When the word “adoption” is used in public, many people in Nigeria tend to shy away from the subject. Motherhood is relatively what most Nigerian women crave to experience, yet many would struggle with adopting a child because of society’s stance on adoption.
Adoption simply refers to the legal transfer of parental rights from the natural or biological parents to the adoptive parents after duly completing legal requirements. The most common form of adoption in Nigeria is through blood ties, this is done by relatives or step-parents.
Adopting a child beyond the blood ties premise becomes complicated with a lot of bottlenecks. When children are adopted, there are efforts put in place to ensure the adoptive parents are expected to fulfill the basic rights and duties of the adopted child, this is because there are cases when the needs of the children are not fulfilled. Also, the stigma experienced by the child. The child goes through emotional trauma as the society treat him/her as a second-class citizen.
It is therefore fascinating to observe prominent Nigerians speaking and addressing the issue of adoption stigmatization. One of such person advocating against the stigmatization attached to Child Adoption is the Wife of the Vice President, Mrs. Oludolapo Osinbajo. This she stated at the First Annual Conference of Heritage Adoption Support and Advocacy Group in Lagos with the theme: “The Power of Adoption”. She noted that while identifying that the problem is great, having conversations would be better, speaking up and putting in action would be the best viable option.
She implores, according to Punch Nigeria, that everyone should join the army interested in fighting against the negativity that surrounds adoption. She also believes that there is a desperate need of strengthening the structure that surrounds the issues of adoption.
Other panelists at the conference include a representative from UNICEF, Wilfred Mamah, and Bridget Itsueli. Bami Obasanya; the Chief Welfare Officer, Child Adoption and Fostering Unit of the Ministry of Youth and Social Welfare, Lagos State, Oluwatoyin Kotun and a Veteran actress, Joke Silva.
Noting that there are 17.5 million children in Nigeria that are abandoned, Mamah emphasized in her address “Adopt a Child; Save a Nation” that every child must be given the opportunity to thrive.
