Summary
Home to more than 110 million children, almost half of whom live in poverty, Nigeria faces enormous challenges in protecting and promoting child well-being (UNICEF, 2023; Save the Children, 2018; Nnama-Okechukwu & Erhumwunse 2021).
According to findings reported by the National Bureau of Statistics (2022), about one in 10 children in Nigeria die before their fifth birthday. Almost half of under-5 kids don’t have birth certificates, and only about one-third of those aged 12-23 months have received all routine immunizations. Even though primary education is officially free and compulsory, one in four children of primary school age are not in school, and three in 10 children aged 5-17 are working under hazardous conditions (National Bureau of Statistics, 2022).
One-fourth of girls have suffered sexual violence (UNICEF, 2022a). Three-fourths of 10- to 14year-olds report having experienced physical punishment during the previous month, including 32% who suffered “severe” punishment (National Bureau of Statistics, 2022).
About one in seven women have undergone female genital mutilation, and one-third (34%) of women aged 20-49 were married or in union before they turned 18.
While progress in the fight against these problems is slow and often marked by setbacks (UNICEF, 2024; Save the Children, 2018), the government and its partners push ahead with a range of social-welfare initiatives. In the health sector, for example, the government has successfully pursued a polio vaccination campaign (UNICEF, 2022b) and has shown political commitment and leadership in extending affordable primary health care services, including immunizations, in rural areas through implementation of the National Health Insurance Authority Bill and the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (National Primary Health Care Development Agency, 2024; World Health Organization, 2024).
This dispatch reports on a special survey module included in the Afrobarometer Round 9 (2021/2023) questionnaire to explore Africans’ attitudes and perceptions related to child well-being. In Nigeria, findings show that a majority of citizens endorse the use of physical force to discipline children, but opposition to the practice has increased sharply compared to 2017. Not quite half of respondents say adults in their community frequently resort to corporal punishment.
Citizens say out-of-school children and, to a smaller extent, abused and neglected children are a common problem in their community. Fewer than half of Nigerians say support for vulnerable children is available in their community, and most see the government as doing a poor job of protecting and promoting the well-being of vulnerable children..
Afrobarometer surveys
Afrobarometer is a pan-African, nonpartisan survey research network that provides reliable data on African experiences and evaluations of democracy, governance, and quality of life. Nine rounds of surveys have been completed in up to 42 countries since 1999. Round 10 surveys were launched in January 2024. Afrobarometer conducts face-to-face interviews in the language of the respondent’s choice.
The Afrobarometer team in Nigeria, led by NOIPolls, interviewed a nationally representative, random, stratified probability sample of 1,600 adult Nigerians between 5 and 31 March 2022. A sample of this size yields country-level results with a margin of error of +/-2.5 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. Previous standard surveys were conducted in Nigeria in 2000, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2020.
Key findings
A majority (55%) of Nigerians say it is “sometimes” or “always” justified for parents to use physical force to discipline their children.
Opposition to corporal punishment has increased by 17 percentage points since 2017, from 28% to 45%.
More than four in 10 Nigerians (43%) say adults in their communities use physical force to discipline children “somewhat frequently” or “very frequently.”
Nearly one-third (32%) of citizens say child abuse and neglect are frequent in their community, while a majority (52%) say children are often out of school.
Fewer than half of Nigerians say people in their community can usually get help for abused and neglected children (40%), children with disabilities (37%), and children and adults with mental or emotional problems (35%).
Among the poorest citizens, only one in 10 (11%) report that help is available for abused and neglected children in their community.
Most Nigerians (76%) judge the government’s efforts to protect and promote the wellbeing of vulnerable children as “fairly bad” or “very bad.”
Approval of the government’s performance is particularly low among citizens with post-secondary education (9%) and those experiencing high levels of lived poverty (10%).
Disciplining a child
Nigeria has ratified international treaties that portray corporal punishment as a violation of children’s rights and harmful to their development, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (1990) (Effevottu, undated).
But the country’s legal framework – including the 1916 Criminal Code, the 2003 Child Rights
Act, state-level penal codes, and sharia legal frameworks in force in the North of the country – does not prohibit corporal punishment at home or in school unless it inflicts “grievous hurt” or “inhuman or degrading” treatment (Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children, 2018; UNHCR, 2024; Aya, 2022; Federation of Nigeria, 1916; Jigawa State, 2012).
Civil-society efforts to end corporal punishment, such as the UNICEF/Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria campaign against corporal punishment in schools, run into deep-rooted religious and cultural norms that support the use of physical punishment as a way to correct children who may have been misbehaving (Mustapha, 2022; Adedigba, 2020; Nwafor, 2021).
Disciplining children is clearly a necessary part of guiding and training their behaviour. Should the use of physical force to discipline children be considered appropriate or abusive?
A majority (55%) of Nigerians say it is “sometimes” or “always” justified for parents to physically discipline their children, while 45% say it is “never” justified (Figure 1). The share of respondents who say corporal punishment is “never” justified has increased by 17 percentage points since 2017 (28%).
