Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat has charged parents to comply with laid down protocols of child upbringing and inculcate contentment and good morals into their children to have a progressive nation.
The Deputy Governor gave this admonition on Sunday at the 3rd Ramadan Lecture and Prayer in memory of the Late Oba Muftau Olatunji Hamzat, themed: “Child Upbringing in Islam”, held at Ogba, Lagos.
Dr. Hamzat, who emphasised that no nation will develop when the citizens do not do well, stated that it is the duty of every parent to follow the laid down childcare protocol and make sure that every child is well trained.
He said, “As parents, we should ensure proper child upbringing and don’t let our children believe that they can always get what they want. We should train them about contentment, being respectful to elders and their mates, comportment, humility, humane, hard work, perseverance, and other values that make a complete human being”.
Speaking further, the Deputy Governor advised parents to spend more time with their children despite their busy schedules, adding that it is important for them to make their children understand the essence of life, what it means, what is needed to be done, and how things should be done.
While describing the topic of the lecture as very apt as it is a major challenge facing the country presently, Dr. Hamzat stressed the importance of proper parenting and enjoined parents to give priority to their children’s upbringing and train them in the way of the Almighty Allah, particularly with the Gen Z that needs adequate and effective monitoring due to their exposure to the internet.
“If you don’t train them well, somebody else will train them on the internet. Somebody that they don’t know, somebody that doesn’t share their values will train them for you. So we just have to be very careful with our children”, the Deputy Governor stated.
He, therefore, tasked parents to instil their cultural values, ethics, morals and discipline into their children so that they can grow as responsible children that obey and fear the Almighty Allah and not as internet children.
Similarly, the Executive Chairman of Ifako-Ijaiye Local Government, Prince Usman Akanbi Hamzat, urged parents to inculcate in their children good morals and values as they are the major trainers of children and the best way to train a child is to look after them right from birth.
He added that parents should be of good character because children emulate what they see in their parents and this is what they will eventually portray, saying “with good characters at home, the teaching of the book of God and good education I think with that the kids will be of good behaviour in the community”.
In his lecture titled: “Child Upbringing in Islam”, Chairman, Council of Muslim Ummars of Ifako-Ijaiye/Ojokoro, Sheikh Ismail Ali Agbayawo stated that having children goes beyond having one to send on errands or bury them when they die, or to take care of them at old age; rather, a child is begotten to live after the parent and demonstrate the good teachings and legacies of the parents.
He, therefore, charged parents to bring up their children in a Godly way and ensure that they expose them to both western and moral education to be responsible to themselves, their parents, and their community.
He also called on the government to ensure that they get closer to the citizens and remembers to fulfil all electioneering promises as the people are now more exposed and cannot be taken for granted now.
His words, “Gone were those days that politicians associated with just the Community Development Associations, Christians Association of Nigeria or the Islamic Community, the last election has shown that the government must practice all-inclusive governance”.
Earlier in his welcome address, the President, Ifako-Ijaiye Muslim Community, Alhaji Lateef Ayodeji Sunmonu noted that the third Memorial Ramadan Lecture is to pray to Allah to direct the leaders on the right path and make life easier for every Nigerian. He further solicited support for the completion of the Ifako-Ijaiye Muslim Community Islamic Centre.
