Children on the Streets of Ibadan Nigeria: Neglect of Children's Rights.

BACKGROUND: The Nigerian Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) 2008 enacted prohibitive laws against child streetism. However, in metropolises like Ibadan, there is a growing epidemic of street children, particularly the category with existing family ties known as "children on the streets". Children on the street come from home daily to engage in economic-oriented activities on the streets and return home to their families at night time. OBJECTIVE: We focused on perceptions of formal responses to the problem of child streetism in Ibadan. METHODS: This was qualitative research. Participants were selected from each of the five urban LGA of Ibadan, purposively and by snowball technique. In-depth Interviews (IDI) were conducted, audio-recorded and transcribed. Framework analysis of data was supported by ATLASTi version 22. RESULTS: Fifty-three (53) interviews were conducted including IDI with ten (10) child-welfare officers, ten (10) street shop owners, eleven (11) children on the street, and ten (10) pairs of parent-child dyads. Two themes emerged including governmental shortcomings with six subthemes and suboptimal governmental interventions with four subthemes. Child streetism in Ibadan is a consequence of the State's failed education systems, inadequate children's vocational and rehabilitation programs, lax child welfare laws, lack of empowerment of skilled children, and poor implementation of the policy on ideal family size. Interventions that were existing but sub-optimal included communitybased child welfare programs, parental poverty alleviation, public sensitisation and child welfare monitoring programmes. CONCLUSION: There is an urgent need to update, enforce laws, and amalgamate efforts against child streetism in Ibadan.

CONTEXTE: La Convention nigériane relative aux droits de l'enfant (CRC) de 2008 a promulgué des lois interdisant le travail des enfants dans la rue. Cependant, dans des métropoles comme Ibadan, il existe une épidémie croissante d'enfants des rues, en particulier la catégorie ayant des liens familiaux existants connue sous le nom d'"enfants des rues". Les enfants des rues viennent de chez eux tous les jours pour participer à des activités orientées vers l'économie dans les rues et rentrent chez eux auprès de leurs familles le soir. OBJECTIF: Nous nous sommes concentrés sur les perceptions des réponses formelles au problème du travail des enfants dans la rue à Ibadan. MÉTHODES: Il s'agissait d'une recherche qualitative. Les participants ont été sélectionnés dans chacun des cinq LGA urbains d'Ibadan, de manière délibérée et par la technique de la boule de neige. Des entretiens approfondis (IDI) ont été réalisés, enregistrés et retranscrits. L'analyse thématique des données a été soutenue par ATLAS-Ti version 22. RÉSULTATS: Cinquante-trois (53) entretiens ont été menés, comprenant des IDI avec dix (10) agents de protection de l'enfance, dix (10) propriétaires de magasins de rue, onze (11) enfants des rues et dix (10) paires de dyades parent-enfant. Deux thèmes ont émergé, comprenant des lacunes gouvernementales avec six sous-thèmes et des interventions gouvernementales suboptimales avec quatre sous-thèmes. Le travail des enfants dans la rue à Ibadan est une conséquence des systèmes éducatifs défaillants de l'État, des programmes de formation et de réadaptation insuffisants pour les enfants, des lois laxistes sur la protection de l'enfance, du manque d'autonomisation des enfants qualifiés et de la mauvaise mise en œuvre de la politique sur la taille idéale de la famille. Les interventions existantes mais suboptimales comprenaient des programmes communautaires de protection de l'enfance, l'alleviation de la pauvreté des parents, la sensibilisation du public et les programmes de suivi de la protection de l'enfance. CONCLUSION: Il est urgent de mettre à jour, d'appliquer les lois et de regrouper les efforts contre le travail des enfants dans la rue à Ibadan. MOTS-CLÉS: Travail des enfants dans la rue, Protection sociale, Droits de l'enfant, Lois, Famille.

The family dynamics of children on the streets of Ibadan, Southwest Nigeria.

BACKGROUND:  Children roaming the streets estimated at 1 in 10 by a 2021 United Nation Children's Funds (UNICEF) report is a growing problem, in cities of lower- and middle-income African countries. Studies of street children with no family ties abound, but there is a paucity of studies on children on the street who exist within families and return home daily. We explored the family dynamics of children on the streets of Ibadan, emphasising family structure, resources and relationships. METHODS:  Using an exploratory design based on a qualitative approach 53 participants were interviewed, including children on the streets, parental figures, child-welfare officers and street shop owners. Participants were selected from streets in the five urban local government areas of Ibadan, Nigeria. Recorded data were transcribed, and framework analysis was performed. RESULTS:  The family dynamics included family structural problems, poor family resources and poor parent-child relationships. The family structural problems included: broken homes, large families and ambivalence around polygamy as subthemes. Family resources comprised: poor economic resources, poor social resources, educational challenges, cultural ambivalence and spiritual backdrops. The family relationships patterns included: poor adaptability, economic-oriented partnership, poor growth support, poor emotional connection and poor family bonding. CONCLUSION:  The dynamics driving a family's choice for child streetism in Ibadan, mostly to hawk, are devaluation of family life, parenting irresponsibility, and poor filial relationship, underscored by economic constraints and socio-cultural decadence. The results of this research buttress the need for family-level interventions to forestall the escalating phenomenon of child streetism in Ibadan, Nigeria.Contribution: This research highlights the family dynamics of children on the streets, and buttresses family-level interventions are necessary to forestall escalating child-streetism in Ibadan, Nigeria.

Physical, mental and healthcare issues of children on the street of Ibadan, Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Most street children studied in lower- and middle-income African countries are without family links. However, the majority of street children are children on the street, living with families during the night and spending their day-time on the streets. The health of this majority group is poorly captured in the literature despite the growing epidemic of child streetism. AIM: To explore the health of children on the street of Ibadan using multiple qualitative studies. SETTING: A street in each of the five urban local government areas of Ibadan Oyo State, Nigeria. METHODS: Participants comprising of children on the street, parental figures, street shop owners and child-welfare officers were purposively selected and interviewed. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and thematically analyzed. RESULTS: Using triangulated data from 53 interviews, the study found that the children on the streets of Ibadan experienced many health challenges. Outstanding are poor carbohydrate-based diet, open defaecation with consequent infections, physical injuries and few deaths from road traffic accidents. Sexual, verbal and substance abuse were common although few children acquired resilience to adversity. The children had poor health-seeking behaviour and resorted to patent medicine dealers or tradomedical practitioners on the streets. CONCLUSION: This study bridged some gaps in the literature regarding the health of children on the streets in Nigeria. The straddling of children between the family and street has cumulative health consequences as depicted in this study.Contribution: This research can inform family-level intervention and primary health care plans to forestall the health challenges of children on the streets.