VICTOR MOSES: HOW ABOUT THE OTHER CHILDREN.

I am not a huge football fan, but I know a thing or two about the sport and some of its (big) players. One of our own, Victor Moses is making his stride in the game. He has made us proud at the national level and doing his best in his current club- Chelsea FC.

We all know him, and most of us know his pre-football stardom story. He was a little boy who survived the Jos crisis of 2002 that claimed the lives of his parents and he was chartered away to a foreign land as a refuge. Thankfully, he survived, and has become a star today.

I was in secondary school that year. Some new students (re)joined us to continue their education. These were people who their families relocated or fled because of the crisis.

But they are the lucky ones.

Unfortunately, the stories of many did not end the same way, for there are legions of children who were orphaned, displaced or killed during such crisis. We heard rumors of truck-full dead bodies that arrived Aba. We heard rumors of reprisal attacks and threats of it.

Many parts of Nigeria have lived through or are living through reoccurring crisis .The Jos crisis of 2002 was the first violent crisis in Nigeria I was old enough to know about. But there were many before it and even more after it; the Civil War that claimed over 2 million lives, the Odi massacre of 1999, the Kaduna riots of 2000, the Miss World riot of 2002, also in Kaduna, the many Jos riots-2001,2008,2010,etc,  the Baga massacre of 2013, the Abuja bomb attack of 2014, the recent herdsmen killings,  and many others, documented and undocumented .

With each attack recording its own causalities. Headlines such as “200 killed in Boko Haram led attack”, “71 killed in a Bomb blast at a Bus Station in Nigeria”, “Militants kill dozens in Borno attack”, “12 killed in attacks on two churches”, etc are not new to us any longer. These crises displace many residents from their homes, while others flee to safer zone for survival.

Crisis erodes peace and stunts progress, with many fleeing where they call home for the safety of their lives, bracing hunger, starvation, disease, homelessness and other uncertainties. According to reports, 3.2 million Nigerians have been forced to flee their homes, with approximately half that number being internally displaced. 

As crisis across different regions deepens, men, women and children continue to linger in deprivation, with children being worst off. This reality is never a haven for a child. Child rights become a mirage as even meeting their basic needs- food, shelter, access to clean water and proper health care becomes a challenge. 

According to a UNICEF report in 2015, 400,000 children suffer from acute malnutrition and 75,000 are at the risk of death in crisis areas in Nigeria alone. This figure is believed to be underreported as many causalities remain undocumented.
Asides health needs, these children miss out on (quality) education, become prone to social risks such as sexual abuse, trafficking, and opportunities for better prospects in life.

Even one causality should be of concern, the record of much causalities on daily basis should make a quest for resolution and peace an imperative for us all. The killing of one adult, translates to misfortune for their dependent child or children. What happens to these children. I’m sure Victor Moses was not the only child who was orphaned by the 2002 Jos crisis. Where are the other children today? They must be grown now, what became of them? Would they have enough faith to contribute positively to a country and a world that could not defend them? A country and a world that watched helplessly as their parents, community succumbed to violence.

What about the children who are caught up in crisis zones today?  How do they see the world? I suppose as a place void of peace, love and opportunities. A place where people suffer without recourse. A place where justice cannot be found. A place without hope.

We know better, it’s up to us to show them that. Together, we all can negotiate peace, no matter how hard it is to find and sustain. Upon it, we will lay the bricks for progress and a better future for them and for ourselves.