What ordinarily should have been a thing of joy turned sour
recently, as a mother of five, Mrs. Paulina Lucius, was delivered of a
set of premature quadruplets. The incident took place at the Rural
Hospital in Kaura Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
The
birth of the quadruplets has brought the total number of the woman’s
children to nine. Paulina’s husband, Mr. Lucius Kanvong, had in the
early hours of February 27, this year, visited his wife, who was in
labour at the hospital.
He was reportedly shocked to have met his
wife with four premature children. Confused, he expressed a mixture of
joy and worry, as he had limited resources to raise the four children.
One of those who got wind of the arrival of the premature children was
Dr. Barclays Foubiri Ayakoroma, Executive Secretary, National Institute
for Cultural Orientation (NICO).
He called on government and
well-meaning Nigerians to support the family, whose breadwinner, Mr.
Kanvong, is a peasant farmer in Assu-Attakar village, Kaura Local
Government Area of Kaduna State.
Already, some concerned Nigerians
have been showing concern and supporting the family. They include
Chairman of Kaura Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Mr. Kumai
Babung, and the Chief of Takab Chiefdom, Mr. Tobias Wada (Agwan Takab
1). They were said to have visited the family to felicitate with them
and offer material and financial donations.
Although the birth of
the quadruplets has continued to attract compliments from well wishers,
Mr. Lucius Kanvong, the father, appears to have received the babies with
mixed feelings.
While he is happy that the wife successfully
delivered four babies at a time, the challenge of catering for the
children continues to haunt him. According to Mr. Jerry Bighan, elder
brother to the father of the quadruplets, who is also a staff of the
Kaduna State Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Lucius, has continued to
live with the fear of the unknown, having had five children already.
Bighan
explained that Lucius had confided in him that he was expecting just
one baby to make up six children and stop childbearing but has now ended
up with nine children. Moreover, he is worried that as a peasant
farmer, he may not be able to cater for the children.
While
expressing gratitude to God Almighty for the support given to the family
so far, Jerry Bighan further called for more assistance from
government, non-governmental organisations and concerned Nigerians to
enable the family cater for the children and raise them well, stressing
that the father is just a peasant farmer with minimal income.
Meanwhile,
the premature quadruplets (two boys and two girls) are reportedly being
cared for in an incubator at the St. Gerald’s Hospital in Kaduna State,
while the mother has since been discharged from the hospital but
remains under close observation by the doctors.
Ayakoroma, who
pledged to support the family, also called on more Nigerians to support
the couple so that that the coming of the children would remain a source
of blessing rather than cause untold hardship for the family.
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