12th February, 2020
The wife of the Lagos State Governor Dr. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu on Tuesday appealed to parents and guardians to strive to bequeath legacies of quality life and sound education to their children in spite of the rising rate of abuses globally.
Sanwo-Olu made the appeal on Tuesday during an awareness walk to sensitize members of the public on the rights of Children.
The wife of the Governor led the sensitization walk alongside the wife of the Deputy Governor, Mrs Oluremi Hamzat, members of the committee of wives of Lagos State Officials (COWLSO), Commissioner for Youth and Social Development, Mr. Olusegun Dawodu; Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Mrs. Yewande Falugba and staff of the Ministry, NGOs and youth organizations.
The awareness walk which started from the premises of Lagos Television, Agidingbi, Ikeja and ended at the State House Alausa, Ikeja was held to further draw public attention to increasing abuses prevalent among children and the need to accord them their due rights under the law.
She underscored the need for parents and guardians to embrace the Child Right Act, saying that children had over the years been subjected to slavery, sexual abuses among several other inhumane attitudes that is detrimental to their growth and development.
“This is 21st Century, every child has the right to go to school, to learn something new. There is a period to be a child and a period to be an adult, please let them enjoy their childhood”. Mrs Sanwo-Olu begged parents.
She stated that as a responsible government, the state government will ensure that the Child Right Act is enforced to the letter, stressing that government will not fold its arms and allow children to be abused or their rights trampled upon.
She decried the rate of abseentism among school children in recent time, attributing the development to forced labour and abuses that prevents them from attending classes.
Sanwo-Olu therefore charged parents and guardians to ensure that children under their care are well catered for as parents of guardians of any child caught wandering or hawking during school hours would not be spared from prosecution.
She also appealed to the public on the need to ensure that cases of abuse against children are reported, adding that everyone must be involved in the eradication of abuse against children in the society.
The First Lady also called on religious bodies and traditional institutions to create awareness about the menace of child labour.
Commissioner for Youth and Social Development, Dawodu stated that the awareness walk became necessary so as to create awareness about the rights of children and ensure that they are not trampled upon.
According to him “You do not have to hit your child physically before an abuse is committed. Hawking during school hours and not allowing children attend schools and so on constitute child abuse”.