The Warri Bureau Chief of The POINTER Newspaper, Dennis Otu, has explained why he is always celebrating his birthdays with orphans in Delta State.
Speaking at Our Lady of Mercy Orphanage Home, Ugbomro, Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta State where he celebrated his birthday, Saturday, February 28, 2015 with the inmates, the journalist said celebrating with orphans in the society gives him maximum joy, saying it adds value to their lives.
The journalist who had earlier attended the 6:15 am Mass at the St. Theresa Catholic Church, Osubi, Okpe Local Government Area of the state for thanksgiving before a visit to the orphanage, was prayed for by the Parish Priest, Rev. Fr. Nathaniel Ajogri said that; “God did a great thing for us that we were born and raised by our parents. We are on the sunny side of life; we got all we wanted as our parents raised us, gave us good education and provided other of our needs for us. But that is not the same story with orphans in our society,” he said.
According to the Journalist, who was accompanied on the visit by family members, friends and members of Reggae Klub International, including Ras Philips Igolimah, Ras Ikoyo Oneme Raymond, Ras Smart Igba, Ras Obada, Ras Perebibo Youkere (Presenter of Reggae Splash, Delta Radio FM), Mr. Austin Otiede and Mr. & Mrs. Christopher Odamah, “I celebrate my birthdays with orphans annually so as to give them a sense of belonging. They need all the love and care that we can shower on them. Do you know what it takes growing up without knowing your biological parents? We must all try as much as possible to live for the orphans in our society. Celebrating with them to me, add value to their lives.”
He also said, “Those of us on this Sunny side of life; take a lot of things for granted. We were born knowing our fathers and mothers. Our parents struggled to provide for us- education, clothes to wear and food to eat.”
“True, we were born into a ‘comfortable zone.’ But it is not so with millions of others in our society. They were born and dumped in terrible places through no fault of theirs because they never pleaded to be born. We brought them into this world and we decided to abandon them. This is not good enough for a sane society. We struggled everyday just to keep on living in these hard and tough times made so by our government. But in the process, we looked the other way, not caring for our brothers and sisters on the other side of life. I tell you; somehow, we are better off than them. We are all victims of a bad society,” he added.
In his words also, “The society is not doing enough for those of us born into the so-called ‘comfort zone’. But what about millions of others who are not so comfortable as we are? If they have been rejected by the society, we cannot on our own throw them away too. Let us live for them and give them a sense of belonging and it does not take so much to take care of the needs of the needy in our society.”
Continuing, he said, “A little love shown to orphans in our society keep them going. So many times, we failed to wipe their tears, so many times, we did nothing about them. But the orphans should be given a better deal by all of us in any way we can. We should remember them once in a while with a little bread and water. Do not wait until you have millions in your bank account before you do something about their plight. We need to live for the orphans and other less privileged in the society. They are suffering and looking up to us for succor.”
“If we have not been to Our Lady of Mercy Orphanage Home today, you may not have known about its existence and what you can do to bring a little sunshine into the lives of the inmates and there are endless homes like this. Let us live for them every day. Now, you have heard and seen it all. It is time to make up your mind; to live for them or to live for yourself. It is up to you. I have decided to live for them in the little way that I can because they are my HEROS,” he said.
According to him, “Our society is going crazy everyday and that is why our young girls without the fear of God are doing crazy things everyday to the extent of dumping their newly born babies in terrible places. These orphans we are seeing here never asked to be born into this crazy world. There are so many married couples out there searching for the seed of the womb and yet our young girls are throwing away precious gifts from God into dustbins, walkways, bus-stops, soak away pits and other terrible places.”
The Journalist who read Psalms 23 and 121 during the visit, while calling on government at all levels to provide Nigerians with the good things of life, pointed out that lack of social welfare for the citizens was responsible for the many cases of abandoned children, but he was quick to educate young girls to avoid unprotected sex and unwanted pregnancies.
Hear him; “Government should wake up to its responsibilities to our people; there are no jobs, no schools, no hospitals, no electricity, no roads. We are lacking in so many ways in our country and that is why Nigerians are wearing long faces on a daily basis because they are frustrated.”
“We need a government with human face all over the country. More schools and hospitals should be built by government and not prisons. Jobs should be created for our people so that they can take care of themselves and any situation they find themselves and our young girls must be careful. Our girls should strive to be educated,” he said and lauded the 86 years old matron of the Home for the thankless work she is doing for humanity.
The Matron, Madam Rita Oki who spoke through Mr. Philip Ogbula (An orphan she raised, now married and based in Asaba) expressed gratitude to the Journalist and his friends for finding time to visit the Home.
The Matron who started running orphanage Home in 1969, said: “I want to sincerely thank all of you for finding time to visit us and more importantly for the donation of various items to us. God bless you. But like Oliver Twist, we will continue to ask for more; remember us always because it is not easy running a place like this.”
She disclosed that: “As you can see, we have moved from a rented apartment on MCC road along Enerhen road where you visited us on Friday, February 28, 2014 to this new apartment built for me here in Ugbomro free of charge as a result of my contribution to the society. This is the work that I have been doing since 1969 and by December 22, 2015 I will be 87 years old. People like you should continue to pray for me every day for good health to enable me carry on with what I am doing for abandoned children in the society.
