NEW LEGISLATIONS, SAME OLD RESULTS? AN APPRAISAL OF THE IMPACT OF CHILD’S RIGHTS LEGISLATIONS IN NIGERIA SINCE 2003

Abstract

It was hoped that Nigeria’s Child’s Rights Act and State versions of this Law which came into effect on 31st July 2003 and afterwards respectively would achieve at least two crucial purposes: first address the shortcomings noticed in the pre-31st July 2003 legislations and also to help increase the awareness and appreciation of child’s right issues among the public in Nigeria. Successfully addressing the shortcomings noticed in the pre-31st July 2003 legislations and increase the awareness and appreciation of child’s right issues among the public in Nigeria will be of immense benefit to the cause and welfare of the Nigerian child. In this article, we examined the Child’s Rights Act 2003 and State versions of this Law in the various States in Nigeria to see if they achieved these purposes. Our inquiry reveals that there was not much success in achieving these purposes. We offered some recommendations to assist in achieving these purposes.