Last Updated on 12/11/2017 by Vivien Ayinotu
While I was in a shopping mall in Enugu; Shoprite to be precise, I heard a car alarm system going off and some security guards were at the scene. As I walked past the car park, it turned out to be that a child was left in the back of the vehicle (Suv) that was locked.
 |
| Photc credit: Nairaland.com |
 |
| Photo credit: Panoramio.com |
Let me elaborate further, the child who you can hardly make out if they were a boy or girl should be about ten years old. With the assistance of the security men and much persuasion the child was able to come out of the vehicle. He was boiling in there but was very scared of leaving because I would assume he was warned to remain in the vehicle.
This incident took place in April, 2016 in Nigeria and the temperature was as high as 40 centigrade and above; anybody that was in Nigeria around that time can agree with me on this. So, you can imagine how sunny it was and what this child must have experienced while being locked up at the back of Suv.
So many questions kept coming into my mind, like:
– Why would someone lock up a child at the back of their car?
– Is this child not presentable enough to parade with them in the shopping mall?
– Why is it that some adults don’t treat their maids like humans?
I felt really sad for what I saw that day. To be honest, within 30secs of taking a glance at the little boy, I struggled to work out his sex. He was wearing a cafetan (a free flowing gown), his hair was uncombed lowcut and on his feet a pair of brown rubber sandals. He could barely look up.
I simply decided that he could be a ‘he’. That leaves me with another question: Who dresses their child like that?
In my opinion, I do not have a clue of what this child’s background is but I can tell that he would be much valued and treated as a person if he were to be living with his own parent(s).
Dear parents, I know we live in a hard economy; where things and times are hard but please try and look after the kids your bring into this world. No child should be allowed to suffer. When you send them out as maids to people; be it relatives, bear in mind that they are not theirs and can hardly be treated as theirs. If they end up with people that have some conscience, good for them.
Dear guardians or Madams, you all need help with chores and staying without maid is inevitable. Please treat your maids as humans. They deserve your love, care and affection just like you would do if they were to be your own. Remember, that they are living with you does not make them less human. In fact,they have come to help you why don’t you help them too or make life easy for them?
I intentionally mentioned Madams because in most homes it is the woman that normally see to the affairs of the maid. That a maid is happy or treated well where he/she lives boils down to the madam of the house. Sometimes, I wonder why the men give a cold shoulder to these kind of issues at home whereas they could tell that something is not right and can make an effort to fix it.
No child deserves to suffer.
P.S Hope your May has been going well? May the remainder of the month bring you good news.
