FROM THE DESK OF TIJANI SHERIFFDEEN OPEYEMI IV

CHILD ABUSE, STILL A THING IN OUR SOCIETY.

It’s so painful how we fail to recognize the fact that we are the cause of our own miseries; we tend to blame some factors for working against us and as such causing problems in our lives. In spite the cry of human right bodies we still find some heartless, unsympathetic, callous and cruel people in our society. These people are still found in the act of maltreating children, most of the time who happens to be maids or children of other people.
In this age, where everything has advanced, we still find some been relegated to acts of the past, of course, maltreatment is an act of the past, and should remain at that. Why on earth would you maltreat others? What pleasure do you find or gain in displeasing others? The questions are too much if only I will help stop at these two. I don’t seem to understand why people are found in this barbaric attitude.
A girl very close to me came in one morning crying, her eyes were swollen already, her face wasn’t appealing at all, even a melancholy would carry a better face in that situation. I came out of my room to hear silent chats in our sitting room, “what’s wrong I inquired?” At first I got no reply, because the girl in question was just mumbling, and I couldn’t get what she was saying. “Calm down, talk to me what’s wrong” I pestered, she told me her Madame cursed her for nothing. Haba! For nothing, she said yes affirmatively. Then why the curse? She said she had done all she had to do- sweeping and other chores, which her Madame asked her to do, only for her to return from her journey to start cursing her over not taking proper care of her children or some sort. She cried while pointing at the children who looked smart in the clean clothes she had worn for them, in fact the children were eating happily, what other care could she have rendered?
What other care could she have rendered? Am posing that at you. Of course that wouldn’t be the height of her Madame’s barbarity, but the girl was too emotional to hold the false claim that morning. She wasn’t happy at all, who would be? Her Madame just wanted to display her bossiness, that’s what I figured out, because I don’t seem to comprehend the reason why you jump at a girl who had done all she was expected to do. The girl in discuss had even done all she had to do a day to her Madame’s arrival, so what excuse has she got to bounce on an innocent young girl?
I also had this type of people for neighbours, well, not any longer. They had this hefty boy as their houseboy; he does virtually everything in the house, even the tasks naturally designated to ladies. It was then I observed you could get muscular like a person carrying weight with just home chores, he was always doing something. It might shock others to hear that he ran away from that home, it didn’t pull the smallest string in me, who wants to live to be maltreated. The maltreatment the dictionary defines is even small compared to what some get as the share of what life throws at them. Why should this menace continue to grow in our society?
We hurt ourselves thinking we are hurting others, life is the best of judges because it throws back at you what you throw at others, it’s simple, what you sew is what you reap. On a television station, a lady was seen maltreating a baby, stepping a little kid, what ignoble word wouldn’t suite her actions? How can one be that desperate to hurt a baby like that? Was the question everyone was asking. Not to even talk of the haaa! Do you want to kill the baby? Among many other utterances people made. What must have resulted to this? I wanted to read something out of that incident. The lady was actually a maid, but why that callous attitude? That I can’t give an answer to, but what do you think might have resulted to that? If the lady was treated well would she take revenge for nothing? Might be that she gets maltreated by the baby’s parents, and she wants them to taste the better sweet they offer her too. Was she right in her pay back too?
Parents who maltreat others are doing so at the detriment of their own children. Do you think a child you act towards wrongly will do otherwise to your children? He/she will reciprocate in that unkind gesture to your children too, and as such the children are left to suffer from what they don’t know. Brutality shouldn’t be the pay back for barbarity, the lady who took revenge on her boss child went the extra mile, and of course there are better ways to resolving issues like that than taking laws into ones hand. We have human rights group who fight against child abuse, policemen could be sought and many other authorities. The right thing should always be done.
The act of maltreating others is one thing that should be fought against in our society, let’s all say no to child abuse, it’s a menace that should be giving no room in our society, don’t take laws into your hands, if you are oppressed, you definitely have places to turn to, and let those who find joy in maltreating others remember there is always a tomorrow.

Tijani sheriffdeen is a youth advocate, social commentator, and an optimistic Nigerian of the better tomorrow. Your comments are highly welcomed; you can reach me at, s_opeyemi42@yahoo.com or 07033254385.