By Omowunmi Oladokun
you are just like your shameless father, you are such a dull boy and you are very stupid and good for nothing. these were the words that hit his face daily.
Oh yeah!, he always remembers that she was once a loving mother but the tide turned at the death of his father. her loving hands that used to cuddle him to sleep now holds different sizes of cane. she now yells at him and blame his father for all his dirty affairs before his death. she had carried for so long great unease, grieve and aggression and was meting them out on his poor and innocent son.
Someone once said that “Childhood should be care free …and not living the darkness of the soul”. another uttered that “when the purpose of a thing is not known, abuse is inevitable”. Child abuse is doing a lot damage to little souls.
To be loved, cherished, nourished and cared for was what they were made for but the reverse has been the case.
Alexander Adrian grew up in the dreadful arms of a furious mother. at the tender age of 15, he had never percieved the serenity and calmness that should engulf a home. his day to day experience was the endless tussle between him and his always dead drunk mother who bashes in on him every night.
After work, her mother always hang around some single mothers like herself. they go on free drinking spree all night. afterall, they had no husband to curtail their freedom and excesses.
Continuosly, she wakes up and rushes out before 6:00 am. leaving notes and fees for school or daily feeding. he had no time to gist nor talk to his mother because she was never available.
Alex learnt to care for himself early. he buys food from the street and live recklessly. he is not better than an orphan and most of his friends already believed he has no parent and no one to care for him. he had severally lost interest in academics and sporting activities. afterall, no one shows up to encourage and cheer him up for more. he was always alone on Sport and PTA days.
Recent research has shown that “some were tortured, most were bruised,many were raped and majority never knew the love of there parent. an immeasurable number were reared in lack and in the dark. some grew into premature adult though they were children, they took on plenty responsibility from childhood when there was no responsible figure to fulfil the role and fill the gap”.
Child Abuse is more rampant in African Countries and Nigeria is not an exception. well, the truth lies in the fact that no immediate and responsive 911 exist or should we deny the fact that countless legislation exist that protest and protect them but Most Children still suffer their fate in silence with few existence of possible rescue like developed countries.
Child labour, Child Marriage,Sexual Abuse, Physical Abuse,Emotional Abuse, Child Traficking, Child Neglect, Child Threat. e.t.c are daily occurrences in our dear world. several children are being subjected to the above.
Haven’t you seen tiny toes full of woes and traumas, fragile souls and frugal living, feeble flesh and misfortune e.t.c. ?. havent you heard the silent cry of the begging child on the street, that hawking boy, that tattered lad, the malnourished girl, the kwashiorkored baby, the little house maid that was raped ?, e.t.c
In conclusion, “a state man once said that it is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men”. broken men were once hurting children subjected to the hands of thorns and thistles and research has also shown that most hurting children become depressed adult. The true definition of a sound society is that which is breeding the brave and not broken men.
its just a call to be kind and avoid child abuse.
story: (fiction & non fiction).
