STREET CHILDREN IN NIGERIA

STREET CHILDREN IN NIGERIA

The occurrence of street children is a social concern that affects the entire world. No nation in the world is immune to the difficulties posed by this phenomenon. Since the late 1970s and early 1980s, street children have been an issue in Nigeria, notably in the streets of Lagos. It was sparse at the time and came in the form of begging and hawking. According to Fakoya’s 2009 research, 8000 street children lived in Lagos in the 1990s, where it was first discovered. However, by 1999, they were spotted in numerous Lagos streets, and ever then, they have persevered and spread across the entire nation. The rise in street children is attributed to a number of variables. Although it is typically tied to the urbanization of rural to urban areas and societal change, the increase in street children has given rise to certain worries about behaviours that are seen as abnormal by those around them (Rosenblum, 2018). Children living on the streets have viewpoints that are different from those of their peers in a typical setting. They are not given proper parental guidance and believe that their parents are absent. They frequently consider themselves to be home leaders, robbers, and criminals in order to support their fundamental and social needs (Mtaita, 2015). Children living on the streets are always associated with acts of violence, criminality, and societal unrest. As both causes and victims, they become socially susceptible and vulnerable to their environment.

It is important to mention that children must be exposed to parents and other adults to have a sense of guidance. However, street kids are unaware of the significance of parents and other adults in their lives. Even now, they are unsure about whether they require adults and parents. According to their own views, people search for the purpose of life, but they are unable to distinguish between what is acceptable and unacceptable or right and wrong. The actuality of the experiences had shapes the street children’s distinct cognitive framework and social conduct. Their experiences in this situation involve how the environment treats them and how they play different roles in order to interact with it (Chamwi, 2013). One cultural construct that affects how street children build their cultural identities is the environment’s effect. Without parental direction and in difficult surroundings, children reared in slum neighbourhoods develop attitudes that are passive, inferior, stigmatized, low-minded, aggressive, exploitative, and resistant or angry (Ndulor, 2022). Because autonomy, self-confidence, and self-sufficiency are nearly extinct in this extreme state, the values that must be taught will be challenging (Chowdhury, et al., 2017). This will result in a mental disorder known as “primitive” and “poverty syndrome” (Chowdhury, et al., 2017).

The street represents a public space. Although children are not often looked upon in public spaces like the street, some kids are forced by their circumstances to engage in activities that are essential to their survival. While some of them spend their days working in the street and coming home at night, others live permanently there and depend on it for their life. The term “street children” is frequently used to refer to both homeless street children and market children, who labour and live with their families while begging or selling goods on the streets (who work, live and sleep in the streets, often lacking contact with families). The term “street children” or “homeless children” refers to young people under the age of 18 for whom the street and unfinished or abandoned structures have replaced their primary means of housing. They survive by begging, hawking, and performing menial labour. Some of them live and work on the streets, and are referred to as children of the street, while others are referred to as children in the street. As both categories of children meet and interact on the streets, the dividing line between them is frequently unclear, and it is quite easy for children on the street to become children of the street. The phenomenon of street children is a complex issue originating from a variety of reasons. Multiple circumstances, as stated by Amani Children’s Home, cause children to live on the street, including poverty, neglect, the collapse of the family, the loss of one or both parents, prevalent diseases, and verbal, physical, and sexual abuse. Although the Amani Organization cites a variety of causes for children living on the streets, poverty and child abuse and neglect are the most prominent factors. If a family is financially secure and content, other factors may not drive children to the street. In contrast, the absence of basic means of subsistence, such as food, shelter, clothing, and good health, can force anyone into the street. Neglect and abuse of children, both physical and sexual, also push children onto the streets. Other causes include “the inability of families, communities, and governments to fulfil their roles and obligations with regard to the functioning of society on the one hand, and the care of children in particular” (Adewale and Afolabi, 2013). Baken Lefa includes familial violence and parental alcoholism, as well as single-parent families, loss of parental supervision, the disintegration of traditional values, urbanization, and forced settlement, among other factors (Baken 2021). Extreme poverty is the primary source of the phenomena of street children and homelessness. Obika and Onyeihe (2013) noted that “Poverty in Nigeria is very apparent and glaring. One does not look to observe and feel the reality as we can see poverty walking on our roads, on our streets, in our neighbourhood, in our schools, in factories and even on the faces of those who sit in the pews of our Churches.” The phenomena carry with it a series of extremely severe consequences for families, especially for children. Children living on the streets receive a low-quality education and schooling, get into legal difficulty, commit violent crimes, and are victimized. In order to survive, they congregate in areas where a variety of economic activities occur, such as business districts (banks, hotels), big and local markets, bus stops, university environs, restaurants, parking lots, traffic jams, garbage dumps, sports fields, etc. Some children from low-income families assist their parents in making ends meet by engaging in some street trade and jobs. It should also be noted that some children end up on the streets because they were tagged witches or wizards by their parents and other religious practitioners. This portrays a religious undertone to their plight.

