The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Children

  • Children paint against terrorism

    Children paint against terrorism

    Artworks on effects of terrorism by the duo of Jehoshphat Bala of New Vine Academy, Bwari, Abuja and Tire Onabanjo of Loyola Jesuit, Abuja emerged over all best in the junior and senior secondary school categories of the National Gallery of Art (NGA) organised Children Day talent hunt/exhibition. The works emerged from 40 selected works exhibited at  the Cyprian Ekwensi Centre for Arts and Culture, Area 10, Garki, Abuja with the theme, Let’s Fight Terrorism, it Destroys Our Nation.

    The competition is aimed at directing every attention to the negative consequences of terrorism. Hence, the works produced by the children in various media depict the adverse effects of terrorism and advocate that a conscious effort be made to reverse the ugly trend. The theme was chosen to underscore the menacing effect of terrorism in Nigeria and its effect on the Nigerian child.

    A total of 164 entries were received but only 40 were selected for exhibition. Twenty schools in the FCT and Abuja participated in the programme that also witnessed dance-dramas and news casting. The event was anchored by Mr. Edet Dominic Head of Station/Curator, NGA Abuja.

    The first prize painting in the junior secondary category is done in oil on canvas and it shows a child crying ostensibly over the killings going on around him. Fear is palpable in the piece.

    But in Onabanjo’s painting, which won the first prize in the senior secondary school category, a conscious effort is made to reverse the ugly trend as a lady is seen holding a spear to attack a man she had disarmed. The man is obviously a terrorist and the lady, defending herself.

    Director-General National Gallery of Art (NGA), Abdullahi Muku said that NGA has for a decade provided a viable platform for children to express themselves annually on Children on Day May 27. He explained that NGA as an agency responsible for the collection and promotion of the best of visual art in Nigeria has continued to actualise its core mandate by utilising every opportunity to showcase its creative spirit through the visual art.

    The DG who was represented by the Director Educational Services Dr. (Mrs.) Evelyn Otaigbe noted that the most vulnerable group to threat and impact of terrorism remains the women and children. Muku therefore said a moment should be spared to remember the children who by virtue of seeking academic excellence have been killed, kidnapped or displaced. He was full of praises to the children for the skills displayed at the exhibition.

     

    *Obadimeji is of the PR Unit,  NGA, Abuja

  • My story, by father of three siblings burnt to death in Lagos mystery fire

    My story, by father of three siblings burnt to death in Lagos mystery fire

    One week after the death of three siblings roasted to death in a fire that happened at Egbeda, Lagos, the true cause of the death of the three children is still shrouded in mystery, writes HANNAH OJO. 

    HOW did the three children caught in the fire that happened on Number 18 Fakoya Street, Egbeda-Akowonjo, Lagos on the 13 of June die? Exactly a week after the sad occurrence, the answer to that question lies sketchy as investigations by The Nation reveal that the tale of the fire which claimed the lives of the three siblings namely Ugonma-9, Chukwuemeka-7 and Ufuoma-3 appears to be buried in conspiracy.

    When The Nation caught up with the father of the deceased children, Mr. Patrick Ndubisi, a 35-year-old park attendant with an interstate transport company in Oshodi, he discredited the claim that he lit a candle and locked the children inside the house to go visit his wife who was just delivered of a baby.

    Ndubisi, who was visibly pained that national dailies could carry the claims of the story without hearing his own side of the matter, said he left home by 8am on the day of the sad occurrence to look for money to discharge his wife, who had delivered a baby boy on Thursday. He didn’t return until night when the deed had already been done.

    “I stayed with my children on Friday, gave them food and catered to their needs. I was even happy with the way Ugonma, my eldest daughter, washed the new baby’s cloth and tended to the younger ones. On Saturday morning, I called my eldest daughter, gave her money to buy rice and water. The last child was crying when I was about leaving the house but I told her I had to go and look for money so that I can bring their mother home. I came to work to meet my master to borrow me N15, 000 for my wife’s hospital bills but I was told to wait till Monday.  He ordered my colleague to give me N1,000 so that I can use that to get my wife some things”.

    Patrick, who disclosed that he used the N1,000 to play lotto with the hope that he would be able to multiple it, had his hopes dashed when other sources he turned to for money didn’t yield any result. He was forced to go and borrow N700 but the malam who owns a store close to the park where he works was only able to give him N500 after he had offered to use his phone as collateral.

    “That was around 9: 30 on that Saturday. Since I walked around and didn’t get money, I already bought some soup things for my wife and so I joined a bus. I thought the best thing to do was to get to my wife and tell her that I couldn’t meet up with the money to discharge her from the hospital that day”, he relayed.

