By Olivia Obijiaku
As part of activities marking the celebration of the Silver Jubilee Anniversary of Holy Childhood Association (HCA) in Nigeria, the Catholic Bishop of Zaria, Most Rev. Dr. Habila Tyiakonaboi Daboh was at the four Pediatric Wards in Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH), Shika-Zaria, Wednesday, February 11, 2026, to identify with sick children and their loved ones.
His Lordship was accompanied to the hospital by the Diocesan Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS), Rev Fr. Patrick Bako; the Chaplain of St Luke Catholic Chaplaincy, ABUTH, Rev. Fr. James Akema, a religious, diocesan coordinators, animators and some members of HCA and Young Missionary Movement of Nigeria (YOMM), as well as some Catholic medical practitioners and workers in the hospital.
The group visited the Special Baby Care Unit (SCBU); Emergency Pediatric Unit (EPU); Pediatric Surgery Ward (PSW); and Pediatric Medical Ward (PMW), of the hospital with palliatives to extend love and warmth to the sick and their families and caregivers. This is in addition to Bishop Daboh’s decision to assist with the hospital bill of a very sick child, whose father ran away, leaving her and her mother.
In an interview with Trinitas Newspaper, the PMS Chaplain, disclosed that, through HCA, many children within the diocese “have come to know the Church’s mission of love. As a result of HCA, we have children choir and lectors in many parishes. Many of them now know a lot about the doctrines of the Church.”
With over 4,000 members of HCA in almost all the parishes within the diocese, some of whom have benefited from scholarships for primary and secondary education, courtesy of the association, the group is not without challenges. In the words of the chaplain, “We truly need mobility, a bus, for the HCA of Zaria diocese. We need more volunteers from parishes, to serve as animators.”
Delighted with the visitors and their acts of generosity, the Deputy Ward Manager of EPU, Matron Regina Madu, who took them round the unit and wards, lauded the kind gestures, intimating that the visit will no doubt bring back hope to the beneficiaries, as some others echoed words of gratitude, wishing for more of such visits.
The decision to embark on the visit is already yielding positive results, as one of the HCA members, 10 year old, Miss Deborah David Barau, who was almost in tears, seeing the plights of some of the sick children, disclosed to Trinitas, that the visit has changed views. She said, “I pity the children very well. This experience has changed my life very well. I will tell my friends that I came to this hospital and many children were on drip. Kai, some of them have suffered a lot. If I have money, I will help with their treatments.”
The activities slated for the jubilee, which commenced at parish level within the diocese on January 25, 2026 will be wrapped up at the diocesan level on May 29, 2026, before the grand finale in Lagos, between 4th and 7th August, 2026.
