If Not For God, I May Have Ended Up On Streets Like Prostitutes – Mercy Johnson

Nollywood actress and mum of one Mercy Johnson
Okojie’s shares this message to her fans.
Today, I thought of many things I would
love to have as birthday gifts and the
many dreams I’m still pursuing.
In all of this I’m not losing sight of the
fact that if not for God I might have
ended
up on the street like the many kids and
young adults begging for food and some
prostitu.ting to make ends meet.
If we know the circumstances that force
some of these people on the street
we would spare a thought for them.
I am
where I am today purely by the grace of
God and the grace of the people who
believed in me from the word go.
Recently, I was at the Boys Reform
Oregun,Lagos,the discussion I had with
the principal Mr. Kotun and much later
with the Special Adviser in charge of all
remand homes in Lagos set me thinking
about the boys and girls on the street.
They have dreams too. Can they fulfill
those dreams on the street? The answer
will likely be no because I won’t be where
I am today if I had ended up on the
street.

For this reason, Mercy Johnson
Foundation will be doing a lot to get kids
off the street. We are not asking people
for funds. I will do all I can with the
resources God has given me, and with the
support of my husband to help get these
kids off the street and set them on the
path where they can begin to pursue their
dreams.

I want to plead with people, fans, friends
and colleagues to spare a thought for the
children on the street.

We can begin by educating people around
us, parents, the children and people
people in charge of children (Oga-house
help relationship, teacher-student
relationship, and others) on the need to
treat every child like the future of Nigeria
depends on it.

And truth be told,our future will not be
all that enjoyable if we let the scourge of
‘street-children’ fester. By then, the rich
will begin to cry.

I learnt Lagos State Government has 11
homes where most children picked from
the streets are kept, reformed and
reunited with their families after
counseling.

That is an initiative Mercy Johnson
Foundation will be supporting and
beyond that we will be going to different
states to help spread the message – Get
kids off the street, save the future.

From tomorrow, I will begin to replay
some of the lessons I learnt at the boys’
reform home and we all can contribute to
getting the kids off the street.

I am grateful to everyone that has sent in
a birthday message tweet and gifts.
When I get back, let’s have twitter party.
Thank you and God bless you.

Mercy Johnson Okojie.