    According to him, he gave his wife N500 to manage in the morning of the day the sad occurrence happened and was later waiting for a friend to accompany him to see her in the night to inform her that he couldn’t raise the money to discharge her. He claimed he was trekking back from the hospital when he saw fire service men on duty and realised the fire tragedy was happening in his compound.

    “I flung the nylon I was holding and was pushing to enter into my compound but people restrained me. By the time I found myself inside, everything had been burnt, including my three children. Nothing remained. I was totally confused over my life”.

    He countered the claim that he lit a candle and locked the children in while he went out in the night, saying he left his house around 8am and didn’t return until the time he came to encounter the fire.

    “It is only God that can judge. I believe my children must have slept when the fire started because they usually go to sleep before I return from work. But somebody told me that a boy was trying to help them when they were shouting. My landlady’s daughter also said she saw one of my neighbours coming from the backyard before the fire started”, he stated to buttress his point.

    Patrick accused some neighbours of complicity in the case. He said on returning to the house on the Wednesday after the fire happened, he discovered that the woman who was seen in the backyard before the fire started, came to pack her things from the building. He promptly went to report her at the divisional police headquarters at Afonka, Shasha where the case is being handled.

    Many have wondered why the children could not be rescued by the neighbours since the fire started at night. It was this that prompted The Nation to launch an enquiry into the state of the relationship between the Ndubisis’ and their co-tenants.

    Sources around the area of the fire accident revealed that the parents of the deceased children do not have a cordial relationship with their co-tenants. Patrick would later substantiate the claim by saying that it is only two of the neiboubours living in the main flat that he befriends.

    “One of my neigbours told me that he bought biscuit for my last daughter to celebrate her birthday on that day.  I was not happy with the fact that he was celebrating birthday for my daughter when I was not around since my family and his are not in good terms. I told the police to interrogate him because he has been the person causing all the problems I had been having in that house”, Patrick replied.

    The co-tenant, whom he suspected, has since been detained. Patrick also dismissed the suspect’s claim that he didn’t hear the children’s cry for help because he was asleep when the fire started.  He also wondered why his landlord’s wife didn’t think to help the children before going to call her daughter who sells things at the other street”.

    “My children were very smart and active. I could not have locked them in the house. The question I am now asking God is, how come Ugonma cannot guide her younger ones?” Patrick said tearfully.

    Patrick’s relationship with the landlord appears to have been ruined since he had already been issued a quit notice over the inability of Patrick to pay his N2, 000 monthly rent on the one-room apartment.

    If, indeed, the fire was caused by a candle flame, who could have lit a candle in the night since Patrick claimed to have left the house since 8am and didn’t return until the fire outbreak? Again, how were the children locked inside since their father said the door had already been damaged?

    At the office of the transport company where Patrick sat to narrate his story to The Nation, many of his co-workers blamed newspapers for circulating what they called false reports about the mishap without even hearing from the victim.

    “You are the only press person who bothered to find out from the real victim. Other papers have been writing nonsense. We don’t know why they have been framing up this guy even without hearing his own side of the story. Somebody lost three children in a night and somebody is reporting that the mother got mad and killed the new baby, what kind of tale is that?” a visibly angry colleague of the bereaved asked.

    Some reports said during the week that Patrick’s new baby died at the hospital because the mother mishandled him when she heard the news about the children.  But the Imo State-born grief-stricken father told The Nation that the baby is still alive and his wife had since been relocated to her village in Enugu State.

    The charred remains of the children are still in the mortuary and Patrick, who claims to be an orphan, is rambling with how he can patch his life together. “I need Nigerians to help me. I have been hanging around the park and the more people tell me sorry, the more I feel sad because it causes me to remember my children.   I cannot stay in Lagos again.  I am homeless. My wife is also jobless.  I am the only child of my mother and both my parents are late”, Patrick said weeping uncontrollably.

    The landlord of the house, Rev. Samuel Oyekola, a septuagenarian, who is a reverend of the African church, told The Nation that it was the pastor of another church who cursed Patrick when they had a disagreement sometimes ago.

    “I told him to go and report at the police station, but he didn’t attach seriousness to it. The relationship of the wife and the man is not good. Nothing stops him from bringing the children to my place since his wife was in the hospital”.

    Rev Oyekola, who said he could not join the rescue team because of the state of his health, stated that the children would have been saved if the other tenants had raised an alarm.

    A pathetic scene of ruin is what describes the broken remains of the apartment where the bereaved’s family occupied. Apart from the main flat, which is an uncompleted building where the landlord and some tenants stay, the adjoining houses in the compound can best be described as shanties. Spaces which ought to have been left for proper ventilation and emergency had substandard buildings erected on them. It is in one of these compartments comprising three rooms that the Ndubisi siblings were roasted to death. The other buildings in the compound were untouched.

