It was a party for children at an orphanage. But for many at the party, their attention was on a baby named Excel, whose parents abandoned on a heap of refuse, writes MIKE ODIEGWU.
His first name is Excel. But he has no surname because he does not know his parents. The six-month baby is receiving care, attention and love that his unknown parents denied him. He is, indeed, growing and developing physically and mentally at the Bayelsa Children’s Home, Opolo.
Niger Delta Report was told that little Excel was dumped on a heap of refuse by an unknown person few days after he was born. But a Good Samaritan rescued and brought him to the orphanage.
His story is now a pleasant one. He has been nurtured into an irresistibly beautiful baby by the caregivers at the orphanage. He lacks nothing and no child living with his parents would boast of enjoying the yuletide more than Excel; all thanks to philanthropic Nigerians and generous oranisations.
In fact, Sidoni Foundation and Miss Peace Bayelsa Organisation were the first to put smiles on the faces of the orphans at the orphanage. The foundation established by Dr. Selekaye Victor Ben and Mr. Seleipre Tonbie organised a party for the orphans in conjunction with Miss Peace Pageant Bayelsa Organisation (MPPBO). The playful Excel was in the party and was the cynosure of all that attended the event.
The management of the orphanage was happy to see the children rock and roll as they danced to different tunes of music. The children also engage in other various performances and competition. At the end of the party, they were appreciated and rewarded with various types of gifts. One of the children at the orphanage identified as Agnes was particularly happy that the foundation and Miss Peace remembered them.
“I am happy and l feel at home. I thank the foundation for coming here to celebrate with us. They are taking care of us and l would like more people to come and celebrate with us,” she said.
On the reason behind the party, Tonbie, who is also the Director of MPPBO, said the bash was to show the children love and affection. He said it was designed to make the orphans feel at home and to reassure them that they were part of the larger and normal society.
Tonbie said: “Most of these children are not enjoying their childhood because they are orphans and have limited opportunities to their rights to survival, development, protection and participation.
“We need to make sure that they do not suffer a double tragedy by losing both parents and utterly neglected by the society. There is a need to show them love and care, especially at this festive period.
“Today, we came to party with the kids. We had some performances by the orphans themselves. We had dancing competition, gave them wonderful meals and gifts.”
He said the foundation also gave the orphanage some items such as stoves, clothes, plates, food among other items. But Tonbie lamented the failures of the government to partake in worthy ventures like caring for the less-privileged and orphans. He insisted that the government was not doing enough to lift the spirit of the orphans in the state.
He said the government had spent so much money organising awards and international tourist events without recourse to the welfare of orphans. He said the government should show more interest in issues, activities and events concerning the wellbeing of the less-privileged.
He continued: “There is this glamour that Bayelsa is the entertainment hub in Nigeria but quite unfortunately, people from here do not have access to funding. Bayelsa has spent so much money on various awards that have no bearing on the less privileged and the vulnerable.
“So if Bayelsa needs to grow, they need to look inwards and support their local industry first rather than throwing money away to organise awards that do not impact on the vulnerable and the less privileged.”
He lauded the simplification of the process of adopting children from orphanages simple. He said last year when the foundation hosted a similar event, about 40 children in the orphanage. “I am happy that people are now thinking of adopting children and taking care of them. Last year when we came here, they had about 40 orphans but as we came back, only eight children were remaining. When l asked, l was told they had been adopted.
When asked the monetary value of the event and the gifts, he said: “We have hosted this kind of event for the third time. Basically it is not the monetary value that matters, it is the intent. The fact that we realised that there are people like this and we have to reach out to them is the most important thing.”
On the challenges facing the foundation, he added: “We are faced with the challenges of collaboration and funding. We designed jingles on how to support orphans. We have written several letters and held many meetings but all of them ended in promises. We are hoping that government will come to support us because Bayelsa is also our state”.
Reacting to the development, Miss Peace Bayelsa Queen, Annie Gabriel, said for peace to reign in any society, people must take issues concerning orphans seriously. He said the society would be chaotic if abandoned children were not catered for.
She said: “If the society is not at peace, there is no way anybody would think of the less privileged. I think a peaceful society will make people to have an idea of people that are vulnerable.
“I feel bad over the plight of the vulnerable. That is why I am happy that I have an opportunity to lend my support to the orphans through my crown. I feel that the government is not doing enough to help the orphans in the state. I appeal to them to put more effort to lift the hope of the less privileged.”
Gabriel said she had good discussions with the children and that the children had wonderful dreams for the future. According to her, some of the children said they would like to lawyers, engineers, doctors and other professions. She said she enjoyed her chat with the kids/
But some persons who attended the event rained curses on mothers who are fond of abandoning their children. After listening to the story of Excel, a woman who identified herself simply as Mary, could not control her emotion. She wondered why some people should cast their toddlers away while others were ready to pay fortunes for such babies.
She said: “Imagine a mother abandoning her own child in a refuse bin. This is a peak of wickedness. I do not like praying bad prayers, but in this situation, I differ. I pray that God should block the womb of this wicked woman who did this to a God-given handsome child.
“Many women are using millions of naira to look for a child but here is a woman, who got a child freely from God but decided to throw him into the dustbin. Whoever she is, she is wickedness personified and a shame to womanhood. I know God is not sleeping. He sees everything and I am optimistic that this boy will be a pride of this nation.”
