Every mother needs extra hands especially when it comes to childcare. If and when this time comes, special care needs to be given to the quality of helpers. Today’s mothers, especially the working class ones, are left with the choice of whether or not the helpers are needed. For working mothers, day care is a must, a place where their young infants are catered for by paid caretakers while they are at work. For this group of women, proper day care system takes a lot of pressure off an already pressured lifestyle. Combining family with work has to be balanced. This is what day care does for the working mother. She has to be a master planner to succeed if she wants to keep her home intact.
Day care system is also a good platform for formal education. Children exposed to day care are taught early, they are fast learners and can absorb quickly. Proper day care system also prevents accidents from occurring as kids left on their own in the house are exposed to self and external dangers.
However, the persistent negative stories surrounding day-care system, especially in Nigeria, have made many to wonder if day-care is a necessary evil. Every now and then one hears stories both in the developed societies and Africa of how these innocents are exposed to various abuses ranging from psychological, emotional, physical and others. Several video clips had gone viral on social media of extreme torture of these infants by those under whose care they were kept.
Just three months ago we heard the story of how a six months old baby, Mitchele Onoja, was allegedly killed by caregivers in a day care at Lokogoma, Abuja.
According to the story, the baby who was hale and hearty when his mother dropped her at the day care in the morning, died a few hours later in strange circumstances. An autopsy conducted at a federal medical center indicated that she died as a result of asphyxiation.
Who could have deprived a harmless child of oxygen in a place she was brought for safety and care? The answer is still being awaited as the police is said to be carrying out an investigation into the matter.
It is usually very worrisome hearing how infants are exposed to self medication by careers who in a bid to keep them “quiet” administer tranquilizers and sleeping syrups unknown to their parents and the authorities involved. The constant drug abuse could eventually lead to serious health problems in the children.
These innocent lads in day care centers are sometimes exposed to psychological dangers which come in the form of violent or ill language from the careers. They are shouted at and sometimes verbally abused. These in turn results in low self esteem from a very tender age.
Again, some of these kids are left for long hours in the care of strangers and this often makes them feel abandoned, unloved and unwanted. The emotional scar often follows those kids to adulthood.
In some developed countries, there are reports of kids being sexually and physically abused by ex-child offenders who had not been properly checked by the authorities before engaging them as careers.
Many of such victims later come forward to relate how careers have subjected them to all forms of abuse many years back unknown to their parents. These victims tell of how they have lived in that shadow of abuse that can only heal when those criminals are prosecuted. In Nigeria, such stories are not always heard as it is rather seen as shameful, so the victims carry such abuse as guilt.
But one disturbing issue that cannot be hidden about some day care centers in Nigeria is the poor, unhealthy environment in which they operate. Some so-called day care centers can easily pass for  prison cells as the poor lads are confined in poorly ventilated, unkempt rooms. This, of course, leads to diseases and sicknesses.
Also, there are allegations that children kept in some day care centers are not fully given the needed nourishment, as they are left in the hands of people who really don’t care what these kids are given to eat. There is a detached attitude as they are only doing their jobs for money. Hence, kids are subjected to very poor diet which eventually results in ill health.
As it is typical of Nigerians, many people see day care system as a lucrative venture and want to dabble into it with or without any professional knowledge thereby exposing the kids to a lot of problems. That is why one has to appreciate the effort of Anambra State government towards reducing quacks in the operation of day care, centers.
During the administration of the immediate past governor, Peter Obi, his wife, Mrs Margret Obi, in a one-day workshop for all day care centers in the state, disclosed the government’s readiness to close all unregistered day care centers in the state.
She said issues concerning children in the society should be handled with utmost care and diligence, noting that the era of abuse of the children in daycare centers was over in the state. She spoke of the need to document the staff and environment of every day care centre to avoid a situation where such centers were left in the hands of non-professionals.
If only other state governments should take a similar bold step to improve child care services in Nigeria. Employees of day care centers should be thoroughly screened. There should be regular check on these centers by government agencies,  while labour should advocate nursery bay system to aid and encourage nursing mothers. Besides, longer maternity leave period for working mothers, especially those in the private sector, should be introduced.
Most importantly, owners of day care centers should be encouraged to install closed Circuit Television System (CCTV), as a watching lenses to monitor the internal activities of the centers.
All necessary steps must be taken towards improved child care services which are critical to children development.

Calista Ezeaku