PROBLEMS OF ORPHANAGES IN NIGERIA

Nigeria is among the top three countries in the world with the most orphans. Many of these children have no other option than to live in orphanages. However, are orphanage homes in Nigeria able to provide proper care for the kids? What issues do Nigerian orphanages face? Let’s talk about it.

Situation with orphans in Nigeria It is difficult to say exactly how many orphans and orphanages there are in Nigeria. Despite the fact that this topic is very important, it has been severely neglected by researches. The latest statistics that we were able to find dated back to 2012. According to them, there were over 11.5 million orphans in Nigeria. It is safe to say that the situation has probably worsened since then. Situation with orphanages statistics is even direr, as the government itself does not know for sure how many orphanages operate within the country. It has been said that there are lots of unapproved or illegal orphanages in Lagos and other states.

Just from the lack of relevant information and research, it seems pretty obvious that things are not going well for Nigerian orphanages. Nevertheless, let’s talk about the issues with orphanage homes in Nigeria in detail. Common issues and challenges of orphanages in Nigeria.

Every orphanage home is different. This means that they all have different issues, and some might not have the listed issues at all. However, we have tried our best to compile the most common problems for many Nigerian orphanages. Now, the first issue we need to talk about is overpopulation. While it is not known how many orphanages Nigeria has, no amount can handle almost a dozen million children that do not have parents and/or homes. This issue is also important to be mentioned first, as many other problems stem from it. For example, many existing orphanage homes are seriously understaffed. People that work with orphaned children are spread thin as they are trying to pay enough attention to all the children. They are overworked, underpaid and exhausted, because working with children is no small feat.

However, that is not all:

In addition to the lack of staff, those employees that do work at orphanages often do not have required qualifications to be working with children. To be fair, some of them should not even be allowed to be close to children, let alone be responsible for their lives and development. Nigeria, as well as many developing countries, suffers from a thing called voluntourism (yes, we are aware that it is a made up word, but it has an important meaning nonetheless). This term describes the practice of people that enjoy ‘giving back’ while they are abroad in less fortunate countries. For instance, they volunteer in orphanages, where they hang out with kids or donate money and clothes. You might be thinking: ‘How could volunteering be bad?’ You would be surprised, but it actually brings more harm than good. Many people involved in research of the orphanage systems, as well as those who are directly involved in said systems, reported that voluntourism is harmful for children.

People that engage in this type of activity rarely know how to deal with kids. They might be pursuing a noble goal to help the orphans in need, but they might inadvertently cause them harm. In addition to this, volunteers often do not stay long, but children still manage to grow attached to them. When these voluntourists leave the orphanages to go home, this negatively affects the kids’ existing abandonment issues. As for the donations, they, along with the government funds, often disappear in the pockets of those who run the orphanages. Corruption is a prevalent problem that does not help to improve the current situation with orphanages. While we are on the topic of funding, many orphanage homes in Nigeria do not receive enough money to satisfy even the basic needs of children. Some orphanages in the country, especially those in the rural areas, do not have electricity, plumbing and other necessary facilities. The buildings are often in terrible condition unfit for living.

The lack of funds also negatively affects the children’s nutrition and development. This also includes educational programmes. Children do not receive proper education and are often not prepared for the future that lies ahead of them. Kids with special needs suffer from insufficient funding the most, as they might not have the required equipment or educated staff that would meet their needs. But wait, there is more: One of the most horrifying things that exist in Nigeria is fake orphanages. While some exist for the mere purpose of laundering money, some have the nefarious purpose of selling Nigerian children. Nigerian government is struggling to battle this onslaught of illegal orphanages. Few years ago, 201 fake orphanages were discovered and closed in Delta State alone. One thought of how many are still left out there terrifies us.

The last thing I am going to touch upon is the utter negligence of the people who assign children to orphanages. It has been said that many kids that currently live in orphanages actually have living relatives. They are sentenced to years of living in unacceptable conditions only because nobody bothered to double-check whether they have anyone to care for them or not. Thus, they are deprived of their childhood and the ability to communicate with their families. Overall, staying in an orphanage negatively affects children. Research shows that kids who lived in orphanages have development issues, problems with nutrition, difficulties in adapting to the outside world, as well as many other problems. If the conditions in the orphanages are subpar, the situation only worsens. As you can see, there are many issues with orphanage homes in Nigeria. Of course, there are some exemplary institutions that do not fit our profile. Nevertheless, many other orphanages suffer from the same problems. We sincerely hope that the situation will improve in the nearest future, so that children without parents can have a proper chance at life.