ABSTRACT
This chapter proposes that Nigeria's child welfare system is in urgent need of emergency care, arguing that children's wellbeing rests inter alia on an efficient public service infrastructure, dedicated social workers, innovative social protection measures, implementable policies, vocal child rights advocates, and family and community partnerships. Following a review of indigenous childcare practices, child welfare policy, child protection, and child welfare issues, the Nigerian child welfare system emerges as ‘good on paper, abysmal in practice’. The government's failure to support overburdened social workers reveals a lack of commitment to building a robust child welfare system with strong child protection measures. The punitive emphasis on juvenile justice, the neglect of children's mental health issues in residential and correctional facilities, ongoing insecurity, baby harvesting, and the trafficking, exploitation, and abuse of children, including statutory rape and child labour, all suggest a system with a dubious commitment to child rights and the best interests of children.
