Catching Them Young

Text of an Address by His Excellency, Alhaji (Dr.) Abdullahi Adamu, Sarkin Yakin Keffi, Executive Governor of Nasarawa State on the Occasion of the Inauguration of the Nasarawa State Children's Parliament at the Ibrahim Abacha Youth Centre, Lafia, Wednesday, September 29, 2004.

I feel highly honoured to address you this morning on the occasion of the inauguration of the children's parliament in Nasarawa state. We are delighted that the basic tenets of democracy are being imbibed by our children right from the early stages of life. With the creation of the children's parliament, we are sure that democracy in Nigeria will go a long way.

Democracy is based on the principle of representative government. It is a system of governance where all sections of the society are represented and involved in the decision making process. Thus in all democracies, a parliament forms an essential component of government where the views of all sections of the society are articulated.

Democracy in Nigeria has had a chequered history. Attempts at institutionalizing the democratic culture in the country has always been truncated by military coups and counter-coups. However, through experience, it has become quite clear that democracy is the most sustainable form of government which is able to articulate the wishes and aspirations of our people. Conscious of this, the political class in Nigeria are very determined to ensure that the democratic culture is imbibed and established in our country.

The entrenchment of the democratic culture requires all that sections of the society are well informed of the advantages of political participation and representation. It is in this respect that we warmly welcome the establishment of the children's parliament in Nasarawa state and Nigeria as a whole.

The Children's Parliament aims to provide sustainable and meaningful opportunities for the children of Nasarawa state to engage in local, national and international democratic processes. It gives them the opportunity to actively participate in discussions of national and international understanding and to call the attention of their leaders to peace and harmonious living. The children will use the parliament to explore issues of importance to them. Using a variety of creative approaches, the children will inform and educate other children and adults, including their parents, teachers, representatives of the private sector, officers of local and state governments, local and national politicians about their issues and concerns.

The children's parliament, by our understanding is modelled towards the presidential system of government where various representatives of the people come together to discuss issues of national development in the legislature. In the case of the children's parliament, these child parliamentarians come together with the object of discussing issues that are of interest to them. It is an advocacy parliament that is meant to mirror the proceedings of a normal parliament in terms of content and quality of discussions. Even though the children's parliament has no force of law, it is our belief that through discussions in their parliament, attention will be drawn to the issues that affect child growth and development in our country.

The Children's Parliament will also promote active citizenship at a crucial time in the development of Nigeria's democratic processes. This is the first time, as far as we know, that children of this age will have the benefit of a sustained political programme of this nature. We believe that their early participation in the democratic process will instil in them the culture and value of democracy as well as virtues which are essential for harmonious living and good governance.

Nigeria recognises the potential of our children in the development of the country. It is in this regard that the country signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990. In fulfilment of one of the objectives of the Convention, the present administration, headed by His Excellency Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR passed and signed the Child Rights Act in 2003.

In Nasarawa state, we recognise that our children are potential leaders of tomorrow. We understand that they will sooner or later receive the reins of power from us. In recognition of this, we have been actively involved in the promotion of children friendly policies, issues and programmes. We have initiated programmes and policies that will promote the holistic development of the child in the state.

We recall that on assumption of office in 1999, our first activity outside the state capital was directed towards the educational development of our children. Barely three weeks in office, on 23rd June 1999, we launched the state universal basic education scheme at Ara in Nasarawa Local Government Area. We complimented that programme by legislating that the first nine years of school education should be free and compulsory for our children. We also set up a task force on girl child education to ensure that our female children are encouraged to enrol in schools. As part of our public enlightenment programmes in education, we launched the school enrolment scheme in Awe in 2001. These actions and policies were then followed with the massive establishment and rehabilitation of schools across the state. Today, we have almost tripled enrolment figures in our schools and institutions of learning. Our policies are giving our children unmatched opportunities at all levels of education and we are sure that, as the saying goes, "the sky is the limit" for our children.

Our health policies are also impacting on the wellbeing our children. We have ensured that access to Medicare is guaranteed. Aside from establishing additional medical facilities, we have stocked our hospitals with adequate medicaments and directed that certain basic medical diagnoses be offered free to children under the age of five years. Our rural infrastructural policies have brought clean potable drinking water to our villages, thus ensuring that we eliminate most water borne disease that could assail our children. Today the incidence of water borne diseases that could be traced to dirty water has been drastically reduced.

In the next few days, we shall be commencing a pilot school feeding programme in the state. Our state was chosen by the federal government to test run this programme which is aimed at providing supplementary nutrition to all school children. Through this programme, our children will be receiving food supplements while at school to ensure that their nutritional deficiencies which could affect their physical and mental development, which in turn affect learning capabilities relatively overcome. If the pilot scheme is successful we shall launch a state wide school feeding programme next year for the benefit of our children.

These are just a few of the policies and programmes our administration has initiated for the benefit of our children. We believe that the participation of our children in the implementation of these programmes will enrich our understanding of their needs. It is in light of this that we approved the immediate inauguration of the Nasarawa State Children's parliament, so as to give voice to our children's concerns in policy formulation and implementation. In doing so, it is our firm belief that we will be entrenching democratic practice in our youth as well as placing our future leaders in a position where they will participate in the formulation of policies that affect them.

Mr. Speaker, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, it is now my pleasure to formally inaugurate the Nasarawa State Children's Parliament for the benefit of our children and state.

Thank you and may God continue to bless our efforts.