Leave No Child Behind By Hannatu Musawa

“-Akin is a 5 year old orphan
from Oyo state born on
the 1st of January. He never
knew his mother; she died
from loss of blood bearing
him on the dirty floor of
their one-room apartment.
After her death his father
moved the family to Lagos.
When Akin was 2, his father
died in an accident leaving
him and his 9 year old
brother. Ladja, Akins’
brother, managed to support
them by patrolling parking
spaces and demanding fees
from motorists. When Ladja
became involved with a
group of area boys and was
killed while participating in
an armed robbery
operation… Akin was
adopted as one of the area
boys’ own to raise!”
“-Shamsiya is a 5 year old
girl from Katsina state born
on the 1st of January. Her
father is a maiguard with 4
wives, 2 concubines and 29
children. From his wages,
Shamsiyas’ father can only
afford to feed a third of his
family. Shamsiya and her
sisters don’t go to school,
instead they hawk
groundnut. Mallam Ado, a
shoe shiner 48 years older
than Shamsiya, is her biggest
customer and has recently
taken a pervasive interest in
eating groundnut… but only
if Shamsiya is selling it!”
“-Gladys is a 5 year old half
cast girl from Edo state born
on the 1st of January. She
no longer sees her mother
and never knew her father.
Her mother only met him
once; he lives somewhere in
an Italian suburb oblivious
of his offspring, forgetful of
that one night he ventured
to solicit the tall black lady
with the red high heel boots.
The little girl lives with her
elderly grandmother, a
woman too frail to notice
the goodness of her
grandchild. Unfortunately
Diezel, the local, sick-
minded mechanic noticed
and was always determined
to show Gladys just how
much. From the age of 3,
Gladys has been sexually
molested by Diezel and he
has commenced
arrangements for a passport
for her so that she could
travel with him and 6 other
young and abused slave girls
in a shipping container… on
a one way trip to Italy!”
“-Chukwudi is a 5 year old
boy from Anambra born on
the 1st of January. Being 14
years older than him, his
brother was lucky enough to
gain an education and
admission into a university.
Unfortunately for Chukwudi
times were hard and the
family couldn’t afford to
educate another child, so he
and his twin sisters assisted
their parents in their kiosk.
Away in university, his
brother became involved
with a deadly cult. The cult
leaders gave him a house to
move his family into and
without waste of time they
did. In their joy Chukwudi’s
family failed to notice… it
was situated near a shrine!”
The implication of these
accounts may seem severe,
but in reality millions of
children all over this country
are abused, molested, sold
like goods, violated, forced
to lead immoral lives,
kidnapped and killed. If we
look in every corner of every
state in Nigeria, one
common theme we will
witness is malnourished,
uneducated and
impoverished children living
in a very poor state of health
and filth. And regardless of
where they are from these
children are all victims of
the existing decline of our
country. Every one of us
must understand that no
child can be left behind and
we have to take
responsibility for the safety
of the children of this
country. Arguably we are all
guilty for exhibiting a poor
attitude toward their welfare.
We are guilty of inaction
because we witness daily the
employment of very young
children as domestic
servants, the growing rage of
the system of almajiranci,
area boys and marriage of
very young girls without
challenging the institutions
and people that encourage
these trends. Unless we
create an initiative to stop
the exploitation of children
then we face a grim future.
If we don’t take a stand then
children like Akin, Shamsiya,
Chukwudi and Gladys
become part of that vicious
circle and 20 years down the
line we have a “scenario
A” situation where…
“-Akin grew up learning the
ropes from his area boy
idols and on many occasions
would assist them. Alas, in
order for Akin to reach an
ultimate high, he began to
take drugs. It started with
the occasional marijuana but
latter turned into a need for
something much harder. He
was eventually thrown out
the gang for sluggishness
due to the drugs and started
living under a Lagos bridge.
His drug use became so
desperate that on one night
when he couldn’t get the
drugs, he cut off his little
finger in order to quantify
his intense craving and need
for the drugs. Akin lived this
way for many years until his
lonely death on the 31st
December… a day before his
25th birthday!”
“-Shamsiya was married off
to Mallam Ado by the age of
12 as his 4th wife. By the
time she was 14, she gave
birth to the first of her 6
children. Mallam Ado, her
first husband, died 4 years
into their marriage after
which she begged on the
streets with her children in
order to survive. Shamsiya
married 2 other men in her
lifetime, the last one lasting
only 4 months before her
husband divorced her to
marry a younger woman.
