Helen Ovbiagele, Woman Editor
Mummy, daddy, come o!” cried 9 year old Victoria, “Ire is bleeding. Bleeding badly. Hurry!” “Bleeding badly! What does that mean?” asked Mrs. P. as she shoved aside the picture album that she and her husband were going through in their bedroom, and sprang to her feet.

The husband rushed after her into the sitting room, to find the older girl holding her two year old brother’s leg in an attempt to stop the flow of blood.
“What happened?” asked Mrs. P as she gathered her baby in her arms.

“Let’s look at the damage,” said the husband taking Ire from her to examine the foot. There were lacerations in several places, drawing blood from the baby’s tender sole. “We must get him to the hospital for him to be properly examined.”

“I can dress the wounds, but he’ll have to be given an anti-tetanus injection in case of infection. Victoria, go get me the first aid box. Paul, get me a small bowl with a little water in it.”

“Yes, mummy,” chorused the kids as they rushed out of the room.
“I’ll go get the car out,” said Mr. P as he left the room.

“I asked how this happened, Victoria,” asked Mrs. P in a stern tone. “Can’t you three kids play safely in safety in your own home? How did this come about?”

“Mummy,” said Victoria, “it was actually nobody’s fault. Paul and Ire were playing with their toys when Ire suddenly got up and flung his toy train set against the wall. It broke into pieces at once, and before I could stop him, he ran to the wall, maybe to try get back the train.

That was when he stepped on the pieces of his toy and blood began to flow from his feet. Paul and I also had some cuts when we rushed forward to grab him and clear up the pieces. Paul has put them in the dustbin.”

“How can a new toy break into pieces just like that? One of you older children must have used a hammer or something to break it up.”

“Oh no, mummy,” cried five year old Paul. “You and daddy told us never to spoil anything. We can’t do that. Ire got up and threw it against the wall. He’s always doing that, even while you’re with us, mummy.”

“That’s true, but nothing’s broken in such a dangerous way like this. If we weren’t in the house, the baby might have bled to death. God forbid.”
“God forbid, mummy. That was why I called you and daddy quickly,” said Victoria.

At the private hospital on their estate, the nurse told the couple that they were lucky the wounds weren’t very deep, as particles of the brittle toy could find its way into the blood stream, going to create havoc in the body.

That evening, Mrs. P cleared out the children’s room; removing all the hard plastic toys that could break easily and are a health hazard, that she could find. At the end of the exercise, she found that there was hardly any toy left.

“How come?” asked the husband.

“Apparently, most, if not all the toys the kids have are made in Far East Asia. They’re made from very cheap and brittle plastics which you can say, disintegrates at the least contact. I don’t know why I’ve never noticed this defect.

It’s dangerous. Very dangerous.”

Mrs. P’s family is not the only one that has had a near miss with these cheap and beautifully made plastic toys from the Far East, which portends danger to our children; particularly the very young ones.

I was in the market the other day when a distraught mother was trying to dislodged a particle of plastic from a toy, which her baby had put in his mouth and bitten on.

Fellow market women were screaming advice of all sorts, and the child could barely talk again, let alone cry. It was the timely arrival of an experienced nurse on the scene that saved the situation. She advised the woman to take the baby immediately to the general hospital not too far away.

She also accompanied them. When I enquired some weeks later, the mother said nurses at the hospital were able to get out the lodged piece of plastic, but the child’s throat was sore for quite some time. She vowed never to allow her children to play with toys made in Far East Asia again.

The other year, some specific toys made in Far East Asia were withdrawn from the U.S.A. market on the instruction of the department of health, because of the health hazard they constituted.

The manufacturers were informed, and the toys were banned from coming in. Those who had bought these toys were told to return them to the point of purchase for a refund.

I won’t be surprised if those manufacturers found a ready market for those dangerous toys in third world countries, particularly Africa, and specifically, Nigeria, where there’s no control of any sort on the importation of toys into the country.

In recent times, the Standard Organization of Nigeria has been making its presence felt, judging by what we read in the papers. But it’s not actively tackling the issues of fake and sub-standard goods as it should.

What S.O.N. should do is to lay down rules for the standards of manufactured goods, and get serious about what’s imported here. It should hold seminars for importers of specific products, and together decide on the quality of goods to be brought in. Goods for kids should be considered; followed by goods for women; then men; then household goods, automobile, electronics, etc.

The field of control for S.O.N is quite wide, but with good organization and focus, they can control well the quality of products – local or foreign. Importers should tell their foreign sources, what quality is accepted in Nigeria.

Our country is a big market for any product, so, foreign manufacturers cannot afford to ignore the standard that our controlling body for products dictates; unless this body is devoid of integrity and transparent honesty in its operations, and thus cannot be respected. It isn’t enough for toy manufacturers to put caution notice ‘WARNING; Small parts – not suitable for children under three’.

They should make toys that are safe for young children. Period!  Those made with inferior plastics that can disintegrate easily are not suitable for any age group.