To say that their is poverty in African can not be over stressed and most often an understatement.
One of the place where poverty is prevalent is a slum at Pako bus stop, along Ikotun road,Lagos Nigeria .
When you alight from the entrance to this community, Thier is a stench that can knock you unconscious, I.e if you are a faint hearted human.
I once saw a little boy with one eye missing,the government policy against taking picture of under age kids will not allow me to put a his picture here.The gutters are clogged,the road is rough and during The rainy season the roads are in a terrible shape as vehicles are stuck..
Amidst all these disheveled, and chaotic confussion are kids ranging from 4_21years who are destitutes, orphans,and depressed ,you can easily see the emptiness in their eyes as they go about their daily activities,a broken street on the boulevard of broken dreams they walk uncertainty everywhere
.Most of these kids are from broken homes,most of these children are on the street when they should be at school.The Government is overwhelmed, scarce resources, corruption and mismanagement of public funds is the other of the day here,Here at Pako bus stop, the situation is dog eat dog kind of situation.It is diplorable.
I want to use the medium appreciate Mr Sunday,'Alias Da' Street'.
His job mainly is to manage the children and adolescents,youths in the community, his patriotism has earned him the name,he buys them food, organise sociail event for them like carnival,sports, he mobilise the youth and they repair damaged roads and empty the clogged gutters in the ghetto.and help the widows,Most importantly is conflict Resolution amongst some of the restive youths.
He does this without help from the Government or stake holders in the state.His selfless actions have earned him his good reputation.My attention was drawn to the predicament of the lowest class of citizens in this community as I am yet to witness The level of poverty which superseds the one in this community, the very few kids that attend school here do not have the required text books to aid their understanding.Because of the constant black out, the kids read with touch light and lanterns that make Their eyes watery.
A typical example of moral decadent are little kids fending for themselves,kids gathering wood to prepare a meal while the rain is drizzling, smoke everywhere.
Another typical examples is the lack of family planning by married couples,The government and some churches, mosque pay lip service to this trend.The rich don't give back to the poor here, though one can hardly count the 'well to do amongst this populace.
I was amazed when I came to this community to stay for A while and I discover that "what I call hell some kids call heaven" here at Igando_Ikotun community.What still baffles me is the amount of kids that do not have access to health care facilities,they are at the mercy of any ailment that brings them down to their knees.Amidst this confussion are more than six churches on a single street with speakers blaring,while hungry kids look for what to eat on that same street,speakers blaring repent',repent FOr the Kingdom of God is at hand fills the air.Surprisingly, these cries of repentance has been a common music to the ears of the indegins that live here.
Another episode of event here that baffles me are the politicians,bad road,a lot of kids don't go to schook, crime rate is high, epilleptic power supply, high rate of child abuse,high rate of infant mortality etc are a prevalent factor in this community, but during election year, the politician come with thier very expensive cars to hoodwink,bribe,and convass for votes from the poor and marginalized society.
Meanwhile A non Governmental Organization Stands for the people here,and it's name is Naija resistant group,The founder of this group is the one and only famous Afro Best Legend " Femi Anikulapo Kuti, the son of Fela Anikulapo Kuti known world wide.
But he can't do this great task alone, he need to be encouraged, and surported from the steemit community.
Public Improvement Plan
On the second quater of this year 2018,I intend to raise funds primarily for out of school kids,We need them back in the class room,my next task will be Public sensitizstion.The children of Pako community needs help.