Women Trafficking and Child Labour Eradication Foundation (WOTCLEF) has said that creating awareness on children’s rights “does not make them disobey the culture of respect for parents and the elderly in the society, but teaches them their responsibilities.”
Its National Coordinator, Mrs. Veronica Umaru, stated this while speaking exclusively to Blueprint, when it held an anti-trafficking Road Walk from the Junior Secondary School, Nyanya, to the Emir’s Palace in Karu.
Umaru, who said WOTCLEF “teaches children how to be responsible citizens,” urged parents to not deprive children the knowledge of their rights.
She said: “I don’t think it is right for people to feel that awareness on child’s rights makes them disrespectful to their parents or elders in the society. When we raise awareness we tell them what their rights are, and they also have the right to know what their responsibilities are.
“We do not forget to let children know they have a culture they must respect, however we do not support cultures that are harmful to the children. What we do not allow is when parents abuse the children by not allowing them to play, go to school, don’t take care of their health and all that.”
She regretted the poor level of implementation of the Child’s Rights Act (CRA) across the country, adding that some states were yet to domestic the law.
According to her, since 2003 when the CRA was passed into law, its implementation “is still not comfortable.”
“I think the act is only operational in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). One main ingredient of the act is the establishment of child courts so that children are not tried in the open court where adults are tried.”