Effects

Street children are exposed to the harsh and difficult realities of life at a young age. These children perform their jobs in the sun and in the rain, both extreme weather events. As a result, they are susceptible to health issues like pneumonia as well as other factors that have an impact on their health. They struggle to find food, medical treatment, and comfort on a daily basis, not to mention the abuse they endure at the hands of society and its contempt, indifference, and disregard. Many of these kids are hit and run over, some are taken hostage, and many young females are defiled by shady adults. The stress of these events irreversibly alters the trajectory of their life. The repercussions are severe. Some of them pass away as a result of diseases and traffic accidents. These children are affected by these events, and there is a strong likelihood that they will react to them badly. Fakoya (2009) noted that the phenomena of street children might be a worrisome social issue that frequently results in the creation of adult social offenders known as “area boys” or “yes, sir boys.” Additionally, they might develop into terrorizing extremists, lethal gangs, thugs, armed robbers, rapists, and kidnappers. Female victims of sexual assault and exploitation may continue living immoral sexual lives and eventually become prostitutes. They would even use dangerous substances together with the males and participate in armed robberies, often as a form of retaliation against people who had taken advantage of their predicament to mistreat and exploit them. Some of them, nevertheless, might adopt a positive perspective on life and the opportunities it presents. It is important to mention that these street children may grow up to become depressed and suicidal.

Addressing the Issue of Street Children

No child would ask for a life on the streets since parents should take care of and educate their children. Children constantly view the world as promising and want to make the most of it. In order to address the issue of street children, parents, families, the government, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), such as the church, and people should all contribute. Parents should first and foremost have as many children as they can support financially.

The Federal Republic of Nigeria’s Constitution, No. 18 (3) of 2011, as amended, stipulates that all students are entitled to free education, at least through the secondary level. By providing education for the children of the less fortunate in their villages and towns, financially secure people may, in the spirit of compassion or philanthropy, prevent children from going to the streets and keeping them off the streets. The Nigerian government in partnership with NGO’s should provide rehabilitation facilities for these children so they can properly reintegrate into society.

Parents should not encourage their children to go to the street because such a life does cut short their future, even though some street children work in the street to support their families. Parents should avoid using their kids as domestic helpers even more. Finally, Parents who pursue their children from home should be punished and discouraged from such acts.

References

Adewale, A. & Afolabi B., 2013. “Street Children Phenomenon in Nigeria. The Challenges and the Way Forward.” Retrieved August 23, 2022, from http://papers.ssm.com/abstract=2325114

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Baken, L., (2021). “Phenomenon of Street Children in South Africa”, in ResearchGate. Retrieved August 22, 2022, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263323840.

Chamwi, C. (2013). “Street Children Moshi: A Study of the Phenomenon of the Street Children in Moshi-Tanzania. Masoro: Aalborg University.

Chowdhury, S., et al., (2017). Lifestyle and risk behavior of street children in Bangladesh: a health perspective, Health 9(4). 577–591.

Fakoya, O. (2009). “The street children of Nigeria”. Retrieved August 23, 2022, from http://www.nigeria in America.com/article the street-children- of – Nigeria. 2009.

Mtaita, F. (2015). Perceptions of Street Children and the Role of Community in Supporting Their Access to Education: A Case Study of Ilala Municipality, Tanzania, Tanzania: The Open University of Tanzania.

Ndulor, C. (2022). Street children phenomenon: Implication for Nigeria Society. Journal of Religion and Humanities, 2(1), 44-55.

Obika, J. & Onyeiche, A. (2013). “Give them something to Eat: Towards Alleviating Poverty in Nigeria”, in Nnoruka, S.I. (Ed) Poverty and the Nigeria Church. Owerri: Living Flames Resources.

Rosenblum, D. (2013). Rural-Urban migration and agricultural transformation in India: observing the impact on childhood migration from Bihar to New Delhi, Inq. J. 5 (2013) 1–13, 2018.