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By Ogun Ebenezer Semasa

Children's Day is recognized on various days in many places around the world, to honor children globally. It was first proclaimed by the World Conference for the Well-being of Children in 1925 and then established universally in 1954 to protect an "appropriate" day. It is said that the greatest need of a person in life is the feeling of 'being wanted' and 'being noticed'. The thirst for wantedness is an unquenchable thirst, found in every human being. It is particularly true in the case of children. They long to be wanted, shown affection and appreciated.

Children are innocent, children are mischievous, but children bring a smile to one's face. One of the most treasured possessions on earth; children are loved by one and all. Thus, Children's Day is celebrated to commemorate the healthy growth and happiness of children. Children are adorable. They are like divine gifts that parents get from the Almighty. Their eyes are full of innocence. They smile when they receive love and admiration, they cry when it is their first day at school away from their parents, they giggle when they mingle with their buddies, and they signify nothing but the pure and faithful love. They truly symbolize God.

Children make you want to start life over. Children are the keys of paradise. The best thing to spend on your children is your time. Give a little love to a child and you will get a great deal back. Children have more need of models, than of critics. We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today. They may not always smell pure and sweet, A dirty diaper or a dampened sheet. But with a loving cuddle and a beautiful smile, The joys of parenthood are all worth while.

The values and disciplines learned as a child are responsible for the kind of adulthood one has. Thus childhood is special and should be celebrated. Children's Day is to remind all young and adults about children's right to enjoy their childhood without any boundaries and to be educated adult in the future. Children's Day is to revise the right methods of raising children.

The celebration of Children's day teaches us several important values. It is a call to protect our little ones from all harm and to save them from the negative impact of modernization, urbanization, industrialization, commercialization and gross materialism. Today children are thrown open to evils of drug, s3x, alcohol, hard labour, abuse and violence. Thousands of little children in our country are made to slog for long hours, for little pay. Hundreds are yet to see the light of modern education. Therefore, it is a call to put an end to various forms of child abuse that are taking place in our land. Such a day reminds us of the inestimable worth of those little angels. They are the valuable asset of our nation, the future of our land, and the hope of tomorrow. The day also invites us to acquire the fine qualities that characterize children such as, simplicity, purity of heart and mind, innocence a sense of affection and attachment, etc.

Children constitute the greatest asset of a nation. A nation prospers or progresses to the extent it is able to develop the hidden potential lying untapped in her children. In a country like Nigeria, where children constitute a good percentage of the population, we need to give much more attention to their all-round development. A day like Children's Day is a right step in this direction as the day invites all of us to give children their due-love, affection and opportunities for development.

Children are the future of our country. They are the future of our nation. So, every individual should realize the importance of the Children's Day.

OGUN, Ebenezer Semasa

Child Psychologist

Child Rights Foundation, Lagos.

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