The Ogun State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Adijat Adeleye, has disclosed that she handles an average of 100 child adoption applications every three months.
The commissioner stated this during a press conference held at her office in Oke Mosan, Abeokuta, the state capital.
Adeleye, while insisting that the state does not operate a baby factory, urged applicants to be patient, saying, “when we have a child that fits into your description we would call on you and then start the legal procedures.”
She, however, noted that it is not possible for every applicant to receive a child immediately, as adoptable children are not always available within a given quarter.
“People will say we have applied two, three years ago and we’ve not been given a child. In Ogun State we do not run and I repeat, we do not run a baby factory.
“Averagely in a quarter, I, as Commissioner for Women and Affairs and Social Development, treat an average of 100 applications per quarter. That means I treat an average of 100 applications within three months.
“Now within those three months we might not even find an adoptable child. What I mean by that is, any child that has any form of deformity is not adoptable. We would not give you a child that would become a source of concern to you tomorrow.
“But there are quarters that we might be fortunate, we found maybe two, three, the maximum we’ve found since I got to this seat is four and mind you, I’ve signed an average of 100 applications, so it’s not possible for everyone to get children,” she said.
The commissioner further explained that the ministry prioritises childless couples, saying, “When you apply we do our due diligence, if you have a child already who is all grown or out of the country, we are not going to give you another one. There are homes that do not have any, we want to share the joy as much as we can.”
Reiterating that the state does not run a baby factory, she said, “Now how do we get children that we put out on adoption? Children that are abandoned, maybe a vagrant woman delivered, there are some conceived by incest and the parent will say ‘oh, we cannot stand the sight of this child,’ so, they give the child to us. For such children, we look at parents who can give them a sense of belonging.”
