Spare A Thought For The Nigerian Child

To coin a phrase, teach a child in the way he should go and he will not depart from it. ‘Please brother lap me (Carry me)’ a big eyed young boy appealed to me at the busy Oshodi bus stop this morning. Unfortunately I denied his request. I asked him to sit down next to me. ‘Pelumi’ that’s the boy’s name. A primary 5 student at St Francis primary school, Maryland in Lagos was on his way to school; sadly without the luxury of a school bus, worse still, no transport fare. He was on his way to school-hitch hiking.

Transport fares have more than doubled in Lagos following a week long shortage of fuel. The time was 8.43 A.M, more than half an hour after the first school period had began. I asked Pelumi if this was usual. His response was disheartening. Every morning ‘uncle please lap me’ had become the bus ticket to school. The only difference today was his guardian had upset him, so without her usual hand to steer him through the traffic and her better accustomed pleading voice to ease accessing a ‘ticket’ on time, he had ‘vamoosed’ from home, http://connectafrica.wordpress.com/2009/05/08/going-to-schoo…ungry-stomachs/