Routine violence against children at home and in classrooms has entrenched a broader pattern of intimidation and abuse of authority across Nigeria. According to an essay by Prof. Chiwuike Uba published by Daily News Nigeria, violent discipline remains socially justified under the guise of child-rearing, shaping how citizens understand power.
The analysis argues that children taught to endure pain from stronger figures internalise the belief that authority provides a right to punish. When those youngsters become teachers, security officers, or politicians, the habit persists under different names, turning leadership into intimidation and discipline into abuse.
Survey findings cited by Uba reveal the widespread nature of the problem. Data from the 2021 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey by the National Bureau of Statistics and UNICEF showed that 90.4 per cent of children aged one to 14 experienced violent discipline in the month before the study. About 64 per cent of mothers and caregivers maintained that physical punishment was necessary to raise or educate a child properly.
Public perceptions, however, appear to be evolving. A 2022 Afrobarometer study found that 45 per cent of Nigerians felt parental physical force was never justified, an increase from 28 per cent recorded in 2017. Even so, 55 per cent still considered physical punishment sometimes or always acceptable.
Beyond homes, schools frequently reinforce physical punishment. Students face flogging for minor infractions or failing to answer questions correctly, driving pupils into silence and fear. While the Nigerian government established a National Policy on Safety, Security and Violence-Free Schools in 2021 and released a positive discipline handbook in 2025, real progress remains thin. At the handbook's launch, UNICEF disclosed that a monitoring assessment of 6,000 schools revealed only 20 per cent satisfied at least 70 per cent of basic safety standards.
Uba noted that actual safety requires training educators, enabling safe complaint channels, and enforcing penalties for offenders rather than relying merely on printed policies.
