CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION
Background
Pre-colonial Nigeria practiced an extended family system which ensured that every member of a family belonged to a home. Therefore, it was uncommon to find people who lacked a home and/or needed a place of shelter outside the family setting (Ibeh, 2011). Ostensibly this is as a result of growing levels of poverty in the country (Oladokun, Brown, Jacob, Osinusi, 2011).This is further compounded by the adverse effects of colonisation with its accompanying factors such as urbanisation, and migration; such actors have led to an increase in the number of orphans and other vulnerable children (OVC) placing a greater burden on families and resulting in the gradual breakdown of the extended family system (Ibeh, 2011; & Oladokun et al, 2011).
According to the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development (FMW&SD, 2014), there are about 17.5 million OVCs in Nigeria with 9.7 million orphaned due to the HIV and/AIDS. To manage this problem, various organisations like the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), FMW&SD, and NGOs have over the years developed interests in addressing the needs of OVCs in the country through provision of various policies and programmes (Ojelabi, Osamor & Owumi, 2015).
In Nigeria, these out-of-home care mechanisms are provided mainly through residential care institutions (Oladokun et al, 2011). These institutions, commonly referred to as children’s homes or orphanages, are owned by government, private individuals and Non- Governmental Organisations (NGOs). They are regulated by the Child Rights Acts (2003), through the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development.
The residential care facilities absorb millions of OVCs in Nigeria, who are unable to live with their parents or biological families due to extreme poverty and/or HIV/AIDS. This is because adoption and formal foster care are not commonly practised in the country, largely because of the negative socio-cultural perceptions and/or apprehensions relating to these practices (Graham & Saater, 2017). Adoption and formal fostering are stigmatised and considered taboo (Ojelabi et al, 2015). This means that children who have no home end up in residential care. From the few studies carried out in Nigeria (e.g. Ibeh, 2011; Oladokun et al., 2011; Issa & Awoyemi, 2006), the major reasons for children going into institutional care in Nigeria include abandonment, war, poverty, displacement, urbanisation, migration, abuse, exploitation, false labour and neglect.
At a point in these children’s lives, when they reach adulthood, they have to leave the institutions and reintegrate into wider society. It is however necessary to point out the need for their preparation before they leave these homes. For this study, adulthood has been defined as a period when young people are no longer legally looked after, but are entitled to support from former institutions. Ideally, these young people are supposed to be given some form of preparation to enable them become successful as independent adults.
However, there are poor and varying standards between residential facilities in terms of the preparation they provide for young people beginning their independent lives in Nigeria (Connelly & Ikpaahindi, 2016). Connelly & Ikpaahindi (2016) further stipulate that in spite of the Nigerian Child’s Rights Act (2003), which incorporates the principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the African Union Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, and the National Agenda for Vulnerable Children in Nigeria, 2013-2020, there are no standard service delivery guidelines for OVC care and after-care support services in Nigeria. Thus, the care of children in residential care facilities differs among different institutions.
Nevertheless, Nigeria, by trying to promote a better and more effective institutional care system for OVCs, has signed up to various international conventions and declarations to protect children. The primary legislation is the national constitution that stipulates fair treatment of every citizen and mandates institutions such as orphanages to follow due processes in their administration followed by the Child’s Rights Act and, more specifically, the National Guideline and Standard of Practice for Orphan and Vulnerable Groups. In 2014, the national standard for improving the quality of life for vulnerable children in Nigeria was introduced based on a National Plan for Vulnerable Children.
Even though the Child Rights Act (2003), the principal instrument of law governing all matters relating to children including those in residential care exists, the mechanisms for enforcing it vary from one institution to another. Added to this problem is the fact that there is a lack of co-ordination at both the Federal and State levels for child protection policy, services and practice. Despite these legislations, many young people in care institutions are not well-prepared by the institutions for adult life and such preparations are sometimes poorly managed due to lack of basic resources to address the needs of children (Olagbuji & Okojie, 2015). Consequently, young people graduate from these institutions too early and without the relevant skills to help them smoothly transition after care. However, as stipulated by the Child’s Rights Act (2003), the age at which young people can leave care and emerge as adults is 18 years.
In many senses, young people are vulnerable as they reach adulthood. Quite a few studies (e.g. Osgood et al, 2010; Pryce et al, 2016; Van Bred et al 2012; & Van Breda, 2013) have noted that young people make transitions out of care homes at 18 years of age to further education, explore employment opportunities and begin building networks for optimal development. They further noted that young people experiment with decision-making at this time meaning that they often have to navigate through a series of difficulties and
changes. These complex transitions require support. The difficulties young people experience are often compounded by the series of social dislocations they may already have undergone, sometimes with a history of suboptimal care which ends abruptly rather than a gradual transition to independence (Osgood et al, 2010, Pryce et al, 2016, Van Breda et al, 2012; & Van Breda, 2013).
Many young people are faced with an instant loss of social support with almost non- existent after-care which could help them adjust to life after care. This can mean that such young people are even more vulnerable and dependent after reintegration (Black, Devareux & Salvanes, 2011; Larimore, 2012). For example, if they come to live in a community without skills and/or formal education and have no support system, reintegrated young people are likely to become a burden to the community. In addition, this kind of helplessness may lead to loss of self-esteem and mean that reintegrated young people struggle to cope. Adding to this problem is the fact that there is a lack of co- ordination at both the Federal and State levels for child protection policy, services and practice.
This background to the study raises the need to explore the after-care experiences of residential care-leavers in Nigeria in order to identify the specific problems they face and changes which should be made to facilitate their reintegration.
Statement of the problem
Scholars (e.g., Black et al., 2011; Larimore, 2012; Pryce et al., 2016; & Van Breda et al., 2012) argue that care-leavers are among the most vulnerable groups in society. They often face abuse and neglect that are unresolved whilst in care, forced to become independent early and without any support system when things are difficult (Maposa & Louw- Potgieter, 2012; & Van Breda, 2013). In addition, care-leavers in Nigeria are also
neglected in policy, research and practice. There is a lack of policy in relation to their preparation for independent living and no standardisation of provision; preparation to support young people may vary from one institution to the next depending on the availability of resources (Adeboye, Guerrerio & Höjer, 2017). Consequently, many young people exit these institutions without the necessary skills for independent living (Pryce et al., 2016).
Research has shown young people to be highly susceptible to challenges once they leave care because they enter adulthood too early to achieve stability; this is largely because of bureaucratic and institutional age limits (Avery & Freundlich, 2008; Rogers, 2011). As a result, many have poor outcomes in different domains of well-being which include their education, employment, health and relationships (Osgood et al, 2010; Courtney, Lee & Perez, 2011; Höjer & Sjöblom, 2011). The consequences of the lack of preparation and social support after reintegration are further compounded by the fact that most young people raised in residential institutions are most often stigmatised in larger society due to their orphan and care background, especially in African countries such as Uganda, Ethiopia and Kenya (Maposa & Louw-Potgieter, 2012; Pryce et al., 2016; & Ucembe, 2009).
Inadequate preparation in the homes, lack of support, neglect and structural factors such as unemployment in wider society exposes young to care leavers to many challenges. According to some studies (e.g. Avery & Freundlich, 2008; Rogers, 2011; Maposa & Louw-Potgieter, 2012; Osgood et al, 2010; Courtney et al, 2011; Höjer & Sjöblom, 2011; Pryce et al., 2016; & Van Breda et al, 2012), these challenges relate to: unemployment, accommodation, education/continuing education, drug abuse, relationships, mental issues, incarceration, unplanned pregnancies and the inability to build social networks necessary for development.
