children has equally worsened the situation. Fundamentally therefore, children deserve all the care and attention, whereby all stakeholders starting from government on legislative framework for qualitative education that must be accessible to all irrespective of their social status. Also, the health sector must be children friendly, in terms of policies that would promote the rights of children on the issue of employment.