Towards the end of her life,
Shamsiya begged on the
streets with some of her
children, the others were
sent to a Mallam in
Maiduguri and are living as
almajirai. During a religious
clash, her 11 year old
almajiri son Inusa plunged a
knife in her gut, ending her
tortured life for
reprimanding him for using
the opportunity to loot
shops and kill people. She
died on the 31st
December… a day before
her 25th birthday!”
“-Gladys didn’t get her
passport and didn’t get to
travel abroad till she was 24
because Diezel thought she
would be more useful to him
in the big Nigerian cities. For
many years she was raped,
beaten and abused. By the
time she was 24, Gladys
managed to travel to
America. With a sigh of relief
a damaged Gladys,
determined to start a new
life, went to the doctor for
necessary tests. A few days
latter Gladys stared with
horror at the piece of paper
in her hand which sealed her
fate, the piece of paper that
said “results of blood test”,
the piece of paper that said
“HIV: positive”. For Gladys it
was not to be the start of
her new life but the end of
her journey because on New
Years Eve a gun lay in her
right hand and her life less
body just lay victim to her
own suicide…. It happened a
day before her
25th birthday!”
“-Chukwudi and his family
were barely making ends
meet when his brother
defied his cultist leaders.
Had it been a minor crime, 1
sacrifice would have been
adequate for the leaders of
the cult, but this was an
insulting offence that
required nothing less than 6
sacrifices. On the night of
31st December screams
were heard from the
direction of Chukwudis’
house. In the morning 6
burned bodies were
discovered including that of
the mutilated torso of a
small boy with his arms,
legs, and head hacked off.
Chukwudi was not 25… he
died a day before his
8th birthday!”
Be it life till 25 or 8, the
need of all children is one
and the same and their fate
interconnected. For Akin,
Shamsiya, Chukwudi and
Gladys, 4 children who were
never destined to meet but
had more in common than
they would ever know, their
destiny could be changed if
our attitude and laws were
too. In order to protect them
from the exploitation and
degrading treatment
in “scenario A”, our
government must enforce
more laws that protect
children; put a stop to child
begging, hard labour,
trafficking, establish
organised rehabilitation
centres, orphanages, provide
primary healthcare, basic
education, safe water,
sanitation and enforce
stringent sanctions to those
who encourage these
harmful practises. Those of
us who have the means
should take it upon
ourselves to sponsor the
protection, empowerment
and education of strangers,
albeit one. The populace
must show care and
humanity to the already
displaced children living on
the streets. Granted, it may
be an unreasonable
expectation for all the above
reforms to be
simultaneously put in place
but if only we could start
with a couple, then we have
a real likelihood of
succeeding so that children
like Akin, Shamsiya,
Chukwudi and Gladys have a
chance of the life
in “scenario B” some 20
years down the line where…
“-Akin went to an orphanage
and excelled in school. Upon
seeing his brilliance, a
childless couple adopted him
and groomed him to grow
up into a fine, proud young
man. He became a lawyer
and dedicated his practise to
speak for all unprivileged
drug addicts living under
bridges. His brother Ladja
went into rehab and
emerged a confident,
rehabilitated business man!”
“-Shamsiya benefited from
the state sponsored
education in her town. She
went on to get a scholarship
and was able to eventually
qualify as a teacher. Happily
married with 6 children she
speaks out against
almajiranchi, early marriage,
hawking and writes against
these practises in her native
language. Her son Inusa
wants to work in a bank!”
“-Gladys was protected by
the authorities and went
ahead to study economics.
Latter in life she won a
beauty contest and used the
platform to speak on the
dangers of child abuse. Now
she travels the world and
provides counselling and aid
to AIDS patients!”
“-Chukwudi and his family
were provided a secure
shelter and eventually
relocated. Chukwudi became
a doctor and senator. He
introduced a bill in the
Senate that tightened the
law on cultism in
Universities. His brother
works with him!”
Our children are important
and valued members of our
society. We must at this
point ask ourselves which of
the above scenarios we
prefer for our children; A or
B? For our children of
destiny; Akin, Shamsiya,
Gladys and Chukwudi and
every other Nigerian child,
the answer must be B and
one thing must be clear; we
must leave no child behind!
Written By Hannatu Musawa.
I invite you to follow me on
Twitter-@hanneymusawa

#CONSENSUS 2015