    Mrs. Victoria Majodumu, a chief environmental health officer in Ifelodun LCDA who joined the Lagos State Environmental Monitoring Team (SEMO) to evacuate the charred remains of the children the morning after, criticised the landlord for using up all the space in the compound.

    “He is a shylock landlord. He used up all the space meant for ventilation and emergency exit. I think the smoke of the fire would have killed the children first before they were burnt because two of them were joined together. The smoke itself is carbon monoxide and it suffocates and kills”.

    Mrs Majodumu would later describe the sight of the burnt children as pathetic since they were burnt beyond recognition.

    The death of the three children has left a deep cut in the hearts of many who knew them. A trader on the street where the children lived, who gave her name simply as Mrs Eze, said the children used to come over to her shop to play, describing the children as cute and cheerful. She lamented their awful death.

    “Those children were cute. The last one was like a half cast. I don’t know the parents but the children used to come and play at my shop”, she told The Nation.

    Mrs Ijeoma Ozuah, the proprietor of the school where the children attended, described the siblings as bright children who were eager to learn.  She expressed shock at the fact that the children could not get help when the fire started. “That Ugonma, the eldest, if you cane her and she screamed, somebody from far way would hear because she had a very strong voice.  She loved the younger ones and catered for them affectionately”.

    As police investigation continues into the case, it is yet to be decided whether the mystery of how the children died in the fire would ever be unraveled and the suspects brought to face justice.

  • Colourful carpets for Special Children

    Colourful carpets for Special Children

    With many children of the Heart of Gold Hospice, Surulere, Lagos suffering severe disabilities, life outdoors, going to school or elsewhere is not a regular occurrence.

    However, Mr Jitesh Pamnani, General Manager, Lucky Fibres, makers of Nobel Carpets, hopes that the firm’s colourful children’s carpets would brighten their lives and even help them get foundational education.

    He was at the hospice to donate colourful carpets designed to captivate young children and inscribed with the letters of the alphabets and numbers.

    “When I got to know about this orphanage and that people here can’t really move out of this place, we thought about how we can beautify their lives.  We have kids range of products that have A,B,C on the carpet; we have numbers 1,2,3 on the carpets.  It is a colourful carpet.  It is a combination of colours, which can beautify their lives.  Because as they are not going out, not looking around the city, at least we can bring at their doorstep, under their roof, those kinds of carpets which will enhance and beautify their lives.  In a way, they can also educate themselves.  If anybody around can tell them ‘this is A’; ‘this is B’; these letters can be in their minds,” he said.

    Pamnani was conducted round by the founder of the hospice, Mrs Adedoyin Laja, who said all the children in their care were abandoned.  Many suffer congenital health problems that require surgery and special care – health, education and otherwise.

    She told Pamnanai that the hospice cares for children aged 0-5, and shared the touching stories of many of them – including a three-week old HIV Positive baby, and an 11-month old boy whose brain grew abnormally behind his head, had a cleft palate, and was blind.

    But to her, these children deserve to be loved.

    “What you see, I don’t see.  The disability that you see and you turn your heads away, I don’t see it.  I see beyond that,” she said.

    She thanked Nobel Carpets for remembering them and sustaining a good relationship with the home.

    “Like Yoruba people would say: ‘Ona ofun l’ona orun’, (meaning if you don’t have food to put in your mouth, you are on your way to death’.  Once there is food to put in your mouth, then you are okay.  So it is not just about food.  It is also about other products that enhance the lifestyle of my children.  You have mat on the floor with alphabets, colourful colours, it helps children to learn,” she said.

    Mrs Laja appealed to parents with children like her hospice cares for not to abandon them.  She said the home could provide support to parents to care for special needs children.

    “Don’t throw them away. If the abandonment dries up, there are other areas that one can work.  Even if the children are at home, we can work with families,” she said.

  • Photos: Celebrating the African child

    Photos: Celebrating the African child

    CHILDREN OF BAKARI DUKKU JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL PRESENTING SONGS DURING THE AFRICAN CHILD DAY CELEBRATION IN BAUCHI ON TUESDAY
    CHILDREN OF BAKARI DUKKU JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL PRESENTING SONGS DURING THE AFRICAN CHILD DAY CELEBRATION IN BAUCHI ON TUESDAY
    PARTICIPANTS AT THE AFRICAN CHILD DAY CELEBRATION IN BAUCHI ON TUESDAY
    PARTICIPANTS AT THE AFRICAN CHILD DAY CELEBRATION IN BAUCHI ON TUESDAY
  • I see it as a moral duty to read to children

    I see it as a moral duty to read to children

    Chief Executive Officer  Nicities Nigeria Limited, Mr Oluwole Eweoya, is a man passionate about books. The convener of Forwarders Group, an NGO, recently organised a book reading for pupils of Saint Paul Primary School, Mafoluku, Oshodi, Lagos. HANNAH OJO, who was there, reports.  

