By Anan Geolengs
The Federal Government and relevant Non Governmental Organisations (NGO) have restated commitment to family and community-based care for vulnerable children, describing institutionalisation as a last resort.
The Minister of Women Affairs, Hajiya Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim and the partners stated this on Tuesday in Abuja at the National Alternative Care Consultative Forum.
Sulaiman-Ibrahim said every child born under the Nigerian sky deserves to grow up in safe, loving and protective family environment.
“To stand before you today is to give a voice to the quiet hopes of millions of Nigerian children, those whose laughter deserves the warmth of their home,” she said.
The minister commended SOS Children’s Villages Nigeria, UNICEF, Save the Children and other partners for their collaboration in strengthening child protection systems.
She said global discourse on child protection had reached critical watershed moment, with United Nations Guidelines for Alternative Care of Children and UN Convention on the Rights of a Child establishing consensus that institutionalisation must be temporary measure.
The minister said Nigeria could not remain exception to global transition toward family and community-based care.
She expressed concern over lack of accurate data on children in orphanages and alternative care homes across the country.
“Why are we always estimating and not knowing the actual number? We cannot continue in this mess,” she said.
Sulaiman-Ibrahim directed state permanent secretaries to profile all orphanages and provide actual number of children in their care.
She said government would put in place measures from ward to local government and sub-national levels to protect children.
In his remarks, the National Director, SOS Children’s Villages Nigeria, Mr Eghosa Erhumwunse, said every child deserves opportunity to grow up in safe, loving and nurturing family environment.
Erhumwunse said the forum was convened under the Strengthening Child Care and Protection Systems in Nigeria project, funded by the European Union and implemented with CISLAC and JDF.
He said the objectives were to consolidate learning from states implementing alternative care standards, identify gaps and secure commitments toward adoption and implementation of National Guidelines for Alternative Care of Children.
“Behind every statistic on alternative care is a child, with a name, a story, potential and rights. That child must remain the reason we are here,” he said.
Erhumwunse said that by end of 2025, five states had formally adopted the national guidelines into state-level practice.
He, however, said many children still entered residential care due to poverty, displacement, disability, conflict, abuse and lack of support.
According to him, gatekeeping remains inconsistent, social service workforce is overstretched, data remains fragmented and financing inadequate.
Also speaking, the UNICEF Child Protection Specialist, Dr Godwin Odo, commended the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs for its leadership and SOS Children’s Villages for the initiative.
Odo said the forum came at critical moment, as evidence showed that children thrive best in families and communities.
He said Nigeria had made significant progress with development of National Guidelines for Alternative Care of Children.
Odo, however, said adopting policy alone does not change children’s lives, adding that implementation does.
“The reality is that many children remain vulnerable to family separation due to poverty, disability, violence and displacement.
“Social welfare systems remain under-resourced, foster care systems are still emerging and monitoring mechanisms require greater investment,” he said.
Odo said daily reports in mainstream and social media revealed severe violence against children in alternative care arrangements.
He cited recent shutting down of an orphanage in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) by FCT Women Affairs Secretariat over alleged child trafficking and sale of children.
He said the FCT Secretariat had embarked on profiling of all children in orphanage homes in line with national guidelines.
Odo said success of reform must be measured by number of children safely reunited with families and those placed in family-based care.
He reaffirmed UNICEF’s commitment to support implementation of guidelines, strengthen social service workforce and promote family strengthening interventions.
The forum drew participants from state governments, technical partners, civil society organisations, caregivers and frontline social service workers.
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