THE FATE OF THE CHILDREN

In the time you will take to read this message, let’s say 1 minute, 4 children will die across this country. Yes, you got it, 4 children die every minute in Nigeria. The killer; Malnutrition. But a malnourished child immunity is very low and he/she is likely to fall prey to diseases like diarrhea and malaria which he/she is unable to fight. So 4 children die of preventable diseases in Nigeria. Can you read this statement and simply move on? I cannot. Next it could be my neighbor, my sister or my relation. The death of any child is and should be unacceptable. It should make us look up and hang our heads in shame. Yesterday the lead items in the news bulletins of a newspaper across the country is the death of 12 babies in a hospital due to Negligence. I was outraged not simply by the untimely death of these infants but also at the total lack of indignation be it from civil societies or from the authorities. These stories have a point in common: they happened to children on the other side of the fence, those who bear the label: POOR. Children who simply do exist to those who have a voice and the ability to express their opinion. 4 children a minute due to malnutrition, 12 children in a hospital due to negligence and 500 children in a remote town due to other factors are not numbers sufficient to make us shed our cynicism and apathy. However when another child from the other side of the fence was kidnapped everyone stood and screamed. The administration moved heaven and hell to find that children. My question is how many poor Nigerians must die before we stop pretending that we cannot see? Today, rich Nigerian is busy preparing to travel abroad. The roars of cars speeding is too loud for it to hear anything else, certainly not the tears of a mother who has lost her child.

·        This article was originally written in June, 2015. 

BY LENGDUNG TUNGCHAMMA