From Noah Ebije, Kaduna
Senator Uba Sani representing Kaduna Central has lamented that Nigerian children have been at the receiving end of the nation’s recurring economic, social and political challenges.
In a Children’s Day message, Uba Sani noted that children have been subjected to unbelievable deprivations due to the insecurity bedeviling many communities.
“Some of them are stuck in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) Camps. Their education has suffered. Most of them have little or no access to healthcare. There is no recreation for them.
“The girls are sometimes subjected to abuses. They live in fear of the unknown. Let us therefore reflect on our children’s loss of innocence and our duties and obligations as leaders and as a people,” he said.
Describing this year’s theme: ‘Unite to reverse the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on children’ as most apt, the Senator noted that COVID- 19 has dragged children back educationally.
“Most of them died due to lack of health care. The economic impact of COVID-19 on their parents affected children in a very negative way. Quality of their feeding dropped and some of them were withdrawn from schools.
“We must therefore unite and comply with non pharmaceutical measures spelt out by government to prevent a Third Wave of COVID-19 in Nigeria.
“We must recommit ourselves to effective implementation of policies and programmes aimed at providing quality education and healthcare to our children, as well as providing them with equal opportunity to enable them excel. Investment in our children is investment in the future of our country. We must not fail in this regard,” he said.
He finally prayed the Almighty to continue to guide and protect the children and urged them to continue to work hard in their academics and to remain focused until they achieve their goals in life.