•Group advocates transition to foster homes, launches guidebook
The Association of Orphanages and Homes Operators in Nigeria (ASOHON) has urged the Federal and state governments to prioritise effective budgeting to take care of the needs of vulnerable children in accordance with the Child Rights as domesticated in the country.
President of the association, Dr. Gabriel Oyediji, said global paucity of funds, negative publicity and new global practices are making the operations of orphanages and homes for the vulnerable difficult.
According to him, foreign and local donors supporting their operations have stopped owing to negative reports on activities of a few homes operators in a part of the country rather than the bigger contributions in nurturing lives.
He spoke with The Nation at a workshop with the theme: “Strengthening Foster Care Operation in Lagos State”.
Adediji said the gathering, which also witnessed presentation of a guidebook for relevant stakeholders, was a deliberate and timely response to both national policy shifts and the emerging needs of vulnerable children across the communities.
He asserted that many of such homes are closing down, arguing that such untrained vulnerable children would end up becoming a menace to the society.
According to him, orientation is shifting from institutional care to de-institutional care, according to United Nations Children’s Fund and SOS best standard.
He asserted that Kenyan Government closed down the operations of over 1,000 homes during the COVID-19 and spread them in foster homes and the children are better for it.
“Countries are shifting focus from institutional cares. Institutional care has to do with taking care of children in an institution, company, premises, halls and the closed environment. And that has been the dominant practice in Nigeria over the years.
“And again, packing too many children together is also not the best. And what are the problems? Number one, it has been discovered that such children lacked life skills. They may not know how to cook or sew, because everything is done for them.
“Number two, it doesn’t even allow them to know the environment where they grew up. Some of them could live 10 years and may not know the next two streets behind the house. Number three is that they don’t have one-on-one parental attention.
“When I have 100 children, how many of them will get my attention?
“No. So, there’s no prudential attention and with that, there’s a gap in their developmental stages in life – that’s missing the gap of one-on-one parenting. Now, adoptions have been doing that.
“But, we are seeing high demand and low availability of children and we are saying that if you allow children to grow old in orphanages and get married there, they will never have the experience of a family life and it’s so bad for them. It means they don’t have access to the community where they live; they don’t know the next door of the next company for eight years or so. We are saying no and that the best practice is putting them in a group of two or three with a family each like foster homes, instead of about 100 children staying together in a place.
“Now, what we are saying about foster care is like, because most of the children in the orphanages, some of them are under care and protection, not adopted.
‘‘And if the child is under care and protection, you cannot adopt that child because there may be an ongoing court process, a legal process or a parental identification process. So, you can’t go for adoption, because they have families. Issues brought them there and they are still solving those issues.
“So, we are now saying that if that’s the pattern and the situation, what do we do?
“And I said if those young number keep growing in the orphanages to a large extent, they will be there learning nothing. And I said put them out of those homes, spread them in different homes; let them be learning; let them have access to family life.”
According to him, most of the children in orphanages don’t understand what family life is all about.
“They don’t live in the family; they don’t enjoy the benefit of a family.
“Therefore, the world is now transitioning from institutional care to de-institutional care. Orphanages at the end of the day will be for emergency care for three days or so pending the time they are looking for arrangement and transitioning to family care. So, that’s what we saw when we went to Kenya.
“Because COVID-19 does not allow clustering. And it can be a national tragedy if COVID enters any home, killing 50 children. So, before it gets there, you create a family for them.
“After COVID what happened? The Kenyan government now decided to follow that pattern not to encourage institutional care.
“And the foster care parents are trained. They also give them cash transfers to enable them to take up the training of children in their care.
“They have governmental training, psychological training, management training, emotional management training.
“And that’s what SOS and UNICEF have pioneered. Let’s go back to what Constitution says about alternative cares. And what we saw in foster care in Kenya is one of the alternative cares mentioned in the constitution.”
The association also presented the ASOHON Foster Care Training Manual, a comprehensive guidebook that is the product of deep consultation, practical experience, and a shared passion for child welfare.
He hoped that with the manual in the hands of stakeholders—government agencies, foster parents, social workers, community leaders, child-focused NGOs, and religious institutions— the country can begin to build a standardised, ethically grounded, and locally relevant approach to foster care in Nigeria.
Country Director at SOS Children’s Villages Nigeria Mr. Eghosa Erhumwunse, who was represented by his chief programme officer, Mr. Ayodeji Adelopo, lauded the organisers for putting together the event which he noted underscores everyone’s collective commitment to improving the lives of vulnerable children in the society.
Erhumwunse agreed with Adediji that foster homes is the way to go.
“As the Country Director of SOS Children’s Villages Nigeria, I have seen firsthand the profound impact that a supportive and stable environment can have on a child’s development and future.
“We all know that foster care is not just a temporary solution; it is a pathway to hope, healing, and resilience for children who have faced unimaginable challenges. It is our collective responsibility to ensure that every child has the opportunity to thrive in a nurturing environment where they can flourish.
“Today, we are here to focus on the theme of strengthening foster care operations.”
Particularly in a dynamic and bustling state like Lagos, it is essential that we collaborate to develop a system that is robust, efficient, and most importantly, responsive to the needs of our children.
“Effective foster care is built on a foundation of collaboration among all stakeholders — government bodies, civil society organisations, local communities, and, above all, the families that open their hearts and homes to these children,” he said.
In a goodwill message delivered by Mrs. Oguntoyimbo Oluwakemi, the Executive Secretary of Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency, Mrs. Titilola Vivour-Adeniyi, commended the association’s lofty programme for the orphanages and homes towards creating a secured and inclusive environment for the vulnerable children, despite the challenges being faced by the country at this critical time, when child trafficking and gender-based violence is on the alarming rate.
“The association (ASOHON) had stood out to advocate for the care and protection of the vulnerable children. This gesture is part of your contribution as an NGO to nation building. When you build the youth, you are building a nation.
“The responsibility for ensuring children is safe and their rights being provided are shared between families, the general community, professionals working with children, law enforcement agencies and government. They all have a significant role to play in ensuring the safety and general wellbeing of children and young people to prevent them from harm.
“Sustainable development could only be achieved in any nation if we all live in peace as individual, family, community and society at large.
“It is important that we continue to raise awareness and strengthen partnerships that promote foster care, kinship care, and other forms of alternative care that ensure no child is left behind.
“Foster care, when well-structured and supported, provides a nurturing, family-like setting that every child deserves. It is not just about shelter—it is about love, healing, identity, and hope for the future.
“Let us all continue to support initiatives that provide training, monitoring, and emotional support for foster families, while also empowering children to thrive emotionally, mentally, and academically,” he said.
”Let us continue to support initiative and provide training, monitoring and emotional support for foster families. Why also empowering the children to thrive emotionally, mentally and academically.
”We must all commit to breaking the stigma often associated with children in alternative care, these children are not broken, they are great, resilient, and full of potentials,” she said
