KEY POINTS

• The Commissioner of Ogun State Adijat Adeleye declares the state does not maintain a baby factory system.
• Non-government organizations are criticized for their adoption fee rates which seem too expensive to many people.
• The government and NGOs need to work together through transparent practices according to emphasized guidelines.

Ogun State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development Adijat Adeleye stated that the state has no operations that run as baby factories.

The regulatory process for child adoption in Ogun State follows medical and legal guidelines according to Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development Adijat Adeleye during her keynote at the Less Privileged Children Encouragement Initiative charity event in Ijebu-Ode.

The government officials leading this event focused on “Uniting for a Cause: The Crucial Role of Collaboration Between Government and NGOs in Supporting the Less Privileged” were Dr. Rotimi Akinlesi from Ogun State Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs and his wife Dr. Bukunola Akinlesi.

Ogun state commissioner explains adoption process and concerns over exploitation

Ogun state commissioner procures between ten and fifteen adoption applications per day she stated that due to medical fitness requirements only abandoned medically suitable babies can fulfill the adoption criteria.

The official expressed worry about money-hungry NGOs preying on needy families who needed to pay excessive amounts of N5 million for adoption assistance. The practice of running a baby factory receives strong condemnation from Adeleye who defends that Ogun State does not operate such facilities.

Special needs children constitute a sizable number of the found children because prospective adoptive parents typically do not want such children according to her statement. Non-government organizations leverage this situation by charging excessive fees to lackadaisical individuals.

Transparency and collaboration in social development

The government and NGOs should maintain open disclosure and full responsibility in their relationship according to Adeleye. She emphasized proper financial resource management in social development since it protects against misuse of funds.

True social transformation emerges from the teamwork of donors volunteers and policymakers when they all maintain integrity and purpose in their actions according to her statements.

The government needs to establish improved teamwork with NGOs according to Dr. Rotimi Akinlesi. Dr. Akinlesi pointed out that NGOs excel at grasping local requirements yet the government commands essential resources for raising intervention scope.

Through their program the initiative has delivered 45,000 pairs of school sandals and distributed 1,004 pairs of Christmas shoes and 1,327 Christmas clothes to children throughout the state. At present 52 students obtain scholarships covering different educational levels through the program.

Community support and societal transformation

Chairman Rasaq Daddah acknowledged how the Akinlesi dedicated themselves to help disadvantaged groups during his speech as the event organizer and former local government chairman of Ijebu-Ode. Akinlesi declared that community development depends on collective obligations as he inspired people to follow the Akinlesi model.

Only the government stands insufficient for the task. According to him individuals together with the private sector need to meet the challenges by making their own substantial contributions.