Advocacy Journalism and the Rights of Nigerian Children to Free and Compulsory Education: A Prescriptive Approach

Abstract

The relevance of advocacy journalism in safeguarding the rights of Nigerian child to free and compulsory education is the thrust of this paper. It highlights the strategic importance of journalists to the smooth functioning and development of the society. The paper adopts the analytical tool in examining the imperatives of advocacy journalism in creating awareness to the non-compliance with the constitutional provisions and the different court orders guaranteeing and protecting the rights of the Nigerian child to free, compulsory and basic education. The Nigerian governments at all levels, policy makers, development agencies, non-governmental and community based organisations, though have made interventions to correct this anomaly, yet their efforts cannot be said to have yielded the desired results. This paper, therefore recommends that journalists who want to create a meaningful change, to adopt advocacy journalism as the single most crucial element to facilitate protection of rights of Nigerian Child to free and compulsory education.