The Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, has advised parents to live up to their responsibilities of raising their children well for the good of the society.
The minister made the call in Abuja on Thursday at the inauguration of a document titled: “Parenting for Peace (P4P): Prevention of Violent Extremism (PVE) Training of Trainers’ (ToT) guide.” The event is organised by Mercy Corps, a frontline international organisation in over 40 countries, under the project Community Initiative to Promote Peace.
The event is supported by the United States Agency for International Development. She said that it was the duty of parents to mould the children from the age of six months to ensure they grow to be responsible citizens.
According to him, good parenting will help to reduce insecurity in the society. Kennedy-Ohanenye pointed out that 80% of children presently having problems are due to lack of good trainings from their parents.
“Do well in training your child in the right way, pampering a child shows you are advocating for him or her to do some certain things, you have to be in control of your child.
“I usually carry out drug test on my children when they were growing, parents should be ashamed of themselves when a child is going the wrong way,” she said.
The minister also advised that parents should be cautious on the kind of behaviour they display before their children, saying, ”children learn very fast from the behaviours of their parents”. She said that the way a woman lives with her husband at home would determine how the children would grow to live.
David Gatare, Chief of Party, CIPP, said that Mercy Corps was proud to be working in protracted crisis areas to cushion conflict and economic shocks while providing humanitarian assistance as well as build resilient communities.
Garare said that in the past five years, over three million people had been impacted through the organisation’s peace building, governance and conflict resolution initiatives, education, financial inclusion and environmental sustainability.
He said that the organisation was driven by the vision of a Nigeria where all citizens, including young women and men are empowered, engaged, resilient and productive.
“At Mercy Corps, our work is on gender, peace and security; it focuses on addressing and mitigating gender dynamics that perpetuated and exacerbate conflict while including diverse group and members of the society.
“We constructively engage government, CSOs, private sector and community institutions, especially religious and traditional leaders as well as work side by side with grassroot women, men, and youth to promote a safe diverse, inclusive and peaceful communities,” he added.
Blessing Amadi, the Deputy Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Women Affairs and Social Development, also said that parents should create time for discussions with their children. According to her, having time with the children, listening and giving them advice form part of good parenting, which parents should imbibe.
She called on parents to apply disciplinary measures in their homes to teach the children how to be responsible and to know the consequences of all actions whether good or bad. Amadi said that as parents, there is the need to educate the children by getting involved in their assignments and guiding them to know the rudiments of education.
She also said that parents should be concerned with the security of their children at home and in school as well as teach them the dangers of random movements without authorisation.
”The children should also be guided on the responsible use of technology devices,” she noted.
Also, Idris Mohammed, the Acting Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Women Affairs appreciated all stakeholders for their opinion on gender issues and for creating time to attend the event.
Mohammed said that the presence of the stakeholders had further confirmed their relentless commitment to ensuring the general wellbeing and peaceful co-existence of Nigeria as a country.