    From the looks on the pupils’ faces, one could sense a renewed feeling of self- worth.  Their school, Saint Paul Primary school located in the Mafoluku area of Oshodi, Lagos possess no once of graceful stylishness. The classrooms are only six in number with another block housing two offices of the headmistress and her assistant covered in tattered roof waiting to give way at the onslaught of a turbulent wind.

    It is against this backdrop that one can gauge the excitement of the pupils and teachers when a philanthropist, Mr. Oluwole Eweoya,  an old pupil of the school led a team of Forwarders Group, a Non-Governmental Organisation to ignite a reading among the children by reading a literature text to them for one hour penultimate a Wednesday.

    Dressed in a black trouser and a white shirt adorned with a red tie, Mr Eweoya, a graduate of Law from the University of Westminster, UK read to the children in a sonorous tone which arrested the attention of the children. He was able to enunciate the words of text in a manner that makes for a beautiful reading.

    Reading through the book; The Jealous Cate by Ben Aknine-Samuel, copies of which were also distributed to the pupils free of charge, Mr. Eweoya stopped at intervals to explain the meanings of words that the children are not familiar with. This method which made the reading session interactive helped in engaging the minds of the primary 5 and 6 pupils of the school as they were quick to raise their hands to answer questions on the moral lesson they learnt from the story at the end of the reading.

    While encouraging the pupils to cultivate a good reading culture as a pathway to making their future ambitions into reality, he told The Nation that the initiative of the book reading is geared towards the transformation of youths in Oshodi, some of whom have been made to see warlords in the area as heroes.

    “I came visiting this school a while ago and I wasn’t too excited about the state of the school so I told the students to be reading. I even told them the story of how we used to read when we were students here. Then at primary school, about six to seven of us would buy different newspapers to read. Reading those newspapers gave us the opportunity to study people’s reasoning and it broadened our knowledge.  What we are doing here is to encourage them to read literature books”, he said.

    Read in order to live, these words of French Novelist, Gustave Flaubert appears to be the anchor point of Mr. Eweoya’s message to the school pupils. He is buoyed by his own grace to grace story as a born and bred son of Oshodi who was able to navigate his ways far away in the United Kingdom with an LLB degree from the University of Westminster and an MBA from the University of East London to show for it.  The message that reading would give the pupils an edge in rising beyond the tough life of the street is what drives Eweoya’s book reading initiative.

    “There is a reason for them to broaden their knowledge and see that somebody from this same school like I was able to become somebody in the society because of the exposure reading gave to me. I was representing this school in debate from primary 5. The debates were the kind of things that gave us the exposure.”

    “When we were reading the books, we were picking out new words and explaining it to them. They may not have the same opportunity with their teachers to look at those words but now that they are familiar with it, they know what they mean when they come across them  at another time”, he told The Nation.

    Eweoya who is a recipient of the Lagos State Support Our School Initiative awards in appreciation of the donations he had made to public schools in the past, said plans are underway to extend the book reading to other schools in Oshodi local government area.

    Quizzed on how he expects to sustain the project when the reading is extended to other schools, he said: “I have got my old students who have shown some interest to back us up and with their support and with what we have in our kitty, we hope to expand it to the local government before the end of the session or latest at the beginning of next session”.

  • ‘We need to expose children to music’

    ‘We need to expose children to music’

    After three months of rigorous training, parents, teachers and pupils of Marzwell School, Agege, Lagos, recently gathered in an event centre at Kudirat Abiola Way, Oregun, Ikeja, Lagos, to enjoy the outcome of the hours of training in a music concert.

    The hall was beautifully decorated, the children elegantly dressed in white, red and black attires, and it felt like one was in a fairy land. Parents were hailed when ballet dance was performed. Everyone paid rapt attention to the girls in their pink ballet dress and the boys in their black and white attire. The first performance was not captivating but everyone watched. The atmosphere lit up during the orchestra presentation. It was an enviable display to behold.  The event tilted: Budding Talents Beyond Academics; started with the National Anthem.

    The school owner, Mrs Omotola Ajanaku said: “The motive behind the concert is that everything cannot be academics, music brings positive moods when you are down. You know what music does to you when you listen to it. You also know the fame it has brought to those in the entertainment industry even though everything is not money. We believe that we need to expose the children to music, when you catch them young, they know what to do.”

    The head of the school, Mrs Ajoke Ademola-Aralepo said: “Music cannot be ignored in our day to day activities; we know how important music is which is one of the reasons we are putting this concert together because all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. We want to bring out the natural talent in the kids through this avenue. You never can tell which one of them will become a star tomorrow. Our school is known for bringing up the skill in kids and music has been one of the priority,” she said.

