Some Islamic religious groups have called on Nigerians to adopt orphans and homeless children for them to attain their potential.
They made the appeal during the 2023 awareness walk with the theme “Fostering…Reviving Sunnah,” organised by Halal Children’s Home in Abuja.
President of the home, Hajiya Ramatu Abubakar emphasised the benefits of fostering less-privileged children and reintegrating them into homes.
Ms Abubakar said fostering the children would make them feel loved and guide them towards harnessing their potential, adding that the organisation had found several families and homes for some of the orphaned and vulnerable children.
“The increasing cases of orphans, we can do better. Being able to take a child into your home does not diminish your love, but increases your capacity to love, so let’s not let the fear of poverty stop us from doing what we can for these children.
“Our aim is to make them productive citizens. We rehabilitate them so that they can enter into society easily. So let us open our homes and let’s build a better future for our country,” she urged.
She also appealed to the government to make more provisions or modifications for fostering in the constitution that would allow Muslims take up such children legally.
“For the government, we would like to see a drive for making fostering more visible, each state has a different Child’s Rights Act.
“So we would like to see the provision for fostering as it is in the Islamic sense of the word because there are differences between the adoption process and the fostering.
“The fostering is what Muslims can do. A lot of Muslims do not go through the adoption process because our faith is an important part of us. So, if we can have the laws changed or modified to allow more Muslims take up these children and even the documentation should be made easier,” she advised.
In her contribution, Chief Executive Officer, Baynakum Family Counselling Centre, Abuja, Dr Abdulfattah Adeyemi, expressed concern over the increasing number of orphans and vulnerable children roaming around the streets.
“Many of these children that we see have a bright future ahead of them, only if we contribute or do something for them.
“If we allow them to roam around the streets, they can be susceptible to criminals, who may adopt them and make them carry out some criminal activities. There are people who do a lot of nefarious activities against the law and they recruit these vulnerable children on the street.
“So, we are helping ourselves as individuals and as a nation, when we carry out the responsibility. It is godly, civic and what we need now for humanity, especially in action building,” he said.
He, therefore, urged religious leaders to encourage people to adopt or foster vulnerable, orphans and street children to enable them reach their potential and contribute to national development.
“I urge religious leaders to discuss and encourage people to foster so that the humanity in us is not just to worship God and go to paradise, we should also be concerned about humanity,” he said.
Also, Public Relations Officer, Amani Muslim Women Empowerment Initiative, Naimat Akewusola, the group came to support Halal Home and sensitise the public on ways to keep the homeless children off the street.
“With this awareness, many people are now aware that they can actually foster these children and take them into their homes as this will help to reduce the number of street children in our society,” she said.
Also speaking, a consultant neurologist, Dr Saheed Alimo, commended the organisers for engaging the public not only on religious aspects, but health talks and free medical care to improve their health and wellbeing.
Mr Alimo also advised the public to engage in regular exercise, adopt a healthy lifestyle and eat well to improve their health.
