Against the backdrop of rising cases of child abuse in the country, a Roman catholic Priest from Nsukka Diocese, Rev Fr. Benedict Ugwuanyi has identified poverty, lack of parenting skills and serious marital problems as leading causes of child maltreatment in Nigeria.
In his book titled; ‘Psychological Interpretation of Child Abuse’, Fr Ugwuanyi noted that forms of child abuse include psychological, sexual, neglect, emotional and physical abuse accounted for one out of four substantial cases worldwide.
Speaking during an exclusive interview with the Daily Times, the catholic priest emphasized that Child abuse is a social nuisance that should be confronted by parents, teachers, competent authorities and the government.
He said that until the causes of child abuse are addressed in Nigeria, efforts to prevent it will be hindered.
‘’There is need to organise programs for parents in order to teach and draw their attention on the need of positive parenting, development of parenting skills. There is also an urgent need to curb child abuse at the official level. Child abuse is a social problem in Nigeria and as such demands a legal intervention’’, Fr Ugwuanyi said.
Speaking on the psychological virus undermining children and adolescents’ development, he identified it as poison-like interrelationships that are detrimental to the rest of the mind.
He said emotional or psychological abuse is a more dangerous form of abuse, not only because it is the least visible, but also because it has serious long-term consequence on children.
‘’When one looks closely at the problem of low self-esteem, we find out that part of the problem is that the abused children feel they are not loved by their parents, caregivers and adults living within the environment and as such that justifies the reason for their being abused.
‘’Take for instance, sexually abused children frequently have extreme low self-esteem. They feel worthless, valued only as a sexual object. This affects the child as he or she grows because they feel unworthy and underserving of positive attention and affection’’.
While lamenting that the government is not doing enough, the catholic cleric said, while the affected persons usually require the services of psychologists, there is no provision for such in Nigeria.
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‘’Permit me to inform you that the role of a psychologist is not valued in our country Nigeria. People prefer to go to their religious leaders for most of their problems, forgetting that we have experts that treat such problems.
‘’Again, the government is not paying much attention to this very problem. No wonder on March 3, 2021 in Geneva, UN experts urged Nigeria to prioritise specialized rehabilitation measures for the hundreds of abducted children left deeply traumatised after their release and to strengthen protection measures for those at risk. We need rehabilitating centres well-furnished in all states of the country’’.
He called further called on government and policy makers to ensure prompt implementation of laws protecting children as well as special courts that would dispense quick justice to those that usually subject children to such acts.
‘’It is important to remind the government that the law serves to protect the best interest of the child. They should use all the necessary means especially the legal intervention in calling the abusers to order.
‘’Again, government could come up with strong legislation against all forms of child abuse and neglect in Nigeria. Most importantly, they should see that these laws are executed and enforced’’, he added.
