Nigeria on the move continued---3

It is natural to go from talking about women to talking about children. In Mrs Nneamaka Chikezie's upcoming book on African women, the plight of young mothers and their children feature very well.
Children are the most hit by the hydra-headed problems on the ground. I cannot start enumerating all the problems children face in the Nigerian society. There are just too many. I will focus on children five years and under, who are the most hard hit. These children face so much that I will describe being that age as a threat against survival. Everything is against them, so to speak. Watching children in that age group always left me very restless and sad. It was as if they were just steps away from death or some dreadful tragedy waiting to happen at any given time, and these deaths and tragedies happen quite often.
On schooldays, one can see these youngsters in their bright school uniforms, walking to school, in groups or alone, with their school bags, and food flasks for after school lesson. Some are as young as two years old. They stay at school until about four in the evening and then can be seen shuffling home,obviously exhausted, sharing the road with okada (commercail motorcyle riders)and vehicles all kinds,some of which travel at top speed, if the road is half decent. These children walk so close to the deep uncovered gutters that I catch myself praying under my breath that none of them ends up in the gutter, knocked down by a vehicle or by falling in. Such accidents happen all the time, of course and there's no 911 to call.
The lucky children whose parents have machines, (motorcycles), get rides to school and the sight of them each time sends me into a mini panic attack. It is common to see up to four children,or even more, probably all the children the okada driver has, ranging in age from two to maybe eight years, lined up, sitting on the motorcycle, behind mother or father or the commercial rider taking them to school. The motorcycle made for two, now carries up to five people with no helmet or straps holding them down. They weave through the madness, called traffic,avoiding potholes and trash on the road. There is dust from all the traffic going through the dusty parts of the tarred road. My heart goes out to people with asthma all the time. Real rough life. In these traffic jams, it is quite common to suddenly drive up to a forty foot container off-loading right there on the highway, or some other mind bugling activity, like the auctioning of used clothing, right on the road or a few feet off the road,causing an obstruction. At times like that I wonder where the police are or what they are in existence for. Through this mad rush young children walk or are transported to school, some stacked up like livestock on their way to the slaughter house. The same scenario plays again in the evening on the way home. I guess people are used to the sight and take it in stride when tragedies strike.
The mothers prepare food for after-school lessons which are transported to school in flasks. "Indomil" an instant noodle preparation features highly on the lesson menu. The children speak highly of it and sing the jingles of the indomil man, who comes to school once in a while to tell them about indomil. They love indomil which has become a household name. I hope the loving mothers augment it with some vegetables and occasional fish at least.

Through the community health centers, when they are open, more children are getting their shots and other services. One can hear the town crier in the quiet pre-dawn hours, announcing the coming of such services to the community health center or a selected venue. Free medical services from visiting Medical missionaries are also announced that way, like the the free eye checkups and very affordable surgeries for those who needed them were offered by the Anambra State government at the premises of the traditional ruler. Lines formed early and many people were helped.
The most disturbing of the problems facing very young children is maternal death at childbirth which has become very common. In the span of one week, one may hear of two or more women who died at or after childbirth. One roadside "maternity" may record more than two deaths in one month and pregnant women still continue going to these joints. These unnecessary dying has left a bunch little boys and girls who are scared to death and confused and are at the mercy of relatives. These children may get shuffled around for a while before any form of normalcy returns to their lives. The father may be too traumatized to function for a while. I was able to bring this subject up with a Commissioner for Health at a funeral. I had asked him what they were doing about the epidemic of women dying at childbirth and leaving babies and toddlers behind. He explained that some of these young women set themselves up by going to these so called maternity centers and also by getting little or no prenatal care. At delivery time, the slightest complication, like high blood pressure, high blood sugar or bleeding claims their lives.since they cannot get to the hospital to get help on time. He emphasized that his office is doing everything possible to change the picture by sending messages to people through the airwaves and through churches and community associations. The newborns left behind end up with relatives most of the time. Reports coming from motherless babies homes are not encouraging.
The older siblings of the newborns who understand a little bit of what happened to them are left to sort their nightmare out. After the celebration of their deceased mother's life, with the eating and singing and crowds and all the attention they get, the crowds leave and all they have left is a heap of red soil over the grave in full view in the courtyard, and an empty lost feeling. If the father fell apart, then the children also worry about the father dying, and some of the children act out their fears, talking non stop or doing everything possible to be the center of attention. Sometimes, their fear is so real that they ask questions about death, about heaven, why people die and if their father would die too. The sad thing is that more children join this club daily. Scary and pitiful. The main reason behind my strong desire to move back as soon as possible. To be continued.