Journalists under the House of Representatives Press Corps, over the weekend visited Abuja Children Home, Old Karu area of the nation’s capital, where as a group, donated various items to the children.
Items donated include bags of rice, cartons of noodles and clothings among others, as the Corps also made a cash donation in support of treatment for a spinal cord injury of one of the children in the home.
Chairman of the Corps, Lady Grace Ike, who led members to make the donation said the gesture was in the spirit of Christmas, which is usually a time to share in love.
“We are members of the House of Representatives Press Corps. You can call us parliamentary reporters and we feel it is the right thing to extend our hands of fellowship to people. It is Christmas and we all know Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. A lot of people would say journalists, what are we doing here. Our own is to inform, educate, enlighten and let the people know what is happening.
“We are the conscience of the society and that is why we are here. So we have our token to present. Do not look at the quantity of what we are giving. Look at the intention behind what we are doing. Like I would always say, it is good to give and the greatest of it all is love and love simply means affection. Christmas is the time to share love, to visit one another and show affection to one another. So we chose to come here (the Children Home) to show that we are brothers and sisters. We love all of them. These children are the leaders of tomorrow and that is the more reason why we identify with all of them.
“It is also part of our civic responsibility and when you talk about civic responsibility it encompasses a wide range of formal and informal activities. It must be intentional. It must be committed. It must be well constructed and the goal of the focus must be a common goal which is to reach out or meet a certain desire or demand and that is why, we the members of the House of Representatives Press Corps are here”, she said.
Administrator of the Home which is under management of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), Musa Danjuma Yakubu, expressed gratitude for the gesture, calling on well meaning individuals and organizations to emulate same.
He also pointed out some challenges of the Home to include feeding, operational vehicles, perimeter fencing, among others. “We appreciate your coming and the most important thing is that it is not as little as you see. We appreciate the effort of your people. There is nothing that is too small for us. Every other thing, whether food, school fees and all those things we appreciate and it is people like you among other people who come to help with one thing or the other.
“For the school, we have students that are even in the university and one graduated and is already working. Another is on four hundred level and one would be going to the university in Nasarawa State University by February next year if there is life. So we appreciate your coming. As for feeding, well, what you have brought we would use it judiciously but the challenges are surplus”, he said.
He subsequently took members of the Corps alongside the inmate children to inspect facilities in the Home.
