By Patrick Obia
On a busy Friday morning at the bustling Etta Agbor in Calabar Municipal Local Government Area of Cross River State, Mr. Cornelius Ellah took his car to a nearby mechanic workshop for maintenance. What followed brought him to tears.
He noticed one of the mechanics holding a very young baby. Assuming the child’s mother or another caregiver would soon arrive to take the baby home or care for her while the mechanic worked, he thought little more of it.
However, when Mr. Ellah returned in the evening to pick up his car, he saw the infant still sitting in the same spot, looking frail and uncomfortable. Meanwhile, her father was eating groundnuts and chatting with other mechanics.
Feeling deep empathy for the child, Mr. Ellah, the Pioneer Acting Head of the Department of Journalism and Media Studies at the newly transformed University of Cross River State (UNICROSS), declared that the child “would be a great child,” to which the father and other mechanics responded with a heartfelt “Amen.”
As a journalist and lecturer, Mr. Ellah felt compelled to inquire about the whereabouts of the baby’s mother. He learned that the baby’s mother had run away to Akwa Ibom State when the child was just two months old, leaving the father to fulfill both parental roles.
“As we all know, a mechanic’s workshop isn’t a child-friendly place. It isn’t a creche. This means that Blessing is deprived of a friendly environment, motherly love, family care, and neighborliness. I told her dad that this shouldn’t continue,” Ellah expressed with deep compassion on Facebook.
Determined to help the baby and her father, Mr. Ellah shared his experience on social media. His post generated a wave of public sympathy, prompting many compassionate individuals to send support and donations totaling hundreds of thousands of Naira.
“Blessing deserves better attention than she is currently receiving. Therefore, I appeal to kind-hearted individuals and organizations out there who may want to do something good for her to call her Dad on this phone number and speak with him: 07082925035.” Ellah wrote.
The donations have since been handed over to Blessing’s father to aid her growth and well-being.
This act of kindness comes just days after the 2024 International Day of the African Child, celebrated annually on June 16. The day commemorates the children of Africa, recognizing their efforts to defend their rights and prompting reflection and action to address the daily challenges African children face. This year’s theme was “Education For All, The Time Is Now.”