Children from different orphanage homes in Oyo, Ogun and Osun States and some other less privileged persons in the society, including the physically challenged, were brought together in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital recently in a carnival-like atmosphere by Care People Foundation to celebrate them and offer some forms of assistance. OSEHEYE OKWUOFU was there.
It was not the usual carnival where people gathered once in a while to celebrate, rejoice and make merry. This was a carnival with a difference to remember the needy and voiceless in the society and take care of the critical aspects of their needs.
Though not totally devoid of merry making, the carnival organised by the Care People Foundation for motherless babies and handicapped persons, essentially was meant to show love, affection and care for the less privileged in the society.
The event which took place a couple of weeks ago at the Foundation’s centre along the Ibadan-Lagos Expressway drew children from orphanages from Oyo, Osun and Ogun States and witnessed march-past/parade by the orphans, football match featuring the physically challenged, children games and distribution of gifts and prizes.
Mr. Mojeed Olabode, who had problems standing on his feet since birth was one of the beneficiaries of the 50 brand new wheel chairs donated by the Foundation through the philanthropy of some affluent individuals in the society.
In spite of his physical challenges, Olabode is an Ewi exponent and father of five boys. Yet, his dream in life was to be able to save part of the earnings from his Ewi music and buy a wheel chair. But his pains were turned into joy when a new wheel chair was handed over to him at the carnival.
“For more than two decades, I could not buy a wheel chair because it is very expensive and I could not afford it from my earnings”, Olabode said.
Unlike Olabode , Pastor Remi Alao was not born with any disability but got one after he was involved in a ghastly auto crash on his way to Kwara state from Lagos. Alao, a preacher could not afford to buy a wheel chair which he said had been a major problem in his life.
Both Messrs Olabode and Alao were among hundreds of physically challenged persons who benefited from the 50 new wheel chairs distributed at the carnival by the Foundation as part of the annual event.
Some of the beneficiaries could not hold their emotions as they expressed joy and gratitude to the Foundation. Young children, all orphans, also received various gifts. Adorned in their best dresses, the children filled the long canopies with well prepared dishes and soft drinks to savour. It was a memorable day for them. Others were busy serving dishes to the invited guests as ushers. They were also well dressed.
On the high table was the Chairman of the occasion, Professor Isaac Adeyemi, the Vice Chancellor of Bells University, Sango Ota, Ogun state in the company with his wife.
Also present was the Chairman, Governing Council of the Foundation, Dr Abib Olamitoye, owner of Ibadan Central Hospital.
On what motivated the gesture, Dr Olamitoye told The Nation during an interview shortly after the event that:” As parents we have our own children, but the children here are not the same. They depend on strangers. They have no parents, no one to call daddy, no one to call mummy. So we want to be here and find a way to empower them”.
He explained further the need to turn the orphanage into a children village with modern facilities, stating that efforts have been made in this regard to reach out to individuals whose hearts move them to give to the needy.
“We have the vision of creating a village here. The kind of school we want to start this January, if you look to the left, Oyo state Government is building homes here; we expect that the quality of the school will be able to cater in the immediate future for the children that will come into these new homes. They will mix with these motherless children. That is why we want to focus on the quality of teachers and then the standard of the school; a school that will raise children that will be leaders of tomorrow. This is the kind of vision we have for this centre.
“Then, in the future we want to bring in more children from other orphanage homes because all these other homes do not have the kind of facility we have here. So, after we have started the school, we are going to build more dormitories for the children so that in the near future we will have children village here; in the near future we will have schools for the handicap and motherless children and for the physically challenged, the blind, deaf and less privileged.
“Other children that are on the streets, that cannot find their bearings in the society we want to incorporate them here so that we can rid the society of the horror of seeing children that carry low capacity to achieve basic education, “ Dr Olamitoye said.
The Chairman of the Foundation, Reverend Paul Tunde Tioluwani thanked all those who have brought smiles on the faces of the less privileged and the orphans in their time of need.
Since the establishment of the orphanage in 1999, several young children have been trained to become leaders in their fields. One of them, according to Tioluwani, recently graduated as a civil engineer.
“My first graduate came out last year as a civil engineer. And about two or three months ago he joined the Nigerian Army. This was a young man that we picked under the bridge as a boy, we never knew that he can become that academically brilliant because he used his academic certificate to join the Army. So, our Foundation goes beyond housing people here, we organise programmes. Last November we had a quiz competition for all secondary schools in Oyo state. We also give out scholarships to indigent students. We have given out thousands of scholarships along that line”, he said.
Reverend Tioluwani, however, urged Nigerians to imbibe the spirit of giving to the less privileged in their midst, and not develop apathy towards the handicapped.
He described such attitude as not only ungodly but unloving.
“In Nigeria people look at children of orphanages as people that have no tomorrow, but they have forgotten that there are people who grew up in orphanages and they are shaking the world. I have been told that the present manager of Chelsea Football Club grew up in an orphanage and so many like that. So, you don’t conclude a man’s tomorrow because you are not the one that created him.”
The highlight of the event was a football match among the handicapped which thrilled the audience.
