Children abuse and the Nigerian child rights act, 2003 : recent challenges and strategies

Abstract

This article examines Child Abuse and Child Rights Act, 2003 in Nigeria with a view to appraising the current intolerable degree of child abuse and the jurisprudential basis for the inefficacy of the Child Rights Act in the light of the existing challenges and constraints. It also goes on to suggest appropriate remedies for various challenges against all efforts at preventing child abuse and proper enforcement of the Act. Republic of Malta is a vibrant member of the Commonwealth of a nations to which Nigeria also belongs while the two nations stand to benefit from each other in terms of development of their laws and promotion of human rights. It is believed that the publication of this articles in the renowned Mediterranean Journal of Human Rights will enhance further awareness in the Mediterranean community of the situation of the rights of the child in Nigeria. The article relies on analytical and descriptive methods based on sociological and realist model theories. The findings show that child abuse in all its ramifications is getting worse in Nigeria while the various existing laws and law enforcement agents appear very helpless in the current situation. The article concludes that since most of the legal and institutional devices against child abuse in Nigeria appear grossly inadequate and if the future of every nation lies in the hands of children who will turn adults; other realistic and practical mechanisms must be sought to tackle this unfortunate social phenomenon.