The Legal Protection of Children Under Child’s Right Act 2003 and Human Rights in Nigeria (Published)
The Child Rights Act (CRA) was in 2003 adopted and domesticated in Nigeria. This piece of legislation ushered in a new legal framework, which stated that every child has the right to life, survival, education and social development. Hence, the importance of children’s education in any given society is very essential to the social and economic development of that society particularly for its future attainment, advancement and development. To deny the child rights to education is to deny the nation its critical development economically, socially, politically and otherwise. The needs of a child ranging from health care, feeding, clothing, accommodation rest on the shoulders of adults, parents, guardians and the government, because children are vulnerable and cannot cater for themselves, hence, they must be provided guidance, training and care for meaningful contribution in the society. This responsibility of educating the child for critical thinking and development lies on the society. It is in recognition of this, that the right to education has been entrenched in several international, regional and domestic legal instruments. Nonetheless, there is the problem of implementation and enforcement of these extant laws as there are still so many uneducated, unfed, and tattered children in the street engaged in hawking and child labours. Economic landscape of the future generation in Nigeria cannot be guaranteed. The aim of this study is to examine the legal protection of children under the Nigeria Child Right Act 2003. The study adopted the doctrinal research method to achieve the objective. The study observed that the various constitutive legal instruments though adequate however, lack proper mechanism or institutional framework for implementation and enforcement. The researcher recommends constitutional amendment to include child’s right to education as a fundamental right.
Keywords: Child Labour, Child Rights, Child Rights Act (CRA), Nigeria, child protection, fundamental rights, implementation and enforcement, right to education