Abstract
Youths of every nation are the bedrock of the realisation of its potentials. This paper argues that a section of Nigerian youths remains marginalised and the quality they can bring to the development of the Nigerian nation ignored. This argument is located within the borders of education philosophy in Nigeria. The core purpose of education as provided by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in article 26 and Sect. 18 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria can be described as a “safe haven”, in which an individual is influenced positively towards driving the realisation of human dignity among other aspirations and contributing to the development of a nation. The paper brings into focus the challenges of children living with albinism, construes them as suffering a double jeopardy and stigmatisation. It argues that considering the high level of discrimination suffered by children with albinism in Nigeria, there is a need to refocus education policy towards ensuring their protection and eliminating marginalisation.
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Notes
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N Mandela quotes available at http://www.searchquotes.com/quotation/Education_is_the_great_engine_of_personal_development._It_is_through_education_that_the_daughter_of_/15875/ (accessed February 26, 2017).
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See generally, AB Nsamenang & MS Therese ‘Tchombe Handbook of African Educational Theories and Practices A Generative Teacher Education Curriculum’ available at http://www.thehdrc.org/Handbook%20of%20African%20Educational%20Theories%20and%20Practices.pdf (accessed August 9, 2016); http://www.infed.org/foundations/informal_nonformal.htm (accessed March 9, 2017).
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AC Onuora-Oguno Realising the Right to Basic Education in Nigeria, Unpublished LLD thesis, submitted at Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, 2015.
- 4.
MA Stein ‘Disability Human Rights’ (2007) California Law Review 77,
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See generally, The Impact of Education on the Girl Child in C Anyanwu & AC Onuora-Oguno Ten Years of the AU Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa: An Overview of The Girl Child Access to Basic Education in Africa’’ available at www.equalitynow.org/sites/.../MaputoProtocol_JourneytoEquality.pdf (accessed March 10, 2017).
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See generally J Kenyatta Facing Mount Kenya (1979).
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See generally AB Fafunwa History of Education in Nigeria (1974) 15 London.
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A Biny The Political and Social Thoughts of Kwame Nkrumah (2011).
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AC Onuora-Oguno Realising the Right to Basic Education in Nigeria, Unpublished LLD Thesis, Submitted at Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, 2015; Hansungule M & Onuora-Oguno A.C African Perspective of Education: A Catalyst for the Desired Africa of Tomorrow? Presented at the Thambo Mbeki Advanced Leadership Conference Pretoria, 2014.
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See generally WT Ngugi Decolonising the Mind. The Politics of Language in African Literature (1981).
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For a conceptual description of Albinism which has been described as “… a rare, non-contagious, genetically inherited condition occurring in both genders regardless of ethnicity, in all countries of the world. Both the father and mother must carry the gene for it to be passed on even if they do not have albinism themselves”. See generally Children With Albinism: Violence & Displacement – Report to the UN CRC – RE: Tanzania, 2014; see also UNICEF Knowledge, Attitude and Practices Study on Children with Albinism in Nigeria”.
- 12.
This belief is generally an undocumented belief in Igbo land of Nigeria. However, for a more general undocumented beliefs see generally, https://www.academia.edu/7332091/Albinism_Witchcraft_and_Superstition_in_East_Africa (accessed August 9, 2016); https://www.academia.edu/7332091/Albinism_Witchcraft_and_Superstition_in_East_Africa (accessed August 9, 2016).
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- 15.
In article 26 (2).
- 16.
Paragraph e of its preamble.
- 17.
Aside an individual having right to education, the rights of an individual in education is equally protected under international law. Such rights like rights to equal education, rights not to be discriminated in the school sphere are some core components of rights in education. See generally AC Onuora-Oguno Assessing the Right to Education of Indigenous People: A Case Study of the Batwa People of Uganda (2012) VDM Verlag Dr. Müller; F Juuko & C Kabonesa “Universal Primary Education (U.P.E) In Contemporary Uganda: Right Or Privilege?” HURIPEC Working Paper No 8, 2007 available at http://huripec.mak.ac.ug/pdfs/working_paper_8.pdf (accessed March 13, 2017).
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For a detailed insight into what is construed as the 4A’s of education see generally S Woolman & B Fleisch The Constitution in the Classroom: Law and Education in South Africa 1994–2008 (2009).
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See generally, F De Varennes “Equality and Non-Discrimination: Fundamental Principles of Minority Language Rights” in Joshua Castellino (eds) Global Minority Rights (2012) 447.
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Personal Interaction Had During the Conference of Albinism and Education, Pretoria 2016.
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NC Onuora-Oguno & AC Onuora-Oguno. Uncensor the Minstrel, Uncage Human Rights—A Case for the Actualization of Human Rights Through Music Genre in Igboland—Nigeria Centrepoint Journal of Humanities (2013) 41.
- 24.
National Policy on Albinism, Paragraph 9.5.
- 25.
National Policy on Albinism, Paragraph 3.3.1.
- 26.
National Policy on Albinism, Paragraph 3.3.4, 3.3.5.
- 27.
Nigerian Constitution 1999, Sects. 15, 17 and 42.
- 28.
National Policy on Education (2013) Sect. 118 (j).
- 29.
National Policy on Education, Sect. 9.7, Paragraph 118 (j).
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- 31.
http://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2016/06/17/nigerian-albinos-succumbing-to-neglect/ (accessed August 9, 2016).
- 32.
According to UNICEF report on the inability of children with albinism in Nigeria, it was found that, “Inability to see the classroom board from their desks leaves so many of them frustrated and forces them to drop out of school. As a result, many albinos do not have the full social or economic tools to live productive lives”. See generally, Knowledge, attitude and Practices Study on Children with Albinism in Nigeria”.
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L Emeka Creative Development of Indigenous Music Through Formal and Informal Education. In M. Ekpo (Ed.). (1999) 28 Development of Indigenous Music and Folklore for Economic Empowerment Port- Harcourt: Baron Press Ltd.
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NC Onuora-Oguno & AC Onuora-Oguno “Uncensor the Minstrel, Uncage Human Rights—A Case for the Actualization of Human Rights through Music Genre in Igboland —Nigeria” (2013) 44 Centrepoint Journal of Humanities.
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NC Onuora-Oguno & AC Onuora-Oguno “Uncensor the Minstrel, Uncage Human Rights—A Case for the Actualization of Human Rights Through Music Genre in Igboland—Nigeria” (2013) 44 Centrepoint Journal of Humanities.
- 43.
AN Okoro Albinism in Nigeria (1975) 485 British Journal of Dermatology.
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Onuora-Oguno, A., Onuora-Oguno, N. (2023). Protecting the Marginalised Child in Nigeria: Social Protection of Children with Albinism in Nigerian Schools Examined. In: Onuora-Oguno, A. (eds) Promoting Efficiency in Jurisprudence and Constitutional Development in Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-13814-0_9
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