Security of Future Leaders of Africa under Threat

Sun, Apr 17, 2016
By publisher
6 MIN READ

Column

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|  By Maureen Chigbo  |

Globally, it is acknowledged that Children are the leaders of tomorrow. But the security of these future leaders, especially in Africa, is becoming increasingly threatened.  The threat the children of Africa face received a mention at the ongoing Tana High-Level Forum on Security in Africa, in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, when some speakers partial touched the issue without sufficiently discussing it. Keynote speaker, Kofi Annan, former UN secretary general drew attention to Boko Haram, a deadly terrorist sect now using children as suicide bombers.

The number of children involved in ‘suicide’ attacks in Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger rose sharply last year from four in 2014 to 44 in 2015, according to UNICEF data released April 12. More than 75 per cent of the children involved in the attacks are girls.

Released two years after the abduction of over 200 schoolgirls in Chibok, the report Beyond Chibok shows alarming trends in four countries affected by Boko Haram over the past two years. Between January 2014 and February 2016, Cameroon recorded the highest number of suicide attacks involving children (21), followed by Nigeria (17) and Chad (2). Over the past two years, nearly one in five suicide bombers was a child and three quarters of these children were girls. Last year, children were used in one out of two attacks in Cameroon, one out of eight in Chad, and one out of seven in Nigeria.

Last year, for the first time, ‘suicide’ bombing attacks in general spread beyond Nigeria’s borders. The frequency of all suicide bombings increased from 32 in 2014 to 151 last year. In 2015, 89 of these attacks were carried out in Nigeria, 39 in Cameroon, 16 in Chad and 7 in Niger.

The calculated use of children who may have been coerced into carrying bombs, has created an atmosphere of fear and suspicion that has devastating consequences for girls who have survived captivity and sexual violence by Boko Haram in North East Nigeria. Children who escaped from, or were released by, armed groups are often seen as potential security threats, as shown in recent research by UNICEF and International Alert. Children born as a result of sexual violence also encounter stigma and discrimination in their villages, host communities, and in camps for internally displaced persons.

“As ‘suicide’ attacks involving children become commonplace, some communities are starting to see children as threats to their safety.” said Manuel Fontaine, United Nations Fund for Children, UNICEF, regional director for West and Central Africa. “This suspicion towards children can have destructive consequences; how can a community rebuild itself when it is casting out its own sisters, daughters and mothers?”

Beyond Chibok assesses the impact conflict has had on children in the four countries affected by Boko Haram. The report notes that nearly 1.3 million children have been displaced; about 1,800 schools are closed – either damaged, looted, burned down or used as shelter by displaced people; over 5,000 children were reported unaccompanied/separated from their parents.

There is no doubt that these children are victims, not perpetrators.  Deceiving children and forcing them to carry out deadly acts has been one of the most horrific aspects of the violence in Nigeria and in neighbouring countries.

This ought to be a source of worry for leaders at the Tana High Level forum on Security in Africa. This is moreso as official statistics show that 87 million children under seven have known nothing but conflict. These children have spent their entire lives in conflict zones, putting their brain development at risk.

As UNICEF pointed out during the first seven years of life a child’s brain has the potential to activate 1,000 brain cells every second. Each one of those cells, known as neurons, has the power to connect to another 10,000 neurons thousands of times per second. Brain connections serve as the building blocks of a child’s future, defining their health, emotional well-being and ability to learn.

Children living in conflict are often exposed to extreme trauma, putting them at risk of living in a state of toxic stress, a condition that inhibits brain cell connections — with significant life-long consequences to their cognitive, social and physical development. The children also face the risk of having deep-rooted emotional scars which will negatively affect their being effective leaders in future.

UNICEF figures show that globally one in 11 children aged six or younger has spent the most critical period of brain development growing up in conflict which robs children of their safety, family and friends, play and routine.  These are all elements of childhood that give children the best possible chance of developing fully and learning effectively, enabling them to contribute to their economies and societies, and building strong and safe communities when they reach adulthood.

With all the conflicts raging in some African countries, there is an urgent need to safeguard the future of their children by putting an end such conflicts. These can be done by addressing all the causes of such conflicts such as poverty and equality which some speakers at the Tana forum identified as reasons behind the Boko Haram terrorists sect. This is especially important given that these children will grow up to compete with their counterparts in other regions of the world who have known no conflicts are better equip to manage global affairs including security.

Right now African leaders are demanding to be let into the United Nations Security Council. Annan stated it in his addressed just as Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger, chairperson of the Munich Security Conference, Germany, who was also a discussant at the Tana Forum supported the move. Other leaders at the two-day forum which opened on April 16, also keyed into the idea of Africa having one or two permanent seats at the UN security council. But the fact remains that lofty as this aspirations are, it may not materialize before the present crop of Africa leaders. This is why it is incumbent on the leaders and decision makers in Africa to secure the future of the children of the continent in all its ramifications. This implies ending conflicts which undermine their wellbeing and investing in development socio-economic programmes that will banish poverty and reduce inequalities. This will surely enable the children to grow up in a conducive atmosphere where they can be well prepared mentally and otherwise to step into shoes of current leaders in the future.

— Apr 17, 2016 @ 3.46 GMT

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