Child abuse: When the government is the abuser - Ozioma Onyenweaku

Ozioma Onyenweaku

It is no longer news that child abuse in Nigeria is on an alarming increase. Child abuse, in its different forms, is a daily reality. Let me again reiterate the different forms of child abuse:

Physical abuse: this covers all forms of physical violence on the child.
Emotional or psychological abuse: this is when an adult regularly responds to a child’s act in such a hostile and berating manner that the child is embarrassed, shamed, dehumanized or scared.
Physical Neglect/ Abandonment: this is when a child is denied food, clothing, education, shelter, in fact, the necessary care and nurture he or she deserves.
Emotional or psychological neglect: this is the emotional and psychological aspect of neglect. It involves ignoring and failing to give the needed attention, love, care, and warmth that a child needs to grow and develop well. Failure to give them the loving environment to grow and develop into responsible adults. Under this category falls the effect of exposing children to violence.
Sexual abuse: this is sexual violation of a child by adults

So we can see that child abuse is not just physical violence against the child. It is a form of maltreatment or violence that could impact negatively, physically, mentally, emotionally and psychologically on the children..
The government contributes to a large extend in the growth of child abuse in the country. My honest opinion! The ever increasing type of violence against children is domestic violence. Children in Nigeria experience the worst form of domestic violence at the hands of their parents and guardians.

The reason is not far-fetched because everyone is feeling the biting effect of the economy. The continuous dwindling of the economy is putting a lot of pressure of families; eventually the heat settles on the children as the final receivers. If parents or guardians are no longer able to cope with the caring for their children, this can result in dysfunctional behaviour and abuse towards the children.
When the environment is harsh to businesses, and businesses dwindle; and the take –home pay of working parents and guardians cannot not take them home, the stress mounts and the children are at the receiving end. The children receive the slaps that the government should receive for its inadequacies with respect to the economy, employment, and take-home pays.

The fact that some parents cannot adequately provide for their children, push many of them to give out their little children as househelps to strangers. What these children suffer in the hands of many of these strangers is in the public domain. That, of course, was the fate of Nneoma Nnadi and a host of other househelps.

10 year old Nneoma NNadi was a househelp to Mr. Jude and Mrs Ifeoma Ozougwu. Her mother, Mrs Nedinso Nnadi, gave her out as househelp to the Ozougwus. The experience of Nneoma was quite terrifying. She was gruesomely molested and abused. Hot iron was used on her back and buttocks, and a nail driven into her head. The mother regretted giving out her daughter. Come to think of it, would she have given out her little daughter to serve as househelp to another if she, the mother, could provide adequately for her child?

Nigerian Children, especially those from poor homes, suffer on all fronts. Their parents cannot provide for them not because the parents are not hard working but because the enabling environment is not there to make ends meet. And there is no social benefit from government for children or for the unemployed.
We might not have forgotten the case of little Ochanya who was serially sexually abused by her uncle and his son. Ochanya died in the process. Ochanya’s parents gave her out to live with their relation so that she could go to school. If her parents could make ends meet , and could afford to put her in a private school since no functional government school was in their area, possibly Ochanya would have been alive today.

I have also pointed out earlier that creating and allowing children to witness violence is a form of child abuse. What do we see today! A lot of violence going on in the countr, insecurity to the extent that some school children cannot access their schools! Witnessing the insecurity and violence going on in Nigeria is emotionally and psychologically damaging to the children.

So long as it lies in the power of the government to improve the system, boost the economy, checkmate violence and insecurity to stall the negative effect on children, and the government fails to do so, then the government is a culpable in the incessant child abuse. The government is the primary abuser.