President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has called for the strict enforcement of Nigeria?s child protection laws as he launched the National Action Plan on Ending Violence Against Children, signalling a new era of coordinated national response to the plight of vulnerable children.

Speaking through Vice President Kashim Shettima at the inaugural regional meeting of Africa Pathfinder Countries under the Global Alliance on Ending Violence Against Children, held at the State House, Abuja, President Tinubu also announced a raft of initiatives designed to strengthen institutional frameworks and ensure accountability in child protection efforts.

Among the measures unveiled are plans to establish a dedicated Child Protection and Development Agency, a Universal Child Grant aimed at reducing household poverty, and the creation of a National Child Protection Database and Child Well-being Index to track progress and improve service delivery.

According to a statement issued by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications, Office of the Vice President, Stanley Nkwocha, Tinubu declared his administration?s commitment to ?establishing a dedicated Child Protection and Development Agency to ensure coherent coordination of all issues relating to the Nigerian child.?

The president noted that while each day comes with a reminder of the dreams of Nigerian children, the conditions into which they are born, and whether these conditions protect or betray them, are also critical issues to ponder.

He said, ?Our legal frameworks reflect our conviction. From the Child Rights Act to the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, Nigeria has laid down the statutory foundation for the protection of children. But legislation alone does not shield the vulnerable?it is the will behind those laws, and the systems that enforce them, that make the difference.

?That is why our national strategy also embraces prevention and early intervention. We are strengthening families and communities through programmes that promote positive parenting, challenge harmful social norms, and provide targeted support to vulnerable households.?

President Tinubu assured that relevant government institutions, including the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, are armed with the required training and resources to spearhead the protection of the Nigerian child across all levels of government, even as he maintained that it is a crusade for which sincerity and honesty are required.

?But we must be honest with ourselves. We cannot protect the child by merely reciting the anthems of their struggles or romanticising their vulnerability.

?The real hope lies in action?concrete, deliberate action. Our commitment must run deep, reaching into the very architecture of our education and health systems. This is the soul of our human capital development strategy,? he stated.

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To ensure stiff enforcement of child protection laws in Nigeria, President Tinubu said his administration is ?strengthening existing institutions and laws, and launching national campaigns to promote awareness and drive behavioural change.?

The President underlined the importance of the first regional meeting of Africa?s Pathfinder Countries under the Global Alliance on Ending Violence Against Children, pointing out that ?it breathes new life into the bold declarations made at the First Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children held in Bogot?.?

Earlier, the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary General on Violence Against Children, Dr Najat Maalla M?jid, urged African leaders to move beyond commitments and implement concrete actions to protect children from violence and exploitation.

Dr M?jid also charged delegates to the meeting and other participants to focus on peer learning, effective strategy sharing, and collective actions in addressing common obstacles to ensure child protection efforts are sustainable in Africa.

On her part, Nigeria?s Minister of Women Affairs, Hon Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, highlighted the country?s commitment and the progress made since the Ministerial Conference in Bogot?, Colombia, in November 2024, noting that the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Tinubu is strengthening legal frameworks, scaling up the Safe Schools Programme, expanding parenting interventions, and increasing budgetary allocations to child protection systems.

?Through our renewed national child policy framework now under review, and our adopted National Strategy and Costed Action Plan to End Child Marriage in Nigeria, we are laying the foundation for more accountable, inclusive, and data-driven action,? she said.

In separate remarks, the heads of delegation to the regional meeting from Zimbabwe, Cote d?Ivoire, Sierra Leone and Burkina Faso, stated the recommitment of their various countries to the global alliance to ending violence against children as declared in Bogota in November 2024.

They presented progress reports from their respective countries, commended the leadership provided by Nigeria and urged all stakeholders to be intentional about ending violence against children and not to pay lip-service to the programmes and policies designed to actualise the objectives.

Also present at the meeting were the wife of the Deputy Senate President, Hajiya Laila Jibrin Barau; Minister of Women, Family and Children from Cote d?Ivoire, Hon Nasseneba Toure; Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare from Zimbabwe, Edgar Moyo; Minister of Gender and Children Affairs from Sierra Leone, Hon Isata; Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Women Affairs, Nigeria, Dr Maryam Keshinro, and representatives of development partners and heads of agencies, among others (The Nation)

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