Children in the Ago-Egun community in Bariga, Lagos have had it tough and rough for years with access to basic education and healthcare. These hapless children who also lack access to shelter, water, sanitation, and hygiene depend on charity for survival. ANGELA ONWUZOO reports:
Goodness Emmanuel, a 13-year-old basic six pupil of Eagle’s Wing Nursery and Primary School, Ilaje, Bariga, Lagos, and his two siblings, Favour and Godspower, have been finding it hard to survive since the death of their mother, Comfort in 2018.
Goodness says life has been traumatic for him and his siblings since their 32-year-old mother who was the breadwinner of the family died two weeks after childbirth.
Every morning, the young boy from Akwa Ibom State remembers how his late mother, a foodstuff seller at Odo-Eran Market, Bariga, used to wake them up from sleep, prepare food for them to eat, and get them prepared for school. According to him, they were feeding well and attending a private school when her mother was alive.
But all that is in the past now as Goodness and his siblings could no longer continue with the private school after their mother’s demise, prompting them to drop out of school as their father, Mr. Emmanuel Akpan, could not afford their school fees from his okada business.
Akpan, an okada rider, could barely provide for them from his okada business when their mother was alive because he got the motorcycle on a hire purchase and had to be paying for it.
Unfortunately for the family, after the death of their mother, the owner of the bike took it back from their father. Since then, he hasn’t gotten something meaningful to do forcing the young family to depend on others for survival.
“After my mother died in 2018, life became very difficult for me and my siblings. My sister, Favour is 10 years old and she is in basic four while my brother, Godspower is seven years old and he is in basic two. My father is unable to take care of us because my mother was the breadwinner when she was alive. We then stopped schooling and could barely feed.
“We no longer attend Bufad Primary School, a private school in my area that we were attending before my mother’s death because our father can’t afford the school fees.
“Our father does not have a good means of livelihood. So, in order not to die of hunger with my siblings, we started going from street to street to pick up discarded plastic water bottles and sell them to women that are making zobo drinks.
“Depending on the quantity that we can pick per day, sometimes, we make N250 to N500 per day and that is what we used to feed ourselves.
Children roaming the streets
“But as we were roaming the streets to see how to put food on our table while our mates were in school, a neighbour who was worried about our plight and future decided to bring us to Eagle’s Wing Nursery and Primary School believing that the school will be of immense benefits to us considering its nature and mode of operation.
“The school is free. It’s built for orphans and vulnerable children in this Egun community. So, with the help of the operators of the school, we were able to start school again after our mother’s death.
“And since we started schooling here, the school has been providing us with free education and free food,” Goodness told PUNCH HealthWise.
Ago-Egun community
Visits to the Ago-Egun community, Ilaje Bariga, in Bariga Local Council Development Area of Lagos by our correspondent show that Goodness and his siblings are not alone as many children in the community are also struggling to survive.
Findings by PUNCH Healthwises revealed that a lot of the children are not going to school despite the mega city status of Lagos state.
Our correspondent gathered that there were children in the community who have lost both parents or either of them and are not getting the support of family members to get the care they need. Some of these children live with their grandmothers and grandfathers who are unable to take care of themselves let alone their grandchildren.
Battling with rashes, other skin infections
Our correspondent also observed during the visit that many of the children are battling with rashes and other skin conditions. Many of them have rashes all over their body, no doubt due to the filthy environment and lack of access to good nutrition, clothing, and proper shelter.
Many of the children, findings revealed are not only impoverished and malnourished but are also battling with different health challenges such as incessant cough, and catarrh. Our correspondent during the visit sighted many of them with runny noses.
Their poor health condition is not helped by their exposure to the cold weather with many of them seen by our correspondent moving around the community without clothes, pants, and footwear.
No access to water, sanitation and hygiene
PUNCH HealthWise findings also revealed that the Ago-Egun community lack access to water, sanitation and hygiene.
The community is a neglected slum located on the mainland in the heart of Lagos. It is a close-knit community mainly occupied by Ago-Egun people most of whom migrated from Badagry and the Republic of Benin.
The people are mostly fishermen and women who live in structures built with woods, sacks, and trampoline. The community is also very dirty.
Speaking further about his plight with PUNCH HealthWise, Goodness said, “As we speak, even the roof of the house we are living in is leaking. You can imagine our situation whenever it rains.
“We now depend on Eagle’s Wing Nursery and Primary School daily for survival and it is not easy for the school because the owners have a lot of vulnerable children like us to take care of.
“Besides, the school has challenges confronting it, especially the issue of flooding. Whenever it rains, water normally enters our classrooms.
“Now that we are in the rainy season, we are always coughing, having catarrh and runny nose because of the cold and wet environment.”
Goodness told our correspondent that he and his siblings are grateful to the operators of the school for their support and care, stressing that life would have been more miserable for them without their support.
Continuing, he said, “The school is free and they also provide us food once a day. And that has been helping us. We wear slippers to school. Some of my classmates even come to school without sandals or slippers because they don’t have any. We want the good people of Lagos to help us with school sandals.
