Bamidele Salam, chairman of the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, criticized the country’s lack of implementation of the Child Rights Act.
Speaking at the grand finale of the National Child Leadership Conference organized by the African Child Leadership and Values Development Initiative (CALDEV), he said much still needed to be done to address the issue. .
“The good news is that most states in the federation have enacted legislation. The bad news is that even though I have domesticated it, there is little or no practice,” he said.
“I don’t know the percentage, but if you ask me, I’ll tell you less than 25 percent of the state action plans have been implemented.”
The lawmaker from Osun State said the essence of this leadership program, which brought together over 300 children irrespective of their religious and ethnic backgrounds, was to raise the bar of quality of leadership not only in Nigeria but in Africa as a whole. He explained.
Justifying the initiative, he said: “We have come to the conclusion that the name of our development as a country is leadership. Everything else is secondary. Leadership is the basis of all challenges of development, not only in Nigeria but in other African countries. .
“So we want to raise the bar. One of the ways is to make sure we improve leadership education. When we talk about our children, young children, we want to raise the bar. We believe it is appropriate to catch them at a young age by beginning the process of imparting leadership skills to them. Teach.
“The last four days of the conference were a great experience for the children as they had the opportunity to set up their own NGO, carry out some initiatives in their communities, solve problems and network with their peers. I can say it.
“Another very important thing is that one of the problems the country has, which is division and distrust between different ethnic groups, can be solved if we come together and come together, regardless of our background.”