An Assessment of the Relationship Between Cooperation and Level of Child's Rights Act Implementation in Benue and Lagos States, Nigeria

Abstract

Criminological, sociological, gender and development studies findings indicate that cooperation among Child's Rights Act (CRA) implementing officials is a sine qua non to implementing the CRA in Juvenile Correctional Institutions (JCIs). However, there are strong claims that CRA has not been implemented in JCIs in the 24 States that adopted and adapted the Act due to lack of cooperation amongst CRA implementing officials responsible for the implementation of CRA in JCIs in Nigeria. This study, therefore, examined these arguments in Benue and Lagos States. A crosssectional research design was used for the study and 1,082 persons from 18 – 65 years from the study areas provided data in the questionnaire for quantitative analysis, while in-depth interviews (IDIs) were used to collect qualitative data. Findings revealed that there is a significant association between cooperation and level of CRA implementation in JCIs as there was more cooperation and therefore, more implementation of the CRA in JCIs in Lagos than in Benue. Recommendations included strengthening cooperation among CRA implementing officials in Benue JCIs, and advocating that other States in Nigeria should emulate Lagos in fostering cooperation among CRA implementing officials.