Former Children’s Carnival Queen Takes Child Rights Campaign To Schools In Calabar

By Jonathan Ugbal

A former frontliner and serial Queen for Masta Blasta band of Carnival Calabar Brianna Akpagu Esq says for Nigeria to improve on the social justice index, there is need for children to be taught their rights to tackle the rising cases of bullying and child abuse in schools.

Miss Akpagu stated this Friday in Calabar, the Cross River State capital after concluding an educational campaign on Child Rights at Holy Child Secondary School, two days after a similar event at the Lourdes Academy.

Reports of bullying and child abuse has been on the increase despite the domestication of the Child Rights Act of 2003 by almost every State in the country which Miss Akpagu says spurred her foundation, Feed a Hungry Child With Brianna to go beyond their thematic focus to organize the sensitization exercise to mark the Children’s Day celebrations with the theme, “Know Your Rights.”

“Even though our foundation is particularly focused on feeding and providing for street children, we decided to mark this year’s children’s day differently by staging this event,” Akpagu said.

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, six in every 10 children in Nigeria experience some form of violence, with one in four girls and 10 percent of boys having been victims of sexual violence. Furthermore, fewer than five out of 100 children who reported violence, received any form of support.

And, Akpagu says, “If Nigeria must improve on the social justice index then it is important to begin to teach the young ones their rights and how to respect other people’s rights.”

Miss Akpagu commended the schools for allowing their students to learn how to enforce their rights and demand social justice in the society. “I want to start by thanking the management of the two schools we staged this programme for giving us this opportunity to interact with the students about their rights and how to enforce them,” she said.

While thanking the Deputy Governor of the state, Rt. Hon. Peter Odey, the Senator representing Cross River South Senatorial district, Sen. Asuquo Ekpenyong Jr and others who supported the program, Miss Akpagu who insisted that her foundation remains committed to providing for street children, expressed satisfaction with the exercise and committed to creating robust awareness on the rights of Nigeria children.

“This is our first edition and I am very happy that it was not only embraced by the two schools we approached but even the students. You need to see how excited they were and some of the questions they asked in the course of our interactions. We hope to package a more robust event like this in the future,” she said.