By Danjuma Attah, Gombe
Gombe State Deputy Governor, Manassah Daniel Jatau, has expressed desire that children in the Northeast subregion will be free from all challenges that retard and thwart their development.
The Deputy Governor has therefore proposed an increased public allocation and expenditure for Children which should be backed by a political will in all the six States of the region comprising, Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe States.
Manassah Jatau stated this in a keynote address at the commencement of a two-day Northeast zonal dialogue on social budgeting for child sensitive sectors organized by the Gombe State Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning in conjunction with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in Gombe.
He noted that despite the hard economic realities on ground, there is a compelling need to explore increased public allocation and expenditure in the Northeast geopolitical zone.
He also advocated for the creation of a budget code for social protection in budgets at all levels, tressing that, it must be linked to the Social Protection, Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
According to him, “even though we are talking about the children, children and children, the challenge is actually on us the leaders. This is on account of the fact the children are not in a position to prepare budget for themselves”, he pointed out.
He aligned with concerns shown by individuals, scholars and international bodies who express discomfort with the trend of things and feel that children have always been short changed on virtually everything we undertake.
In his address, the Officer in Charge, Chief of Field Office, UNICEF Bauchi Field Office, Mohammed Kamfut, presented by Mr Yusuf Auta, UNICEF’s Social Policy Specialist, said the dialogue which brought together diverse group of stakeholders actively engaged in budget development and implementation, is expected to chart a pathway for adequate and sustainable financing of the social sectors in the region.
He decried that in Nigeria, children are disproportionately affected by poverty due to their vulnerable status in society. “This has long repercussions on their wellbeing, extending into adulthood”, he stated.
He lamented that Multidimensional Child Poverty Analysis report 2020, supported by UNICEF Nigeria, indicated that over 47 million children, or approximately 47.4 percent of Nigerian children live in households with incomes bellow the national poverty line of 137,430 naira per year (based on the 2019 exchange rate).
He therefore hoped that “we will achieve many targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s), including ending preventable child deaths, ensuring quality basic education for all children and protecting children from all forms of violence if we make a concerted effort”.
Stakeholders in the meeting from all the States of the Northeast included, Commissioners, Permanent Secretaries and others supporting in the line Ministries of Budget and Economic Planning, Agriculture, Health, Education, Women Affairs and those in charge of security issues as well as State House of Assembly members.
