Oyo State Government pushed Ibadan Children out of Public Space (Trans Amusement Park) for a Multi-billion Naira Housing Estate.
The news on the above subject from Ibadan, the capital of pace-setting Oyo State, is unsettling. The government just set the pace in violation of the rights of the child. Trans Amusement Park, a major public amusement park in Ibadan and the only one of its kind for many years, has been earmarked for demolition to make way for a multi-billion Naira housing estate for Oyo State elite. While other States are moving forward providing spaces for their children, Oyo State just took a giant step backward in pushing children out of the public space. This should be a national record, if not global, in Child Protection the other way round.
The famous Trans Amusement Park was built during Brigadier Olurin’s and Oresanya’s tenures as governors. Yes, a Military government. And we often disparage the Military government. That was even before the Convention on the Rights of the Child was domesticated by Nigeria. Great foresight. It is a state-of-the-art landmark, a public place for the children of Ibadan for play, recreation and amusement, especially during celebrations and festivities (Salah, Easter, Christmas, Birthdays) and school excursion. The park is central and accessible to most families and schools, opposite the Bodija Market towards University of Ibadan. Transportation was then cheap for access from all areas of Ibadan.
This is in line with Child Rights to play, recreation and amusement according to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 Article 31 which states that ‘every child has the right to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts’. Provision of parks and recreation centers is a right that a child-friendly government that is sensitive to the need and protection of children should ensure, maintain and sustain.
As the years of the locusts unfolded the succeeding military and civilian governments gave little thought to children and their responsibility towards them. With lack of maintenance, the famous Amusement Park went into disuse and disrepair. There was no attempt to keep this structure running for the happiness of Ibadan children.
Suddenly came the announcement on the government’s ‘Building a New Sustainable Oyo State’ Program in which the Trans Amusement Park will be demolished to give way to an ultra-modern, multi-billion Naira Estate affordable that will be affordable to the elite class only. The justification according to the government is that it has become decrepit beyond redemption.
Just like that, children are being robbed of their space to make room for the elite class. The government is using the lapse on its own part over the years as an excuse to dispossess the children of their right to access to recreation facilities.
The excuse being given is that a new District is being developed outside Moniya, several kilometers out of central Ibadan, where ‘a new and befitting park’ will be built for children. This will be several kilometers further away from Ibadan children in a new remote area. Shouldn’t a place for play and recreation be closer to them. At a time of unaffordable transportation costs!
The hues and cries are on and may soon be drowned out. We are made to know that the deed is done as all the preparation, including the plan had been carried out quietly, to pre-empt the people’s outcry and protestations.
Oyo State has domesticated the CRC as Oyo State Child’s Rights Law that gives legal backing to the provision of recreation facilities as part of the rights of the children. Oyo State therefore breaks its own law by withdrawing this amenity from the children. This robbing children to pay the ruling elite is a hallmark of inequity against children.
It is hereby strongly recommended that Oyo State government halts the grabbing of the Trans Amusement Park space from the children. The government, as duty-bearer, should fulfil its responsibility to children by taking bold steps for its retention in its present location, renewal, and modernizing. It could be done on a Public Private Partnership basis, one of the strategies of this government.
There is a need for more parks and greening in Oyo State living spaces. It is not too much if a park is developed for children in each Local Government Area of the State.
‘The true character of a society is reflected in how it treats its children’ – Mahatma Ghandi.
In rounding up, this is a clarion call for Oyo State Government and people to take the issue of Child Protection more seriously and institute a Child Protection System that will address issues relating to children holistically across all the sectors and agencies. Oyo State will do well to understudy Lagos and Kaduna States where children have been placed at the centre of development with child-friendly policies and practices.
Dr Ebunlomo M. Walker is a Family Physician/Harvard-Certified Child Protection Practitioner