Figure 1: Should parents physically discipline children? | Nigeria | 2022
Respondents were asked: For each of the following actions, please tell me whether you think it can always be justified, sometimes be justified, or never be justified: For parents to use physical force to discipline their children?
More than half (53%) of citizens with post-secondary education say using physical force on children is unacceptable, twice the share recorded among those who lack formal education (27%) (Figure 2). Half (49%) of the poorest Nigerians reject the practice, compared with only 37% of those experiencing low or no lived poverty.[1] The practice is more widely opposed in cities than in rural areas (49% vs. 41%), while views vary little across genders and age groups.
Do your own analysis of Afrobarometer data – on any question, for any country and survey round. It’s easy and free at | How frequent is the practice in reality? A majority (56%) of citizens say physical disciplining of children is “not very frequent” or “not at all frequent” in their community, but more than four in 10 (43%)2 say it occurs “somewhat” or “very” frequently (Figure 3). |
The perception of corporal punishment of children as a frequent occurrence is less
common among older respondents (32%-36%) and individuals with post-secondary education (39%) than among their younger and less educated counterparts (Figure 4).
Figure 2: Never justified for parents to physically discipline children | by demographic group | Nigeria | 2022
Respondents were asked: For each of the following actions, please tell me whether you think it can always be justified, sometimes be justified, or never be justified: For parents to use physical force to discipline their children? (% who say “never justified”)
Figure 3: Adult use of physical discipline against children | Nigeria | 2022
Respondents were asked: How frequently do you think the following things occur in your community or neighborhood: Adults use physical force to discipline children?
Figure 4: Frequent use of physical discipline against children | by demographic group | Nigeria | 2022
Respondents were asked: How frequently do you think the following things occur in your community or neighborhood: Adults use physical force to discipline children? (% who say “somewhat frequently” or “very frequently”)
Abuse and neglect
About two-thirds (68%) of Nigerians say that child abuse, mistreatment, and neglect are “not very frequent” (40%) or “not at all frequent” (28%) in their community, but 32% see these problems as common (Figure 5).
Figure 5: How often are children abused/neglected or out of school? | Nigeria | 2022
Respondents were asked: How frequently do you think the following things occur in your community or neighborhood: Children are abused, mistreated, or neglected? Children who should be in school are not in school?
A slim majority (52%) say it is common for school-aged children to be out of school, though 48% disagree.
Rural residents are slightly more likely than urbanites to see child abuse and neglect as widespread (34% vs. 29%), as are the poorest respondents (33%) compared to their better-off counterparts (29%-31%) (Figure 6).
Reports of out-of-school children are similar in rural and urban areas, but poorer respondents are 6 to 8 percentage points more likely than the economically better-off to say children are often out of school (54%-52% vs. 46%).
Figure 6: Children are frequently abused/neglected and out of school | by urban rural location and lived poverty status | Nigeria | 2022
Respondents were asked: How frequently do you think the following things occur in your community or neighborhood: Children are abused, mistreated, or neglected? Children who should be in school are not in school? (% who say “somewhat frequently” or “very frequently”)
Support for vulnerable children
The Afrobarometer survey team in Nigeria observed the availability of support services in the enumeration areas they visited.[2] Findings show that most Nigerians live within walking distance of a school (89%) and a health clinic (67%), but fewer than half reside in areas served by a police station (39%) and by a social center or government office where people can request help with problems they are experiencing (24%) (Figure 7).
Figure 7: Availability of public services at the community level | Nigeria | 2022
Survey enumerators were asked to record: Are the following facilities present in the primary sampling unit/enumeration area or within easy walking distance: School (private or public or both)? Police station? Health clinic (private or public or both)? A social center, government help center, or other government office where people can request help with problems? (% who say “yes”)
As for more specific services for vulnerable children, fewer than half of respondents say people in their community can usually get help for abused and neglected children (40%), children with disabilities (37%), and children and adults with mental or emotional problems (35%) (Figure 8).
Figure 8: Is help available for vulnerable children? | Nigeria | 2022
Respondents were asked: For each of the following statements, please tell me whether you disagree or agree.
In general, people in this community are able to get help for children who are abused, mistreated, or neglected?
In my community, children who have a physical disability are generally able to get the support they need to succeed in life?
In my community, children and adults who have mental or emotional problems are generally able to get the help they need to have a good life?
The poorest citizens are 9-14 percentage points less likely than their well-off counterparts to say that support services are available for vulnerable children (Figure 9). Across education levels, Nigerians with secondary education are most pessimistic: Only about one-third of them say help is available for abused/neglected children (35%), disabled children (33%), and individuals with mental or emotional problems (31%).
Figure 9: Is help available for vulnerable children? | by education and lived poverty status | Nigeria | 2022
Respondents were asked: For each of the following statements, please tell me whether you disagree or agree.
In general, people in this community are able to get help for children who are abused, mistreated, or neglected?
In my community, children who have a physical disability are generally able to get the support they need to succeed in life?
In my community, children and adults who have mental or emotional problems are generally able to get the help they need to have a good life? (%who say “agree” or “strongly agree”)
Government performance on child well-being
Three-fourths (76%) of Nigerians rate the government’s efforts to protect and promote the well-being of vulnerable children as “fairly bad” or “very bad” (Figure 10).
