I could remember when I was serving my fatherland through the
National Youth Service Corps (NYSC)
and belonged to the Community
Development Service (CDS) of the Federal
Road Safety Corps (FRSC), one of the agenda of the cadet leaders was to
visit a motherless babies home and the Ijamido
Motherless Babies Home was selected. This home is situated at 147, Ilo
Awela road, Ota, Ogun state, Nigeria. it was founded by the ever caring and
loving mother, Late Chief (Mrs.) Irene
V. Willoughby in 1958.
While we sat in the vehicle conveying us to the
motherless home having never been to one, I imagined a lot of things including
how they live, eat, go to school, grow and develop among their friends in the
society. Immediately our vehicle parked at the gate and we were showed the
entrance and ushered in, right on the walls I saw wooden labels with the
pictures of the children and their names. One thing that caught my attention is
the surname or last name which was the same thing (Willoughby). Tears started
rolling down my eyes. I was trying to control it and I successfully did so
everyone would not know I am crying.
I started to look round; I saw the elderly ones also moving
up and down in the house. We were then moved to the hall where hundreds of the
children were sitting and waiting to have us among them. The tears flowed down
uncontrollably from my eyes.
Few thoughts
that came to my mind include; why would a parent give birth to a child and dump
him; why would a man and a woman have sex despite knowing the consequences and
still throw away the consequences, how much more can we be selfish; how would a
parent give birth to a child and God allowed such parent to die and not live to
see or take care of the child or how do these children grow despite knowing
that they have no father and mother. Even if they were provided all they
needed, they would still miss their parents. I also imagined how a child must
live on what people of goodwill bring to the orphanages and if people don’t visit
the orphanage to give them anything, then they starve to death.
All these were even bearable until the threshold moment was
reached when the children welcome us and they were asked to sing their anthem. The
anthem did not only make me cry that day, as I am typing this, tears are still
rolling down my eyes. The cries from other corpers made me believe we still
have people with emotions despite us being guilty of these atrocities. Though I
can’t remember the whole anthem, but a part of it that made me and other
corpers wail without control goes thus;
‘When my mother born
me;
She thought I was not going to
become anything or anybody;
She therefore threw me into the
gutter;
And from there I was picked;
Here I am today;
I will become somebody.'
Children at Ijamido Motherless Babies Home dancing with corpers
This is the major part I would never forget in my life and
would always remind me to give back to the parents that stayed with me and the
society that believed in me. Though I parted with a chunk of the money I had
that day, yet I don’t feel satisfied that there are people that give birth for fun
and make the society over-saturated and unproductive.
The Investment
A
speculator is a man who observes the future, and acts before it occurs - Bernard Mannes
Baruch. One thing parents that act irresponsible refused to know or
believe is that ‘Children are Investments’. They are just like
businesses that you start small and in years to come become big enough to feed
you and your generations to come. Children, just like businesses or
investments do not yield immediately; it takes years, averagely 23 years. Fortunately
or unfortunately, these children deserted and disposed by their parents would
eventually make it in life and the parents would later come to claim them.
Then,
people see the child hating on the parent and never wanting anything to do with
them and they start to insult or curse the child not knowing what the parents
have done. Notable names of great children dumped are Les Brown and SteveJobs. When Steve jobs mother and father gave birth to him, they gave him up for adoption at the orphanage before the Jobs picked him up and raise him. Though Steve Jobs later found his father and mother, met them and introduced himself,he never had anything to do with them.
If only you gave birth to a child
and took care of him, you would have no need to explain yourself to him or tell
him you are his father or mother. Remember, children are investment, though they
require effort to raise, you spend a lot on them right from birth till the end
of their tertiary education, you suffer to raise them, you work all your life
to see them happy, always remember, when they yield, you will also be there to
enjoy it.
‘Concentrate
your energy, thought and capital exclusively upon the business in which you are
engaged...'Don't put all your eggs in one basket' is all wrong. I tell you 'put
all your eggs in one basket, and then watch that basket.' - Andrew Carnegie
The Misconception
It is a
sorry case seeing some parents thinking the higher the number of children they
produce, the greater their blessings. According to India Gandhi, ‘To bear
many children is considered not only a religious blessing but also an
investment. The greater their number, some Indians reason, the more alms they
can beg’. This has increased the number of
children on the street thereby littering the streets with nuisances. This has
even increased the pressure on available resources in the country. A particular
example is Nigeria, where a certain part of it give birth to the number of
children they can’t cater for and thereby send them to the street to beg for
alms.
See also:
The opinion is quite wrong and they need to be informed about giving
birth to one if that is the number you can afford to send to school till he can
stand on his own. Though that part of Nigeria which this is common use them for
political purpose and largely practice feudalism, however, when the children
eventually find their way through the bondage you pass them through, they will
be the one to end your life. A Yoruba adage says, ‘The child you did not teach will be the one to sell your house’.
Yes, you can’t continue to use other
people’s children to satisfy your own purpose. You can’t continue to misinform people
so they would give birth to children you can subjugate and use for terrorism. ‘He who feeds the tiger if not careful would
one day end in the belly of the tiger’. Let this children go to school so
they can become important in the society. This would help to reduce societal
crimes.
Our
Duty
Everyone has a responsibility in ensuring
there is an end to this menace that would soon heat the polity.
Parents
Parents should give birth to the
exact number thy can take care of. They should as well use birth-controlling
methods before, during and after child birth. Love your children and take care
of them as much as you can. Invest in them and believe in them.
Government
can as well control child birth through policies just as the government of Singapore
did and China currently does. This would ensure that the facilities
can go round for everybody without unnecessary pressure or increasing the
unemployment rate in the country. Government should also ensure they provide
enough facilities and encourage children education.
Children
Children should
see themselves as investment and the parents as investors. They should know a
lot has been expended on them so they can become great and later end the tears
of the parents or make them happy. So wherever a child finds himself, he should
know a lot of people are looking up to him. Always appreciate the efforts of
your parents no matter how small and always see it as a privilege having
parents as there are many children out there with no father or mother.
See also:
Youths
Youths
should stop being despicable in their hearts. A lot of news already on babies
found in poly-bags, toilets, gutters and other irritable places. Why must you
have sex when you can’t or don’t have the knowledge to protect yourself with
cheap protective measures. Hope you know you will give an account of every
child that comes out of your body. If you mistakenly got pregnant, take care of
the child, the shame would come but not last a life time. Save our society, if
your own parents had thrown you away, you might not be where you are today.
Thanks for
reading, please remember to share and you can also leave a comment.
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