    Ademola-Aralepo said there will be a follow up and the school will nurse the discovered talents. “Music is part of us and we dedicate Wednesdays for training and the children are exposed to all musical instruments.  That was in those days, some of our artistes today have doctorate degrees. In those days it was only school dropouts you saw in the music industry, but it is no longer like this. The awareness is there in the music industry that if you are not a drop out, if you sing, you will be recognized. We are trying to join education and talent into one person. We are balancing music and academic, that is the only way these talents can fit in to the music scene. Without education music is nothing.  The school is trying to develop other talents aside academics; that is why we are having a talent hunt concert, for us to see those who have talent in music. Apart from this we have sports the cultural day, we are trying our hands in musical instruments,” she said.

    Mr Anthony Kojo-Onwaeze, a parent and a supporting committee member of the event said he was happy with selection of music which the school is exposing the children to. “We don’t want a situation where it will be all about education, but music with education. The school is trying to grab as many talents from the students. It is better to have a child that is an all rounder,” Onwaeze said.

    The school also invited: Mind Builders Nursery and Primary School, Konsol Nursery and Primary School, Egbeda, MD School, Oko-Oba, CITACAD School, Kate Alison Private School, Ipaja, Ultimate Child School, Magodo, to enjoy the concert with them.

     

  • 5 children die every minute in Africa – WHO

    5 children die every minute in Africa – WHO

    In 2013, an estimated 6.3 million children under five died, 2.9 million of them in the WHO African region. This is equivalent to five children under 5 years of age dying every minute. Two thirds of these deaths can be attributed to preventable causes. A third of all these deaths are in the neonatal period.

    Pneumonia, diarrhoea, malaria and HIV are the main causes of death in infants and young children. In the African Region, about 473 000 children die from pneumonia, 300 000 from diarrhoea, and a further 443 000 from malaria every year. In 2012, 230 000 new HIV infections were recorded among children under 5 years of age.

    “Although tremendous progress has been made in identifying and treating infants and children with HIV, much remains to be done to scale-up and sustain effective prevention, care and treatment, especially of pneumonia and diarrhoea,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa.

    Pneumonia is the single biggest killer of children worldwide, accounting for nearly one in seven deaths among young children, with an estimated over 950 000 deaths annually. Most of the deaths occur in resource-constrained countries, with 50% in sub-Saharan Africa.

    Globally, diarrhoeal diseases account for nearly one out of every six deaths in children under 5 years of age, equivalent to over 578 000 deaths per year. Diarrhoeal disease occurs more commonly in HIV-infected people, with worse outcomes than in uninfected children.

    Persistent diarrhoea in particular is associated with a high risk of death in HIV-infected children. Administration of oral rehydration and zinc in combination with antiretroviral therapy (ART) and restoring immune function are critical for the treatment of diarrhoea in children with HIV.

    “Undernutrition is another critical risk factor in most countries in the African Region, and nutrition and food security remains a fundamental challenge to child survival. Breastfeeding is one of the best ways to provide newborns, infants and young children with the nutrients that they need while protecting them against conditions like pneumonia, diarrhea and undernutrition,” Dr Moeti added.

    The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that exclusive breastfeeding starts within one hour after birth and lasts until a baby is six months old. Continued breastfeeding and appropriate complementary foods should be made available for up to 2 years of age and beyond.

    In mid-2013, WHO issued new guidelines for breastfeeding and the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV. These recommendations were intended for use in resource-poor settings in low-and middle-income countries.

    One of the recommendations for PMTCT is to promote the use of ART in all pregnant and breastfeeding women. These recommendations also include providing ART – irrespective of one’s CD4 count – to all children under 5 years of age with HIV, all pregnant, and all breastfeeding women with HIV including their infants until they cease to breastfeed.

    Health systems in Africa are often not able to adequately address the severe burden of childhood disease. Low total health expenditure with high out of pocket health costs hamper progress in child survival. Hence just as health can drive economic growth, ill-health can push people into poverty and make it very difficult for them to escape the vicious cycle of poverty and disease.

    WHO said it will continue to work with governments and partners to strengthen health systems to reduce unacceptably high infant and child deaths in the African Region.

  • Apapa mall fetes Children

    Apapa mall fetes Children

    Apapa Shopping Mall, Park Lane, Apapa, Lagos has been wearing a new look in form of cartoon walls since Children’s Day. The mall has created a colourful fairyland and balloon castle to create a perfect ambience to celebrate the child, TONIA ‘DIYAN and EKEOWA PATIENCE report.

    The endorsement by parents and the elaborate preparations by shopping malls and fun centers are in sync with United Nations (UN) General Assembly, which about 60 years ago, recommended that all countries institute a universal children’s day to be observed as a day to celebrate children and draw attention to their problems. This was why Nigeria adopted May 27 of every year as its children’s day and has observed the day till date.

