Media organizations and practitioners have been charged to as a matter of urgency, hold governments at all levels and policy makers accountable for their commitments to addressing child poverty.
The practitioners can do that by exposing corruption, inefficiency and lack of transparency in the implementation of poverty reduction policies, putting pressure on authorities to take action.
The assertion was made by a Lecturer with the Department of Economic and Development Studies, Federal University of Kashere,, Dr Ali Madina Dankumo during a media dialogue on Child Poverty with theme, ‘Addressing child Poverty in Bauchi, Gombe and Adamawa States’ held at the Evolution Hotel, Gombe on Tuesday.
The University Don was speaking on the Effects of Child Poverty on Socio- economic development in Nigeria
stating that child Poverty contributes to social unrest and crime rates as individuals may turn to illegal activities as a means of survival, which in turn undermine social cohesion and stability that impedes socio-economic development.
According to him, “Since children are the future workforce and leaders of a nation, failing to address child Poverty deprives the country of the potential contributions of it’s youths, limiting overall capital development and innovation.”
On his own, UNICEF Social Policy Specialist, Bauchi Field Office, Yusuf Auta called on Federal, States and Local Governments in the country to increase budgetary allocation for children focused interventions.
He said that the call became necessary considering the fact that children are the majority population in most states of the federation.
Yusuf Auta explained that child Poverty is when a child lacks access to basic consumption needs such as Nutrition, Shelter, Education, Healthcare and WASH amongst other things.
He stressed that government should prioritize the welfare of children as they are dependants and the most vulnerable in any society.
He also stated the 2022 Population Projection stated that Adamawa state has a population of 4.9 million, Bauchi 8.3 million while Gombe State has 3.9 million.
Yusuf Auta added that the population of children between 0-17 years in Adamawa is 2.4 million, Bauchi is 4.7 million while Gombe State has 2.1 million.
According to him, “You can now see that children are the bedrock of any sustainable society, but if this segment of the population are deprived of their rights to education, water, sanitation, nutrition, health and protection, then there is a problem as this in turn as a negative impact on the development of the nation”
The Specialist also said that, “The 2022 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) states that 73 million children in Nigeria representing 71.9 percent were multi-dimensionally poor in 2016/2017 while 64 million children representing 60.6 percent were multi-dimensionally poor in 2021. 47.7 percent children in Nigeria experienced monetary poverty, that is, those who live in households surviving on N376.5 per day in 2019.”
He also said that from the report, extreme poverty rate is expected to have increased in 2023 with an estimated 84 million Nigerians living below $1.9, the world largest poorest population after india.
Journalists, Commissioners of Budget and Economic Planning from Adamawa, Bauchi and Gombe States are attending the 2 day workshop which is aimed at equipping Journalists with data to enable them advocate for better life for children through their reports and special features.
A cross section of Journalists at the Media Dialogue