From alms to arms: Street Children and National Security in Nigeria
All parents’ greatest joy is to bear children and nurture them to the point when they reach their full potentials in life. However, when children are not properly cared for by their parents and/or caretakers, they are frequently exposed to any patterns of conduct that tend to impede their life aspirations Many Typically, children are being abused or maltreated by their parents, family members and those in their communities (Sarka, 2021). When these kids can’t take the problems at home anymore, they usually find comfort in the streets. In other words, they are homeless when they can’t be with their families. There are numerous ways to define security. It is important to recognize that the modern view of security tries to broaden and delve deeper into the concept of safety. Furthermore, it claims that other issues, including as environmental, economic, political, and social dangers, threaten citizens’ lives and properties more than the survival of the state itself. Security, as defined by Nkechi (2013), is the condition of being free from threat, danger, worry, oppression, and poverty.
Children, including street kids, are minors who need help from adults to stay alive and grow up in a safe and healthy way. The kids come from homes with a lot of people and not much money. Adults can use them because they don’t get assistance and care from responsible adults. It’s critical to remember that homeless kids are not just a problem in northern Nigeria. The violence of “area boys” (a general term for mostly male delinquent youth) in many southwestern cities of Nigeria, especially Lagos, shows that. This increases their danger of getting imprisoned, rape, drug abuse, and human trafficking (Aransiola & Zarowsky, 2014). These things violate the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child. Yet, adults in the neighbourhood call youngsters the major problem and want them “wiped out.” There are street children all over the world, in many different cultures, and their social backgrounds are surprisingly similar. The United Nations has established numerous treaties that denounce all forms of child abuse, including trafficking, as concern over the violation of children’s rights and human trafficking increases around the globe. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most well-known of these. It is worthy to mention that street children are at risk of being trafficked by unscrupulous adults who utilize them as members of their criminal organization. In a similar manner, these youngsters lose their innocence and become a major menace to society, and they have the feeling that no one ever loved them, which fuels their commitment to engage in vices.
It has been observed that street children can be used as political thugs, foot soldiers and terrorists in religious conflicts, accomplices in violent robberies, and even as easy targets for ethnic militia recruitment. Street kids steal little items and break car windows at traffic stops. Additionally, it has been reported that street children have sexually assaulted defenceless ladies who were out alone or in the dark. 3 to 18-year-olds are typically seen roaming the streets of Nigeria’s major towns and cities at all hours of the day and night. These young people roam aimlessly, beg, and peddle small items. In all regions of Nigeria, there are religious street children, but they are most prevalent in the northern towns where teachers of Islam are encouraged by the Koran to send their students out to beg as a form of spiritual hardiness and endurance training. Another difficulty is the situation of child impoverishment, which has thrived in the North of the country because to the Almajiri educational system. Originally meant to ensure that young children get sound Quranic teachings under the supervision of their parent, or an Islamic scholar known as a mallam, the system became a major cause of child desertion, abuse, and neglect (Owolabi, 2017).
According to the lifestyle activity idea, people’s behavioural pattern and where they live increase their likelihood of becoming criminal victims. In the opinion of Hindelang, Gottfredson, and Garofalo (1978) and Cohen and Felson (1979), individuals’ routine daily routines and/or behaviours may help to explain how they avoid or endure a range of calamities. Sampson and Lauritsen (1990) discovered, for instance, that individuals who frequent bars, social clubs, and other public venues outside of their homes where guardianship capacity is low, and the number of probable delinquents is large are more likely to become victims of crime than those who do not. Children living on the streets, some of whom are homeless and unsupervised by an adult, are susceptible to becoming victims of crime, including human trafficking. In the main cities of Nigeria, street children can be found virtually everywhere, including marketplaces, bus stops, parking lots, garages, street corners, and under bridges. Surveys in a number of places indicate an increase in the number of homeless children. Nigeria has not done a street children census or survey. The sight of street children angers and terrifies some, yet their plight also evokes compassion (Bourdillon, 2001). Drug usage and trafficking undermine local and global security. Illicit drug consumption and trafficking defy global remedial efforts. The drug trade’s exploitation of street children is a factor in the difficulty of controlling drug usage and trafficking. A study by Aransiola and Zarowsky (2014) shows that there is evidence that street children in Nigeria use drugs and are used to move drugs. Exposure to and use of these illegal drugs changes the way these kids think and pushes them toward a life of crime.
From the foregoing it can be assumed that having children on the streets of Nigeria poses a threat to the security of the nation. This is because these children can out of frustration and hunger commit crimes in a bid to survive. In the same vein, these children can easily be recruited by terrorist organizations who would provide these children food and shelter which they lack. Accordingly, it would be easy to convince them because they are still naïve and susceptible to manipulation. These children can easily become tools and serve as political thugs for corrupt politicians. Also, these children can easily be used by child traffickers and criminals to lure other children for their gain. In this regard a cycle of exploitation is created which inadvertently affects the security situation in Nigeria and consequently development.
Conclusion and Recommendation
There is a widespread perception that street children are easy to take advantage of and hurt. Similarly, they also have a high chance of getting HIV and spreading it through sexual abuse, and many people think they are involved in both small and big crimes. The study recommends that the Nigerian government and civil society need to take more practical steps to deal with both the causes of the growing number of street children and the conditions they live in. Only then can the country’s problems with human trafficking and security be fixed and the basic human rights of its citizens, especially children, be protected. Government and NGOs must cooperate strategically to rehabilitate these youngsters and reintegrate them into society. Government should boost efforts to reduce poverty, a key factor of elementary school children’s hard labour. The number of children on our streets will go down if our government has the political resolve for poverty alleviation through the provision of employment opportunities and giving people the requisite tools, they need to start their own businesses. It is also crucial for these street children who worked previously with criminals to be rehabilitated so they can properly reintegrate into society without posing a harm to other citizens.
References
Aransiola, J., & Zarowsky, C. (2014). Street children, human trafficking and human security in Nigeria: competing discourse of vulnerability and danger. African population Studies, 27, (2).
Bourdillon. (2001). “The children on our streets”. Reading for youth and childcare workers (35, December 2001).
Hindelang, M. J., Gottfredson, M. R., & Garofalo, J. (1978). Victims of Personal Crime: Empirical Foundation for a Theory of Personal Victimization, Ballinger, Cambridge, Mass.
Nkechi, G. (2013). Boko Haram and Security challenges in Africa: Causes and solutions. Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development, 4(5), 12-23.
Owolabi, E. (2017). Street Children as threat to national security and peace in Nigeria: Can the Child Rights Act serve as a Panacea? KIU Journal of Social Sciences, 3(2), 91-99.
Sampson, R. J., & Lauritsen, J. L. (1990). Deviant Lifestyles, Proximity to Crime, and the Offender- Victim Link in Personal Violence. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 27(2), 110- 139.
Sarka, W. (2021). An appraisal of the causes and consequences of child abuse in Gwagwalada and its implication on national security and development in Nigeria. African Scholar Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 23(6), 35-54.