    At this year’s Children’s Day celebration, the tempo of activities in and around Apapa mall was very high, an indication that the celebration was exciting and rewarding to children, parents in Apapa and it environment, as well as owners of the mall. With May 27 being a school holiday, the management of the mall left nothing to chance to ensure that parents spent quality time with their kids and drove sales in the process.

    It was a fiesta of music and dance as the management of Apapa mall, Park lane Lagos hosted children for the first time since its existence in less than a year. They have looked forward to this day being their first big event for children, working closely with partners and tenant stores to give children a memorable experience to last a lifetime.

    The mall worked with some of its tenant stores to leverage on this period. It went one step further in ensuring it does not exclude working parents from sharing the special moment with their children.

    Apapa mall succeeded in creating an avenue for playing and learning. It was a children’s’ themed ambience where they were allowed to explore their creativity, dancing and playing. Kids went home with freebies packs, their faces painted and with handed balloons. It was really fun for them. There were also varieties of games to engage children throughout their stay at the mall. Children were well received by management and stores owners.

    Parents and guardians accompany their kids/wards to Apapa mall, taking advantage of a plethora of fun-filled activities for kids during this exciting period. While parents had good meals, kids participated in dancing and drawing competitions, and burnt their energy in the compartment dedicated to them.

    Before the deal day, the mall had promised a fun-filled celebration for children and their parents, as special celebrations were held for the kids such that they would always look forward to the annual event. Mr Celestine Jeremiah, Assistant General Manager Finance and Business Development, Top Services Limited, management of the mall said, kids who were at the mall were allowed to participate in different kinds of games.”This year’s Children’s Day is the first Apapa mall will hold in less than one year of its existence and we are happy it is successful. We made provisions for children to paint their faces, do photography, dance to music, perform choreography, mime to their favourite songs, recite poems, current affairs and so on,” Jeremiah said.

    Adding that children went home with gifts that will be useful to them at school. “The mall made available educational and motivational material for the children, provided children equipment like bouncy castle, train ride, merry-go-round, cho cho train ride for children to play with, popcorn, candy foss, face painting, dance competition, drawing competition, they were entertained by the ‘Era Of Legends’ and had favourite mascots entertain the children.”

    Azubuike Nwankwoala, Branch Manager Shoprite, Apapa said: “Shoprite loves children and have decided to partner with the mall management to host them today, as they are our leaders of tomorrow. We have supported this party with freebies to make this event a success. At Shoprite and Apapa mall, we know the importance of making every May 27 special for children and we intend to continue with this”.

    The man who lead the orphans from Hephzibah orphanage, Badagry , the orphanage officially invited to attend the party, Pastor Daniel Osagie  attested that the children enjoyed themselves “We came with 16 orphans who have all being entertained, our children enjoyed themselves and  participated in games provided for them by Apapa mall. At first, when we received an invitation from the mall to attend this children’s party, we were surprised. We were not asked to pay a dime for anything. This is very usual with shopping malls, many of them will ask you to buy from a store at the mall to enable you go home with gift prizes. Apapa mall didn’t exploit us, they made fun here today very enjoyable and we are grateful to the management of the mall, all the tenant stores who made these wonderful and colourful provisions, we are also grateful to God and pray to him to always lay it in the hearts of people like these to remember us always.

    Osagie advised parents and guardian, as she describes children as adorable; “Children are divine gifts that parents get from the almighty. Their eyes are full of innocence. They smile when they receive love and admiration; they cry when it is their first day at school away from their parents; they giggle when they mingle with their peers, and they signify nothing but pure and faithful love. They truly symbolize God, therefore, let us as parents, guardians and mothers play our roles on their special day.”

    She added that childhood memories are the sweetest of all; they can be savoured for a lifetime and that the celebration is fun for the little ones and important for parents too. “Every parent must understand the importance of Children’s Day. Parents should be well aware about the little desires of their angels” she advised.

    According to Mrs. Chidinma Nwosu, a parent, “With arrangements like this, I can only spend little to treat my kids and make them happy. Because I understand via hand bills and advertisements by these shopping malls that the whole exercise will be free. So I love to be part of it.” This perhaps, explains why for children, the event, is the perfect time to make requests from their parents. And their parents usually and immediately oblige them in the spirit of the celebration.

    The children played round the mall, made new friends and had chocolate and ice cream stains all over their clothes; they had lots of goodies to eat

    A teacher from Busy Brain Nursery and Primary school, Mr. Godwin said; “It is the grace of God that made us one of the chosen schools to be here today. before now we were contemplating on where to take the children, unknown to us that Apapa mall had us in mind, we are grateful to the management of this mall and everyone who has sponsored this event. Our children have refused to go back home they want to remain in the mall dancing and enjoying themselves.”

