The family of Oluwole Adegoke, a 50 years old man, from Fiditi, Afijio local government area, that was recently rehabilitated by Oyo State government could not hold back their tears of joy when they saw him at the office of Oyo State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Inclusion, Alhaja Faosat Sanni, at the weekend.
Adegoke was among the mentally-ill persons evacuated by the state government recently after suffering the mental challenge for over twenty years.
Briefing newsmen in her office, the State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Inclusion, Alhaja Faosat Sanni, said that the routine evacuation exercise embarked upon by the state government since the beginning of the present administration was to achieve total compliance against street begging.
Describing the story of the mentally challenged man being reunited with his aged mother as pathetic, Sanni advised parents to take good care of their wards at early childhood as many of those suffering mental illness were either products of broken homes or parental maltreatment.
“Mr Oluwole Adegoke, a 50 years old bachelor hails from Fiditi town in Oyo State, lives at Idikan, Alapa Compound in Ibadan and has been battling mental sickness for the past 20 years until help came his way during our last raiding exercise.
“Based on the little information Oluwole gave us about himself, the ministry, together with the partnering NGO, traced his mother, Madam Susan Adegoke, who is over 80 years of age.
“On getting to where Oluwole claimed he lived at Idikan, in Ibadan, we met a collapsed building that housed his two elder brothers, Olusola Adegoke and Abiodun Adegoke, born of the same parents having the same mental challenges, in fact it was a pitiful sight,” she lamented.
Narrating her story with tears rolling down her cheeks, Oluwole’s mother, Madam Susan Adegoke said life had not been fair to her because she laboured and used all her investment and resources to take care of her children in order to bring them out of their predicament to no avail.
“I gave birth to seven children and three able men out of them are mentally challenged, my first child, second child and sixth child as you can see are mentally unstable; as a mother, I had sought for help both spiritual and medically with lots of financial implications, still all effort proved abortive.
“Oluwole was a panel beater apprentice before he was challenged mentally, I have been neglected by their father’s family since the incident happened to my children; it has been between myself and God. Even at my old age, I do menial jobs to take care of them,” she said with tears.
Madam Adegoke thanked Governor Seyi Makinde for his efforts and used the opportunity to seek medical extension to her other children in that condition, adding that she was marveled by the speedy recovery of Oluwole within a short period of days.”
Also, the founder of Emmanuel Rehabilitation Center for Mentally Ill People, Oja Igbo, Dr Adeniyi Lawal, said he was happy caring for the mentally challenged people out of passion, commending the state government for its various interventions towards the vulnerable, less privileged and mentally challenged people.
Dr. Lawal who promised not to relent until they got better said the centre had comprehensive care and treatment for mental and emotional issues with specific counselling and psychological services which focused on adjustment to living, preventing and addressing isolation and called on philanthropist, individual, groups and kind-hearted people to assist financially as government could not do it alone.
