Child Welfare Advocate Seeks More Foster Families For Orphans

President of Halal Children’s Home, Hajia Ramatu Abubakar, has urged Nigerians to open their homes to orphaned and vulnerable children through fostering, to give them family care and a better future.

Abubakar made the call during the organisation’s annual awareness walk in Abuja over the weekend to mark World Adoption Day.

She said the walk was organised to sensitise the public on the plight of children who were orphaned, vulnerable or growing up without family care.

“It’s important that the community rallies around them to put them into their homes, because we always have compassion for orphans or vulnerable children, but we do not take the commitment to take them into our home and take care of them.

“So, we are trying to bring awareness and ask the general public to open their hearts, open their homes for these children,” she said.

Abubakar said the government alone could not meet the needs of all vulnerable children, given the country’s large population, and called on individuals and communities to complement government efforts by taking responsibility for their welfare.

Also speaking, the guest speaker, Mr Shuaib Mustapha, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), said that addressing the plight of vulnerable children required stronger parental responsibility and government intervention.

Mustapha said many children were exposed to neglect because of inadequate parental care, while others had become orphans as a result of conflicts and crises.

“The problem we are having in this country is that we have so many children that are vulnerable as a result of a lack of parental care. Some were even just born, and they don’t even know their parents. Some have been orphaned by virtue of wars and the crises in the country.”

The senior advocate also called on the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to strengthen efforts to block drug supply routes and ensure appropriate punishment for offenders.

He expressed concern over drug abuse among young people, particularly children aged 15 to 20, saying the problem required urgent attention from families and government, urging the children to embrace healthy lifestyles, physical exercise and sound moral values, noting that these would contribute to their physical and mental well-being.