Chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs and Member representing Gombi/Hong Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives,Rt.Hon. (Dr.)Yusuf Buba Yakub,has said that children deserve all the love,care,support as well as protection they can get from the world in order to ensure that they are far removed from the current conditions that threaten the existence of human,his kind and the environment on planet earth.
In his message of felicitations to Nigerian children,which was mede available to his Media Office and National Assembly correspondents today, Friday,in Abuja,the Adamawa-born lawmaker noted that cultural,criminal as well as other harmful practices and adverse realities,like war, kidnapping for ritual/ransom and diseases, all of which are inimical to the health,growth and the development of the Nigerian child, constitute a sad cog in the wheels of the development and preservation of mankind.
He said at a time when man and the entire ecosystem are being threatened by hazards arising from global warming,greenhouse effect and sharp depletion of the Ozone layer,in addition to wars, pandemic, terrorism and their kind, this year’s Children’s Day celebration must not be seen as another such date on the calendar in most homes,but a day the world must in sobre reflection and commitment to actionable objectives aimed at saving and nurturing the child, commit itself to ideals and practices that are geared towards elongating the existence of man and his environment by ensuring the protection of the child from everything that is a threat to his existence on earth.
In the words of the lawmaker:
“I, therefore,charge both the Governments of the world,their Parliaments and other non-State actors,like the United Nations and African Union systems,and, indeed, the UNICEF,in particular,to alongside other stakeholder organisations rejig the articles of our engagement with the children of the world in relation to the dangers and exposure to various forms of harm they currently face in a world where man has constituted himself the greatest enemy to the environment and his kind.”
Rt. Hon. Buba,who also lamented the millions of avoidable deaths of children as a result of poor health infrastructure, wars,power tussle, terrorism,rape and diseases, further stated that the world could do without some of the ends,like power, skewed desires, vaulting ambitions and other acts of self-gratification,which both leaders and followers,most times,seek to achieve in their involvement in the things that threaten the lives of children across the world.
He called on all leaders across the world to,as a matter of crying urgency,ensure that all children are adequately sheltered and provided for,while those of school-going age are made to be in school with all needed support, including a comprehensive health insurance coverage and early exposure to ICT.
To achieve the enabling environment for the above,the lawmaker, equally, canvasses for a total ceasation of all ongoing hostilities across the globe,like the war in Ukraine,all of which tend to predispose the child to danger and a bleak future. He reminded the world of the number of occasions in the three-month-old hostilities in that European region when military campaigns had decimated children in their numbers as it happened at a health facility in Senegal a few days ago.
While congratulating every child on the occasion of the Children’s Day celebration for the year 2022,the farmer and realtor-turned-politician urged parents to do their best to,on their own,love, nurture and care for their children in order to make them evolve into highly responsible and empathetic adults that will champion the crusade for a better world and work towards delivering same when they, eventually, take over the reins of leadership from the current generation of leaders.
Nkem Anyata-Lafia
Special Adviser ( Media & Public Affairs Affairs) to the Lawmaker.
~Abuja,May 27,2023~