Special Adviser to Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State on Security, Mr Fatai Owoseni, has described the menace of street children, hoodlums in the country as scary and devastating, warning that should the trend continue, those children on the streets will someday stone parents and those in authority that have neglected them.
Attributing the situation to the preaching of wrong values, parental neglect, erosion of values of togetherness and concern for the other, Owoseni said the rebirth and return to good values must begin from individual homes.
Speaking during the third anniversary of the Hope for Second Chance Foundation (HOSEC) Foundation, in Ibadan, Owoseni noted that the #EndSARS mayhem was a classic example of the loss of good values.
To redress the trend, Owoseni urged parents, especially, to have time for their children rather than preoccupy themselves with chasing money or running their businesses.
Bemoaning the current menace of street children, hoodlums not willing to leave the streets as hopeless, Owoseni urged people to downplay the role of government in addressing the trend but should, from their individual homes, preach the right values, Omoluabi ethos to their children, wards.
Speaking in the same vein, Executive Director/Founder, Hope for Second Chance Foundation, Ibukunoluwa Otesile noted that peace and progress will continue to elude a nation that doesn’t care about its youth population and the less privileged.
To take children and young adults off the streets, she noted the need for the nation to tap into the energy of young adults and keep them busy.
Drawing from experience, she described as baffling situations where street children who were rescued off the streets were quick to return to the streets.
Noting that some children and youths alike were in a confused state and needed a moderator for their lives, Otesile called on all Nigerians to help guarantee the tomorrow of children.
Describing child protection as everybody’s business, she warned that the child not protected today is likely to develop a dysfunctional character that makes him/her unfit for society.
She pointed to the several cases of sexual and gender-based violence attributable to parental neglect to sexual abuse, female genital mutilation, child marriage, denial of education, child labour and child trafficking.
Otesile however urged the state government to support the non-governmental organisations, especially those legitimately focusing on providing a second chance to youths and street children.
Also speaking, a former Dean of the Faculty of Arts, University of Ibadan, Professor Remi Raji urged the state government to show the direction in governance and help in driving nongovernmental foundations focused on taking children off the streets.
Similarly, the Chairman of the occasion, Dr Bayo Jimoh also charged the government at all levels to be keen on enhancing the livelihood of their young ones in the interest of the future of the nation.
In her own remarks, Director, National Orientation Agency (NOA), Oyo state, Mrs Folake Ayoola urged all and sundry to be keen to play their own part towards ensuring a peaceful society by protecting children.
The event saw former Director, NOA Oyo state, Mrs Dolapo Dosumu; Managing Director, Parrot Xtra Magazine, Mr Yinka Agboola decorated as HOSEC Child ambassadors.
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