Executive Producer of The Oratory movie Rev. Fr. Dr. Cyril Ordia has called for support for the movie in order to reach street children in Nigeria saying a lot needs to be done to arrest the national embarrassment.
Ordia speaking at a press conference in Lagos to drum support for the movie, The Oratory produced by the Salesians of Don Bosco, a mission group within the Catholic Church.
Worried about the increasing number of street children in Nigeria, a worrisome phenomenon, the Salesians produced the movie to bring to the fore, the issues of street children needing good life to leave the streets and grow normally.
“People are connecting with this project because they believe we have to do something urgently about the street children which is now a national embarrassment,” Ordia said.
Stating further, he said, the mission is to study the Nigerian youth situation in order to proffer a lasting solution. “We are seriously studying the Nigerian youth situation. Election year is coming, there are hopes and aspirations, and the people are already giving up but people who feel the heat the most are young people who are thinking if this country is ever going to be useful for them.
“Some Nigerians in their 40s and 50s may not bother because it is already late but people in their late teens, 20s and 30s are asking if it is worth it or they find their way. They do everything possible to make sure they find a future for themselves. They need a different mindset.
“There are missionary groups in the church that is very strong, that is why you find Don Bosco focusing on the youths, it’s a specific mandate, we are focusing on the youths,” he explained.
He also was alarmed at the situation at hand, saying something urgent must be done. “We really have to do something urgently with the daily increase of street children, whatever we are doing now with motion pictures etc., we must keep the momentum on. We are making Jesus Christ practical and not just in mere words,” he said.
Also at the event, Rev. Fr. Peter Morba shed more light on the operations of the Salesians of Don Bosco.
“It is an organisation within the Catholic Church. The church is not only known for preaching the gospel but for charitable work. We at the Salesian are focusing on the youths, the abandoned and in Nigeria we are already doing that. We have a home we are already equipping where we are going to take the youths into,” he explained.
Stating further, he said, “In Nigeria, there are so many people in the streets in various parts, the needs are enormous and we are going to do the little we can do. It is a new province, we have two countries, Nigeria and Niger where we are working presently. We have not made our presence felt in Niger as such, we are going there in October. We are going to do same thing we are doing here in education and taking care of street children.
“Young people are yearning to be liberated many of them are yearning, how are we responding and this is where we at Salesian are working, our plan is to go to Agades in Niger because it is where some of these young people are being trafficked to Europe, we are going there to intervene,” he explained.
A Director at the Salesian of Don Bosco, Rev. Fr. Maximus Okoro was also on the ground to explain more to the audience about the work the mission is doing to support the street children.
“Today is actually the birthday of our founder born in 1815. It is almost 207 years since he was born, and his vision is very active on all continents of the world. It is not just a church thing but we also have this part of the congregation that responds to needs in time, “Okoro said.
Continuing, he said, “We focus more on the education of young people, we have technical schools where we train youths, where they can contribute to the economy of where ever they find themselves. We have a child protection centre, and the phenomenon of children on the street is vast. We have children who are into drug peddling, we have children under substance abuse, and we bring them to make them have a better future.
“We have corporate responsibilities in rural places to help in their needs. We also have social arms, we collaborate with the Ministry of Internal Affairs to talk about irregular migration, we collaborate with our missions in Italy and we have interventions to talk about irregular migration in Onitsha, Lagos, Ijebu-Ode, and some other places in Nigeria,” he said.
Okoro also said, “The Oratory is not just a movie but about the street children; giving young people future because they have rights, they have aspirations. I have worked in Africa and Europe, the common denominator is that I have never seen a young person without dreams and aspirations but some of them are cut off from their dreams and aspirations.
“It is a strategic intervention, giving them shelter, future and home, we believe they are humans and they have right. Sometimes some of them are far from these dreams because of the structure of poverty that has been created,” he said.
Rev. Fr. Linus Nkemjinaka is the Street Coordinator for Don Bosco who also shed lights into the operations of the mission at the event.
Talking about what his department is doing, Nkemjinaka recalled that, “On the 14th of April we created awareness under the bridge at Oshodi to campaign that children on the street deserve attention. A lot of children have been rehabilitated, the movie has raised a lot of awareness, it is not just for entertainment,” he said.
Talking about the success of the organisation, the street coordinator stated, “From January to this moment we have reintegrated 15 children. Some of the children have been returned to the government using due process. It needs a longer period of time to reintegrate children that have stayed too long on the streets.
“We have about 80 children we have reached out to, those that came from the streets and we are looking for how to empower them and return them to school. Some of these children keep migrating from place to place so we touch those we are able to get in touch with our outreach called Charity on the Streets,” he said.
The movie will be screened again in Lagos on Saturday 20th August.
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