Members of the National Association of Women in Colleges of Education, (WICE) Southwest Zone, have raised their voices against the menace of parental negligence, attributing it to the cause of sexual violence and other social vices plaguing the nation.
The association came to this conclusion at its sixth Southwest biennial conference themed, ‘Sexual Violence and Parental Negligence in the 21st century: A Challenge to National Growth and Development,’ held at the Federal College of Education(Special), Oyo, recently.
The association asserted that the growth and development of a nation would remain elusive in a society where parental negligence existed; saying lives and property in such a society are not guaranteed.
According to the association, the increasing rate of violence, drug abuse and other related vices perpetrated by the youths in the nation recently call for an urgent attention of parents to tend their toddlers in order to salvage the future of the country and Africa generally.
Speaking at the event, the zonal coordinator of the association, Dr Mrs Roseline Ololade, stated that parental responsibility towards a child’s moral and educational upbringing was key to national development, adding that no society could afford to proliferate untrained and wayward children in this regard.
She noted that “the future of Nigeria is at stake with the increasing rate of ‘bad boys and girls’ in the society,” while expressing worry that Nigeria might begin to experience natural disasters should leadership of the nation fall into their hands.
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She said: “It is high time parents took up their responsibilities in the moral training of their children in order to guide them against public sexual harassment and rescind from all forms of vices in the interest of the family and the nation.
“In this regard, it is of necessity that tertiary institutions in the country give female students’ accommodation a priority, as lecturers remain the loco parentis to all the students, most especially the female ones.”
Speaking in the same vein, the chairperson of the association at the Federal College of Education, Special, Oyo, Chapter, Dr Anthonia Ajobiewe and zonal Public Relations Officer of the association, Dr Mrs Adekemi Fadun asserted that it had become inevitable for Nigerian women to give adequate attention to moral upbringing of their children.
The keynoter at the event, who is also the rector of Federal School of Surveying, Oyo, Dr Dupe Olayinka-Dosumu and the lead paper presenter, Dr OlugbenroAdeniyi, in their presentations agreed that children’s moral education negligence is hazardous to life and property as well as economic development of any nation.
According to them, Nigeria is under the siege of youth violence capable of paralysing the nation›s economy if nothing is done to curtail them adequately.
Chairman, Local Organising Committee (LOC) of the conference, Dr Mopelola Akin-Taylor, described the theme of the conference as timely and necessary to find solutions to the menace and save the nation from collapsing.
“Parenting is a major aspect of life. If the home is all right, every other place will be tolerable. The good, bad and the ugly aspect of a child›s lifestyle starts from the home. To save Nigeria from being destroyed, we must start from the home,” she warned.