Date: 2018-02-19

In commemoration of Valentine Day, members of the Kwara State Chapter of Immigration Officers' Wives Association were at the state Children Reception Centre, Ilorin to share the moment with kids at the centre. AHMED 'LATEEF was on hand to capture the visitation.

Part of the joy of motherhood is to see children nurtured growing rapidly and looking robust at every point in time. The bond between children and mothers therefore is thick, and the thickness is like an umbilical cord that cannot be separated. Such is the relationship between a mother and a child. It is widely believed and acknowledged that the child that receives the due attention, care and love of the mother right from infancy to adulthood stage would never be misdirected or stray away.

For mothers, one of the factors that makes them cherish their babies could be traced to the arrival of the baby into the earthly world. If not anything, the pain, agony, hues and cries that accompany the day in the labour room of medical facilities often make mothers to hold closely to their heart their babies, no matter the circumstance.

This alone prods them to show love, sympathy, empathy, compassion and kindness to their children all the time. This may have lent credence to the common saying that "no matter what, a child will always remain same in the sight of his or her mother even in adulthood". However, a disturbing trend in the society these days is the unsavoury attitude of some mothers, who abandon or dump their babies in filthy places such as roadside, bushes and even dumping grounds for reasons best known to them. They care less if such babies die or devour by wild animals. The effect of such uncharitable behaviour makes the survivors among the babies to become liabilities to the society. The bizarre and unwholesome practice has made the society to treat the abandoned babies with scorn; they are often segregated or discriminated against.

Except for those who believe that they have to live and survive like those who receive parental care, many of such innocent children would have turned recluse and made to be on their own because of the fault not their making. Such is the society that the innocent babies are born into.

Just like it is happening in all parts of the country, Kwara State is not an exception. Created more than 50 years ago, the state has had her own fair share of the abandoned children. The state government is thus left to provide care for the children.

This and more might have prodded the state government to establish the state Children Reception Centre along Pipeline Road, Ilorin. The centre is under the supervision of the state Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development.

As a government establishment, the centre caters for the welfare and well being of the children in different categories but with similar fate of lack of motherhood care. Save for those who notice that the centre exists despite being located by the roadside, it would have been completely isolated or separated from the larger society.

Although the centre owned by the government is doing well with the lame resources at its disposal, it also gets assistance from individuals and spirited organisations frequently in the bid to offer the needed care to the innocent children in its custody.

While many people chose to celebrate Valentine Day, which signified true love, in different ways; some visiting cinema, shopping malls, fast food outfits and relaxation centres, others looked to the other side of the mirror by remembering those in need of help.

A delegation of the Kwara State Chapter of Immigration Officers' Wives Association in Ilorin on Wednesday opted to commemorate the day of love by visiting the Children Reception Centre, where it presented gifts worth thousands of naira for the care of the kids.

Leading the delegation was Mrs Adetoba Olubunmi Olutoyin, Chairperson of the association, who handed over the gift items to the officer in charge of the reception centre, Mr Taiye Ikupolati.

Some of the items given to the centre were rice, noodles, detergent and toiletries.

Mrs Olutoyin, who spoke to Journalists on the rationale behind the gift, said the essence was to complement the effort of their grooms in providing care for the children at the centre.

She said the day was unique because it was meant to share and extend love and care for people around you and not necessarily members of one's immediate family.

Mrs Olutoyin urged Nigerians to assist the less privileged in the society in whatever way they could to minimise rising cases of poverty.

"We are here on behalf of others just to share the day with the children at the Reception Centre. As Immigration Officers' Wives, we just want to join our effort with that of our husbands, caring for the children of this country is part of their designation too.

"So, we thought of children, who don't have parents to take care of them. We just felt why not reach out to these ones in our own little way. We presented rice, detergent, toiletries and noodles.

"The essence is just to share the Valentine's Day with them and all over the world people are celebrating love and we felt let's reach out to these children too, let them feel loved. At times, when you don't have people around. And I'm so happy with what I saw when I got here. I can see that different people have been coming here, and so, I'm so excited that we are part of it too.

"The trend is changing. Initially, it may not even occur to most people that these children exist, but we thank God that the trend is changing; the awareness is coming up for you to know that children like this exists and it is our duty as Nigerians to cater for them, no matter how little; it doesn't have to be big. It may be a bowl of garri, it could be anything.

"No matter how little, we should just reach out to these children. Because at times, when we see this thing on television, big people will come with big gift, it doesn't have to be as big as that. In our own little way, my advice is that whatever we have, no matter how small, we should just give it to them and remember them constantly that we have these children, who didn't have people to cater for them.

"The government is really trying and I really appreciate people, who are minding these kids. It is not easy, even with your own kids but now taking care of others. My own advice is that all of us, in our own little way, we should always remember these children.

"As much as I will not like to judge people, who abandon children, I want to beg everybody that children are not supposed to be thrown away; they are gifts from God. Many people desired to have these children, somehow they can't have them. We can find a way to, according to the law, give out children to people, who want children.

"We have seen cases whereby children are being stolen and now sold out to some other people, who want children for whatever reasons. We can bring these children up for adoption rather than throwing them away", she said.

Earlier, the Officer in charge had informed that the centre caters for five categories of children in its custody; they include abandoned children with neither father nor mother found. He said those in this category are either found in uncompleted buildings or any other place.

He added that the children, once picked, would be taken to police station for profiling after which they would be returned to the centre for further action.

Another category of those catered for in the centre, according to Ikupolati, are children whose mothers died after they are given birth to. He said such children would be in the centre for two years after which they would be handed over to their fathers.

Other categories of children in the custody of the centre are those who mothers are battling with mental impairment or lunacy, those whose paternity are being disputed and those missing but found.

Ikupolati also told the visiting team that the centre allows adoption of children through an application to the state Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, which superintends the activities of the centre.