    For children who visited Apapa mall on Children’s Day, such day should be a never -ending one, they wish it is repeated on a daily basis as many of them refuse to return home having enjoyed playing their favourite games and toys at the mall.

    Some of the pupil who spoke with The Nation Shopping expressed gratitude to Apapa mall. Elated Anu Badmus, pupil of Busy Brain Nursery and Primary school said; “I am happy to be part of Apapa mall’s party for children today and I wish Children’s Day can be every day so that I will continue to enjoy all these goodies here”.

    The children at the event wish such day should be a never -ending one, they wish it is repeated on a daily basis as many of them refuse to return home having enjoyed playing their favourite games and toys at the mall. Available for the kids to play with were games like bouncing castle, train ride in and out of the mall, group dance, basket ball games, Noah’s Ark Slide, amongst other games.

    Schools present at the event were; Priscilla Nursery and Primary school Apapa, Busy Brain Qafield International School, Dabet International Nursery and Primary school and ST Davilla Mont Nurse and Primary school Ajegunle, all in Lagos.

    Participating stores are Shoprite, provided snacks and drinks for the children; Cash N Carry stocks household items and gave away gift prizes to two people who emerged winners of the drawing competition. Samsung supported the event with chairs and canopies.

    The highlight of the event was the cutting of the Children’s Day cake by all the children present as well as invited guests.

  • Free surgeries for indigent children

    Free surgeries for indigent children

    After lying helplessly at the Paediatric Ward of Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) for months without any hope of getting money for their treatment, nine indigent children’s hope of having corrective surgeries has finally been realised. This is courtesy of Yeloto African Children Foundation (YACF), a non-governmental organisation (NGO).

    Its founder, Dr Oluyemi Olawaiye said the children’s surgical fees have been paid by his organisation.

    “We have six-day- old Baby Salami who is suffering from colostomy; 10-day-old Baby Ali who has exploratory laparatomy while one-month-old Fikayomi Oyeniyi has pharyngeal atresia.

    “Others are Ebadan Testimony who has appendicatomy, Praise Sunday who suffers from urethosplasty; Jeremiah Mafe suffers from urethroplasty, 14-week-old Deborah Okpaka has colostomy and Mobolaji Mukaram has urethroplasty.” he said.

    He said YACF was established in 2011 after noticing indigent children eating from dustbins in Makoko, a Lagos suburb, to help poor children in dire need, especially those requiring medical care in hospitals.

    Olawaiye described children as buds in a garden, which should be carefully and lovingly nurtured because they are the future.

    He said Children’s Day celebration is a reminder that people must imbibe important values, adding that it is a call for the adults to protect little ones from harms.

    Olawaiye decried child labour, stressing that children should not be made to work.

    “Many of them are selling products on most of our major roads today for little to no pay. This act is illegal. Children of school age should be in school,” he said.

    Quoting UNICEF 2013 statistics, 10.5 million children are out of school.

    “UNICEF has observed that about 40 per cent of Nigerian children between six and 11 years do not attend any primary school. The North recorded the lowest school attendance rate in the country, particularly for girls,” he said, adding “we as a country must endeavour to do better,” he said.

    He charged the adults to learn humility, innocence, love; trust; purity of the heart as well as ability to trust from children.

    Secretary of the NGO and wife to the founder, Dr Regine Brony-Olawaiye lamented the state of facilities in the hospital.

    She said: “If you put the facilities side by side with what we have in the United States, you will understand what I am saying. They are a million miles apart in terms of quality.”

    Dr Brony-Olawaiye, who is a Paediatric Psychiatrist, said the government should make quality health care one of its priorities.

    She said children are innocent and helpless, as such should be adequately catered for.

    “They did not ask to be born. So, the adults should provide for them,” she said.

  • Buhari, smile at our children

    It is a sweet coincidence that the International Children’s Day fell within two days of change of government in Nigeria. It is even sweeter that this change of government is not just another sonorous self-succession scheme but a new person at the helms of power and screaming the message of a much-needed change. Yet it will be sweetest if President Mohammadu Buhari can shed his stern stance and just for a moment, smile at our children.

    Children in Nigeria, one of the most endangered species in the world, need this pain-effacing smile. It may be understandable if the General’s unsmilingliness increases in light of the Augean stables that must be cleansed, of mountains that must be moved and of sacred cows that must be tied up so that Nigeria can be whipped into line again and so that the shame of a nation can end. It will be a hard time for political criminals and executive pen robbers if Buhari remains true to his name, yet, in all of these, he must remember to smile at our children.

