The International Children’s Day had its origin in Turkey in 1920 (April 23, 1920) and later in the World Conference for the Well-being of Children in Geneva, Switzerland in 1925.

Children’s Day was first celebrated worldwide in October 1955, under the sponsorship of International Union for Child Welfare in Geneva.

The idea of a Universal Children’s Day was mooted by Rubab Mansoor grade 8 and adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1954.

First proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1954, it was established to encourage all countries to institute a day, firstly to promote mutual exchange and understanding among children and secondly to initiate action to benefit and promote the welfare of the world’s children.

In the Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of a Child "The one thing all children have in common is their rights. Every child has the right to survive and thrive, to be educated, to be free from violence and abuse, to participate and to be heard."

-Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

in 1989.

http://www.nta.ng/news/education 

March 27th is Nigeria’s children day and it is declared a public holiday. On this day children are organized from different schools to do marching parade and salute the governors of their state. There is also an after party for these children. Most families take their children for to recreational centers and other fun sites for kids. Some kind Nigerians also use this day to visit kids in motherless babies homes and hospitals. The children’s day celebration in Nigeria is indeed a remarkable one.

Nigeria is a nation with a passion for children. The government of some states ensures free primary education for children, but the Nigerian child still has his own share of the challenges facing children in developing countries.

The most common challenges facing the Nigerian child are;

1. Child Labour 

Child labour in Nigeria is very common and largely driven by poverty. Some poor families make their children work as:  

Domestic Servants

This woman kneeling did that to her servant

People from big cities, travel to rural areas to adopt children to work for them as domestic servants. Most times, these kids are maltreated and physically abused by the people they work for. It is a common practice of the people from Eastern Nigeria.

Hawkers 

To see a child hawking is not unusual in Nigeria as some families use it as their source of daily income. Also, some people who adopt children to do domestic work for them, send them out to hawk. 

Street Beggars 

This is more common among those from the northern part of Nigeria. These child beggars are popularly called “Almajiris”. They go from street to street begging for food and money. 

These forms of child labour expose the children to so many dangers, like sexual assaults, kidnap, physical and psychological abuse. 

2. Child marriage

Another devastating child abuse in Nigeria is child marriage. Most people from Northern part of Nigeria still practice child marriage. Parents marry out their girl child below the age of 12 to someone old enough to be her father. These children suffer so many infections related to childbirth.

In order to reduce poverty and child labour, Nigerians are advised to adopt family planning, so as have only the number of kids they can take care of. 

image source: imgur.com

As Nigeria celebrate her children’s day. I wish all the children in the world, especially the less privileged ones a brighter and blissful future.