Our new guest writer Taiwo Akinlami a Social Empowerment Advocate and Child Protection Expert and Enthusiast will be starting a series of articles here on Mamalette.com

This is the first in the series of articles titled The Child Protection CREED™ please read and comment.

I persuaded that you here today because of your love and commitment to children either as a primary or secondary custodian. If that is your driving force, it means there is mutuality of interest. Great…I am Taiwo Akinlami, a Social Empowerment Advocate and Child Protection Expert and Enthusiast, who has witnessed unusual and definite transformation from the seemingly insurmountable impacts of gross childhood abuses.  I have been doing this for over 16 years since I was called to the Nigeria Bar as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. Defending the cause of the child is simply my life and to step out of it is to sign up for suicide and that will be unfortunate.

I will be here with you weekly and this platform of high repute to share with you what I have called, The ChildProtectionCREED™.

What is a creed?

A creed represents article of faith. It can also be referred to as a statement belief.

I have in the last 16 years employed the law as an instrument of social change to advance the cause of the African child, but I must tell you that the CREED, I will share with you here weekly is superior to the letter of the Law. 

Why? Simple, the CREED is the soul of the law. Faith and conscience determine our disposition towards the law.

The basis for peace and safety in the society is beyond law enforcement. Law enforcement agents will not always be enough in number and capability to monitor the entire territories of nations, except we are going to have a law enforcement agent to a citizen and their station will be located in the life of the citizen they monitor.

Since that cannot be a sane dream to guarantee peace and safety in human communities and even if that becomes a dream, it will be nothing but a laughable utopia, the society must be interested in engaging higher code of human behavior to ensure peace and safety for the society, particularly our dear children.

This higher code of human behavior is known as CREED and the natural enforcement agent of the CREED is the human conscience.

Permit to invite Benjamin Disreali once again to lend credence to my very humble submission, ‘when men are pure, laws are useless; when men are corrupt, laws are broken.’

In the foregoing rests the necessity of the CREED, I will be sharing with you here.

Having been involved in Child Protection for close to half of my life, I have come to understand, I am moved by CREED than I am moved by the law. I have been inspired by CREED and not by the law.

The letters of the law can be sometimes too cold that they cannot fan into consistency, the fire in my bones, but at those times where the letters of the law become cold, I am injected with the fire of my CREED, my article of faith.

This CREED is primarily summed up in my marching mandate:  ‘to bring to the front burner of the conscience and consciousness of individuals, private and public institutions in Africa, the PROTECTION, RIGHTS and RESPONSIBILITIES of the child for due respect IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE CHILD.’ 

My interaction with this mandate both as a compass and comfort has bred many CREED, which are too numerous to mention. The CREED increases on daily basis.

I live and share the CREED often with people within my areas of influence. This article of faith is core to my crusade and persuasions about Child Protection. Apart from the fact that the CREED flows from and gives empowering expression to my marching mandate, they are stoutly predicated upon God’s ordained universal principles which are unchangeable.

Thank you for joining me today and reading my copious introduction. The truth is that if the purpose of a thing is not known, abuse is surely inevitable.

Thus I took time to shed light on the purpose of this column. From next week, we will begin to share the CREED. You can’t afford to miss out.  I charge you to Think the Child…Think Today…Think the Future…Do have an INSPIRED week.

About the Author

Taiwo Akinlami, Advocate & Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria is the Principal, Taiwo Akinlami INSPIRES, foremost Child Protection Specialist, Consultant to UNICEF on Child Protection, Independent Legal and Social Regulatory Expert on Child’s Rights and Responsibilities Issues, Legal Enlightenment & Development Enthusiast and an accredited facilitator of the British Council School Leadership Program. Website: www.taiwoakinlami.com│Blog: www.taiwoakinlami.wordpress.com│Twitter: @taiwoakinlami