    Why the urgent need to smile at our children? Sir, in case you do not know, the global guffaw is on us as to the bleak statistics on the state of Nigerian children. I believe you are aware that our country currently has the highest number of out-of-school children in the world, standing at 10.5 million since 2013, according to UNESCO. With upheavals in the North especially in the last few years, your esteemed guess is as good as that of my humble self. And to add, Save Our Children also rates us as having one of the highest rates of maternal mortality, and infancy deaths, ranking in the leagues of war-torn countries such as Congo, Afghanistan and Sudan. We also have, according to UNICEF’s statistics, one of the highest rates of girl-child marriage in the world, particularly in the North, where VVF, a major threat to sustainable development is widespread. We can’t discountenance these reports – the evidence is everywhere. Or, you want to talk of skyrocketing incidences of rape without consequences, sale of babies (baby factories), child-trafficking and other woes befalling our hapless children and with hardly any respite?

    And of course, you may know that we also have one of the highest figures of displaced persons, including thousands of children. Just the other day, we saw that more than 500 of the persons rescued from the Boko Haram Sambisa hell were children and young girls. Many died on the way back to ‘life’. Not long after, many more trooped in, tired, hungry and dying from refugee camps in Niger Republic. Many holed up in Cameroon and Chad will soon troop back and with many children dying of starvation along the way. Internally, we have 1.5 Million people who are displaced, according to the United Nations Humanitarian Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). But we do not even need those statistics. The horrendous truth stares us in the face on street corners and school compounds of Maiduguri, Yola, Damaturu, Potiskum, Kano, Abuja and elsewhere. These humanitarian crises, these great human suffering, these deaths and the shame were quite avoidable if we had a pro-active, stick-wielding and at the same time, child-friendly government in place. We won’t wail over spilled milk now, but we will ask you to smile.

    Sir, let the unforgiveable indifference of the past government move you into child-friendly action. Think of the children of the infamous Dogo Nahawa massacre, 500 lying still, extinguished by the sides of the cold Plateau hills; think of the 58 school boys of Buni-Yadi murdered in cold blood after which the government joyously embarked on a senseless Centenary celebration; think of the Potiskum school kids put out so brutally; think of the bloodbath in Nyanya after which the immediate past president, leader of the nation, went on a shoki dance in Kano; think of the abducted teenagers of Chibok and all that was done by the Federal Government to sweep it under the carpet, more than 200 of people’s children! Think of the fact that in all of these, the Ministry of Women Affairs which should be the vanguard of protecting these vulnerable young people was deeply engrossed in organising rallies for the First Lady. It took international outcries, as you know, for the government to even respond. And now the world views us as ugly monsters that care not for their young. Think deeply, sir of the lack of empathy and be resolved to make a smile-inducing difference. The world must now see our children smile. Simile, sir, smile at the survivors and future leaders, but first, frown and say ‘Never Again’.

    History, I trust, will smile at you if in light of these tear-inducing realities, you make the overall welfare of Nigerian children one of the cornerstones of your administration’s policies. If you ensure efficient rehabilitation, resettlement and reintegration programme for families and children displaced by Boko Haram and the various ethno-religious crises and without bias, and rescue those still in captivity. You know that without tackling this squarely, especially for the young and impressionable, we can’t say the insurgency battle is over. We must stop breeding monsters, consciously or otherwise; if you ensure the effective enforcement of child-friendly policies littering government offices across the country; if violators of children’s rights face the law squarely as against what obtains now; if we have much better and more affordable healthcare and  strict child safeguard policies, free universal basic education and take the life-enhancing light of literacy to children on city street corners and rural hamlets; if education is subsidized to ensure the intellectual development of EVERY Nigerian child notwithstanding his or her religion, tribe or  background so that he/she turns out as contributor and not minus, to national growth, then we can truly say you had smiled. Again, we await you to say Never Again will extremist forces capitalise on the mass illiteracy of our children to turn them to brainwashed little devils. Kindly say it with a fatherly smile.

    Sir, you know of course that governments world over which display, allow or accommodate cruelty, in any form, to children are no longer deemed the mightiest; great powers show their prowess by the care and compassion they extend to the most vulnerable in society. We will hold you up to those global standards. We expect that while you must show your unsmiling face at defaulting adults, please ensure you beam a loving face at our children. We can’t sit down and expect our children to turn out humane when all we mete to them is harm. A thinking, forward-looking nation’s resources and assets must be used for the comfort and protection of its young. You are now the father of the nation, their father, and they mustn’t know the sledgehammer of governmental irresponsibility anymore.

    Maybe, just maybe, if you would make our children smile from ear-to-ear, make them feel safe, genuinely loved and proud to be Nigerians once again, this may just be your most enduring legacy in this second chance given you by God to serve our bruised fatherland.

    • Mrs Abah is Lagos-based journalist and Executive Director of a child’s rights NGO.