CRC/C/NGA/CO/3-4 General principles (arts. 2, 3, 6 and 12 of the Convention) Non-discrimination 28. The Committee notes as positive that the Constitution incorporates provisions of nondiscrimination and welcomes the fact that the Anti-Discrimination Bill is about to be passed by the National Assembly. It remains concerned however that de facto discrimination of children prevails and is tolerated in the State party, in particular vis-à-vis the girl child, but also against children with disabilities, children in street situations and children of minority groups. 29. The Committee requests that the State party provide more information in its next periodic report on measures taken to give practical effect to the principle of nondiscrimination as per article 2 of the Convention, especially in relation to the girl child, children with disabilities, children in street situations and children of minority groups. The State party is encouraged to consider affirmative action programmes to ensure girls effective access to education and prevent early school drop-out, including by reinforcing existing programmes such as the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) Gender Education Project. Best interests of the child 30. The Committee welcomes the express provision in the Child Rights Act that the child’s best interests shall remain “paramount” in all considerations affecting the child and appreciates information that courts of the State party frequently base their decisions on this principle. The Committee is concerned, however, that certain practices that are inconsistent with this and other general principles of the Convention appear to be considered as reflecting the best interests of the child. This includes information on the placement of children from vulnerable groups in remand homes and the detention of child offenders charged with status offences, and of children at the request of their parents for being “beyond parental control”, for their own protection. 31. The Committee strongly recommends the State party to ensure that the principle of the best interests of the child is explicitly enshrined in new legislation domesticating the Child Rights Act at state level. The State party is urged to formally incorporate the best interests of the child as a guiding principle in other actions concerning children, particularly in decisions concerning children without parental care and in the juvenile justice system, and by harmonizing this principle with the Sharia Penal Codes and enforcing it in practice. Right to life, survival and development 32. While noting with satisfaction that the death penalty is prohibited by law in the Child Rights Act, the Committee is seriously concerned at reports related to an estimated 40 prisoners reportedly on death row for crimes committed when they were below the age of 18. It reiterates the strong concern expressed by the African Committee on the Rights and Welfare of the Child concerning the mandatory death penalty for offences in sharia penal codes (including Hadd punishments) which, given the absence of definition of the child as a person under the age of 18 and that in certain states children are defined by puberty, could be imposed on children under sharia jurisdiction. The Committee is gravely concerned about the impact of inter-communal and political violence on children, including reports that children have been victims of extrajudicial killings by law enforcement agencies. Ethnic conflict is also referred to as being among the main causes of orphanage. 33. The Committee recommends the State party to take the opportunity of its ongoing constitutional review to include an express prohibition of the application of the death penalty to persons under 18 years of age. The Committee urges the State party: 7