‘The interest of the child should be paramount’

Mrs. Onari Duke is the chairperson of the Child Survival and Development Organization of Nigeria, and the wife of former governor of Cross River state. In this interview, she speaks on efforts to cater for the needs of children in the community and how their interest must be protected at all times.  Tell us about […]

Mrs. Onari Duke is the chairperson of the Child Survival and Development Organization of Nigeria, and the wife of former governor of Cross River state. In this interview, she speaks on efforts to cater for the needs of children in the community and how their interest must be protected at all times.
 Tell us about the child survival network.
The Child Survival and Development Organization of Nigeria was created in 2002. Our primary focus was to partner with other organisations and institutions to create health care support for Nigerian children and to ensure that every child in our community is afforded the opportunity to receive and attain total development to a stage that they have the potential to attain.
 In light of the recent launch of the year to end violence against children, what role did you play in that?
One issue is to have a law, the other is to let people know that there is a law; that it exists and is capable of protecting their rights. The advocacy must continue, what we must emphasize is education, education, education; people need to be aware that this rights are there for them.
Increasingly there are more cases of violence against children being reported and neighbours are taking personal responsibility as well. A good percent of traumatic cases are attended to by neighbours -that’s what happens when a child is wounded. It is very important that these family members and neighbours collectively take the responsibility of keeping the children safe, and that children are not left unattended to by adults. We have children ingesting things they shouldn’t. This should also be a call for medical practitioners, but the care for the child is the responsibility of every Nigerian. We shouldn’t leave it for the parents alone.
What has your foundation done in the area of nutrition?
Nutrition is key in the development of a child. Four days ago, in Calabar, a child was born with hydrocephalous, – that is due to the deficiency of folic acid in the mother before she got pregnant. A lot of advocacy needs to be done to make sure every woman of child bearing age has sufficient nutrition before she gets pregnant. Nutrition is very important and vital. With adequate nutrition, we would have fewer cases of birth defect in children.
When neighbours who are supposed to protect children are the ones traumatizing the child, what do you do as a foundation?
The governments have centres where this can be reported, luckily the women affairs in various states have taken up this responsibility. Invariably, what the children need is rescue, and a safe haven to be nursed back to life. Still coming back to the collective responsibility of everyone, if a neighbour sees a child wrongly handled, even by the parent, the report should be made, and that’s the information that needs to go out, and investigated but taking into consideration the interest of the child.
How much has your foundation expended on children?
It is not quantifiable. Without even spending financial cash, if you are able to stop something happening, you cannot quantify that.
 In areas of child survival and development, where do you focus more?
Our focus is on cancer and newborn babies – children with cancers and mothers with complicated delivery so at the point of birth, in the community where the baby lives, we ensure that it has a chance to survive. The hospital is situated in calabar and there are Nigerians who come on medical missions to do free medical missions from time to time.