The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Atiku Abubakar Bagudu, has decried the situation Nigerian children face as a result of poverty.
Atiku Bagudu said across all the 10 multi-dimensional poverty indicators, including clean water, sanitation, nutrition, health and education; children are more affected than adults.
He stated this on Wednesday in Abuja, at the 2024 World Children’s Day celebration with the theme ‘Listen to the Future’.
At the 2024 commemoration, celebrated by the Federal Government, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and other stakeholders, the updated Situation Analysis of Children in Nigeria (SitAn) was inaugurated.
Represented by the Permanent Secretary, Mr. Vincent Obi, Bagudu decried the high rate of out-of-school children in the report.
According to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the report stipulated that “26 percent of primary school-age children, 25 percent of junior secondary school-age children, and 24 percent of senior secondary school-age children are out of school.
“At the same time, 1.3 million children have been forced to flee from their homes due to conflict.”
Bagudu noted that schools and health facilities lacked or have only limited access to water, sanitation and hygiene services with low levels of essential gender-sensitive or disability-friendly services, stating that “approximately 70 percent of households consume contaminated water“.
“While the data mortality is declining, it is still high at 41 percent per 1,000 live births, according to the Democratic Health Survey 2003-2004, stunting is still at 40 percent and wasting is at 80 percent,” he stated.
He, however, promised President Bola Tinubu administration’s commitment to addressing the challenges.
“One of the government’s aspirations in the National Government Plan 2025 and the Renewable Agenda is to reduce poverty through social protection programmes and improve the situation of children in the country.
“As a government, we will achieve this through accelerated, sustained, inclusive economic growth and social protection initiatives,” Bagudu promised.
The UNICEF Representative in Nigeria, Ms Cristian Munduate, told the federal government to act on the report to save the future of the children.
Munduate promised UNICEF’s commitment to ensuring children achieve their future ambitions and dreams.
“You dream of becoming doctors, teachers, artists, and leaders. Your dreams give us hope and remind us why our work is so important.
“We are committed to making sure that every one of you has the chance to achieve your dreams.
“For the leaders, policymakers, and partners in this room, let us remind ourselves: this Situation Analysis is a call to action.
“We need to increase our investment in health, education, and child protection. We must work together to ensure that our resources reach the most vulnerable children, and we need to prioritize programmes that address malnutrition, poor access to quality education, and violence,” she said.
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