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Group to float awards for child friendly brands, individuals
Dayo Emmanuel
A Lagos-based NGO, the Nigerian Child Safety Report Initiative (NCSRI) is set to unveil a project titled the Nigerian Child Friendly Award.
Briefing Nationalwire.com.ng in Lagos yesterday, President and Founder of the organisation, Mr. Wilson Ukhurebor said Nigerian children have been deprived and practically have no say in things that concern them. According to him it is a serious thing needing redress.
According to him, “The motive behind the award is simple we are trying to see if we could make impact in the aspect of the safety of the Nigerian child. A couple of years ago we tried to do a project, Nigerian Child Safety project, but we couldn’t really do it to my taste because we were doing it on a platform of my registered company, so the response was not as much as I wanted. But this time, we are doing it under the platform of an NGO which is the Nigerian Child Safety Report Initiative.”
Talking about what the project stands to address, Ukhureebor said, “The award is not actually about the child per see but it is about the perspective other people adults the way the treat the child though the word is the child, the award is for corporate institutions to see how they treat the child the award is to encourage people how they treat the child, those who are doing it well to encourage them we all have responsibility for the child, those that are neglecting this responsibility we wake them up to come and do more for the Nigerian child. The Nigerian child is only at the receiving end but our target is to wake up corporate organisations, individuals around the child to do what is required of them for the Nigerian child.”
Talking about the corporate organisations and why they should do more for the Nigerian child especially those in the rural areas, Ukhurebor stated that, “The corporate organisations are doing enough only that they really do not understand the definition of the child, I’m sorry to say. They are doing in the aspect of wanting to get back and that makes them focus on the big cities, they should know there are children in the rural areas as well, they are doing almost nothing for them, a child is a child, the background of a child does not reduce the fact that the person is a child. Not just a child in Lagos, Port Harcourt or Abuja but there are also children in the rural areas.
On the popular sayings that today’s child is the leader of tomorrow, Ukhurebor agreed that the tomorrow in this saying is getting farther. “I agree in Nigeria, tomorrow is always getting farther from us for the basic reason is that if a child is not well groomed or equipped. In life we need resources to achieve our goals, so if we are not harnessing the resources, nothing can be done, if we call a child the leader of tomorrow, what you have put in place to achieve that.”
Project coordinator of the awards, Mr. Tunde Jenmi is of similar opinion that in Nigeria, the youths are not given the chance to hold sensitive positions. “Positions for the youths even in political parties are given to the old people. It is a cycle, even if they have averaged controlled population where by the old recycle themselves, nature will take care of itself, very soon they would be phased out naturally and the children would take over. That is one of the reasons we are doing this project for the children to realise themselves,” he said.
On the award proper, Jenmi told www.nationalwire.com.ng that, “The award has prospect, giving the child to see himself as to express himself fully as the society doesn’t really care that much. We are also looking at corporate bodies to express themselves in supporting the course of the Nigerian child.”
According to Jenmi, an average child in Nigeria is endangered. “I believe an average Nigerian child does not know his or her right, they are endangered species.”
Advising the media on the development of the child in terms of the right contents, the project coordinator said, “This is part of what this award is out to address. We want to recognise the corporate world, we want them to see their social responsibilities to the child. The second phase is that we are muting the idea that there should be a desk in every institution to address the issues of the child, that would go a long way to push the rights of an average child.”
Reading out the various positions of the planning committee members of the awards, the Project Coordinator added that, “The success of the project is sure and it would determine a lot of things about the children in Nigeria, restoring their dignity.”
According to the organisers of the awards, the project has over 50 categories which would be keenly contested for via the votes of the children in various locations across the nation. “The children are going to coordinate themselves in schools, churches and mosques where they would construct their own ballot boxes and select their own electorate officers to determine winners in various categories,” Ukhurebor said, adding that, “Voting starts 26th September and ends on 20th November 2016 marking the International Day for the World’s Children’s Right.”
Jenmi however added that, “Notification of the top three nominees with the highest would take place between 23rd November and 14th December 2016.”