While positive ratings are low across a range of demographic categories, there is notable variation by respondents’ educational status: Nearly one-third (31%) of those lacking formal education praise the government’s performance in promoting the welfare of vulnerable children, compared to only 9% of respondents with post-secondary education (Figure 11). A large difference can also be seen by poverty status: Nigerians experiencing high lived poverty (10%) are less than half as likely to approve of the government’s performance as better-off citizens (22%-25%).
Figure 10: How well is government promoting the well-being of vulnerable children?
|Nigeria | 2022
Respondents were asked: How well or badly would you say the current government is handling the following matters, or haven’t you heard enough to say: Protecting and promoting the well-being of vulnerable children?
Figure 11: Approval of government performance on promoting the well-being of vulnerable children | by demographic group | Nigeria | 2022
Respondents were asked: How well or badly would you say the current government is handling the following matters, or haven’t you heard enough to say: Protecting and promoting the well-being of vulnerable children? (% who say “fairly well” or “very well”)
Conclusion
Nigeria appears to be undergoing a shift in its attitudes toward corporal punishment for children, with a sizable uptick in opposition to the practice suggesting that advocacy campaigns may be having an impact. Even so, a majority of citizens still see corporal punishment as justified, and nearly half say the practice is common in their community.
A majority report that out-of-school children are a frequent problem in their community, and a substantial minority say the same about child abuse, mistreatment, and neglect.
Fewer than half of Nigerians say support services are available in their community for children who are abused or neglected, those living with a disability, and children and adults experiencing psychological challenges. Overall, most citizens say the government is failing to promote and protect the well-being of vulnerable children.
References
Adedigba, A. (2020). Teachers, parents react as Nigerian schools gradually abandon corporal punishment. Premium Times. 23 February.
Aya, S. (2022). FG: 34 states have domesticated child’s rights act. 29 November.
Effevottu, S. E. (undated). Protecting the Nigerian child from violence. Building Blocks for Peace Foundation.
Federation of Nigeria. (1916). Nigeria criminal code act.
Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children. (2018). Corporal punishment of children in Nigeria: Briefing for the universal periodic review, 31st session, November 2018.
Jigawa State. (2012). Penal code law.
Mattes, R., & Patel, J. (2022). Lived poverty resurgent. Afrobarometer Policy Paper No. 84.
Mbaegbu, R., & Duntoye, S. J. (2022). Nigerians condemn physical discipline but see gender-based violence as a private matter. Afrobarometer Dispatch No. 534.
Mustapha, T. (2022). UNICEF and teachers council to end corporal punishment in schools. Voice of Nigeria.
National Bureau of Statistics. (2022). 2021 Nigeria multiple indicator cluster survey (MICS) & national immunization coverage survey (NICS): Statistical snapshots.
Nnama-Okechukwu, C. U., & Erhumwunse, E. A. (2021). Factors responsible for child vulnerability in Nigeria: Suggestion for programme development. Journal of Social Work in Developing Societies, 3(1), 1-17.
Nwafor, G. N. (2021). Corporal punishment in eastern Nigeria. San Jose State University, dissertation.
Save the Children. (2018). Still left behind. Tracking children’s progress against the pledge to leave no one behind.
UNHCR. (2024) Nigeria: Act No. 26 of 2003, child's rights act, 2003.
UNICEF. (2022a). 16 facts about violence against women and girls in Nigeria.
UNICEF. (2022b). Nigeria's polio journey to zero. 1 September.
UNICEF. (2023). Nigeria: Country programme 2023-2027.
UNICEF. (2024). Nigeria: Humanitarian situation report No. 1.
World Health Organization. (2024). Breaking barriers, building bridges: The collaborative effort to reach every child in Nigeria. 13 August.
Raphael Mbaegbu is head of social research at NOIPolls, the Afrobarometer national partner in Nigeria. Email: rmbaegbu@noi-polls.com.
Carol Nakayiza is sampling assistant and monitoring and evaluation officer at Hatchile Consult Ltd., the Afrobarometer national partner in Uganda. Email: carol@hatchileconsult.com.
[1] Afrobarometer’s Lived Poverty Index (LPI) measures respondents’ levels of material deprivation by asking how often they or their families went without basic necessities (enough food, enough water, medical care, enough cooking fuel, and a cash income) during the past year. For more on lived poverty, see Mattes and Patel (2022). 2 Due to rounding, percentages for combined categories reported in the text may differ slightly from the sum of sub-categories shown in figures (e.g. 36% “somewhat frequently” and 8% “very frequently” sum to 43%).
[2] Afrobarometer samples are based on a selection of enumeration areas (EAs) drawn randomly from the national census frame. Eight interviews are conducted in each selected EA, so interview teams visit about 200 EAs (for a survey with n=1,600). In each EA, the team records the presence or absence of basic services (such as electricity supply) and infrastructure (such as schools). Because of the smaller sample sizes, the margin of error on the numbers reported here is higher than for findings captured in individual interviews.
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