Ibidunni Ighodalo, wife of
Lagos celebrity Pastor, Ituah Ighodalo, is one of the leading event planners in
the country.
The Ibidunni Ighodalo
Foundation held its 6th edition of its annual Baby’s Day Out at the Oniru
Field, Victoria Island, Lagos, with children and their mothers having fun and
gifts to take home.
At the annual Baby’s Day
Out of the Ibidunni Ighodalo Foundation provided a fantastic time filled with
different games, dancing, gifts and medical treatment for scores of children
and their mothers at the Oniru Field in Lagos
At the sixth edition of
Baby’s Day Out, the annual charity organised by the Ibidunni Ighodalo
Foundation (IIF) to make Christmas more rewarding and meaningful for children,
particularly those under two years, their mothers and pregnant women,
volunteers and staff of the organisation demonstrated increasing mastery at
what they do.
As the children filed into
the Santa Claus grotto in an orderly manner to receive a goody bag, Mrs.
Adedayo Richard, Director of IIF, watched closely, taking a happy note of what
was going on.
From all indications, the
children and their mothers (and the IIF crew) had a fantastic time at the Oniru
Field in Lagos, where the event took place. A game arena was created as the
comperes encouraged them to show their skill set in outdoing one another at the
different sports, for a prize. The test of superiority was carried out in a fun
manner infused with mild comedy that engendered lots of laughter, such that
those who lost took it all in the spirit of sportsmanship.
The dance contest, both for
the children and their mothers held a special fascination for the spectators
and the participants. The music from DJ Shexy was good and it spurred the
dancers to be at their best. Deciding who to ease out in order to get the top
three dancers was difficult. Every competitor was determined to dance her heart
out, making it all the more a hilarious experience.
Every year, the event gets
bigger and better. This time, IIF collaborated with Paediatric Partners
Hospital in Victoria Island to provide the primary course of medical treatment
to the children and their mothers, particularly the pregnant ones. Dr. Festus Adejumo
and Dr. Chika Muoka who attended to the patients noted that “quite a lot of
them had upper respiratory infections and bacteria skin infections. We have
seen about four cases that we have referred to the hospital.”
As the event dragged on, a
baby in critical condition was brought to the doctors. A cursory examination
and interrogation of the parents revealed that the three-day old baby was
unceremoniously brought home from the hospital where he was born because of
inability to meet his medical expenses. The IIF quickly took up the
responsibility and an ambulance arrived to take the baby to the hospital for better
medical care. The parents Saleh Yakub and Khadijat were grateful that their
baby was given a fighting chance to live.
For Ibidunni Ighodalo, the
memory of the intervention to save that baby boy will always live with her. She
recounted the experience, “The little boy we saved but eventually died was an
amazing rewarding feeling I had. The glimpse of hope and joy in the eyes of the
parents that their little one will be treated was priceless for me. Eventually
the baby passed on but was in a much better place and not as in so much pain as
the day we saw him.”
All the pregnant women got
a set of baby bath items. Every woman went home with a piece of wrapper, a mini
bag of rice and vegetable oil. They were pleased with the extra food items
provided by IIF this year, apart from the cooked meal.
Favour Davis and Victoria
Donald, two of the women who participated in the event said they were fortunate
to have the critical intervention of IIF at this time of the year.
In addition to hand-outs,
the IIF team, which is largely drawn from Trinity House, a church championed by
Ibidunni’s spouse, Pastor Ituah, also preached the Word of God. They reminded the
gathering that Jesus Christ offers the best hope for any kind of challenge they
may be faced with.
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