World Family Day: Matters Arising

The global community last Wednesday celebrated the International Day of Families, in line with United Nations General Assembly Resolution 47/237 which proclaimed May 15 every year as a day to foster and strengthen family units to function effectively for societal development.

The annual observance which began in 1994 was primarily aimed at attracting global interest and attention towards supporting families, as a vital component of societal growth and to equip them properly, to nurture the young, care for the old, and foster strong communities built on tolerance and dignity for all.

This year’s theme: “Advancing Social  Integration and International Solidarity”, is most apt, timely and appropriate, especially against the backdrop of increasing threat to global peace arising from religions extremism, fundamentalism, faith-based hatred and indeed terrorism and other social vices ravaging various parts of the globe.

As the nucleus for character building and moral upbringing of the child the family must play its fundamental role to encourage tolerance, understanding of one another, despite our differences in social, religious, political and cultural background.

As the basic unit of the society and the bedrock for societal development, the family has a sacred role to mould the child’s early life and character into such moral strength that enables  the child to resist negative  peer  group influence and other anti-social  tendencies, which  in his youth could be detrimental to global peace, security, co-existence, cohesion and integration.

Regrettably, however, most families have,  for far too long reneged on this and fallen short of society’s  expectation, and the society has to pay dearly  for deviant behaviours of the child. This must not be the case.

This is where governments come in. To make the family function optimally towards ensuring societal good, governments across the country must equip it through the provision of functional education, technical knowledge, basic health needs and fashion programmes and policies to proactively address poverty alleviation.

Like governments, non-governmental agencies at all levels should also strive to correct the glaring  anomaly of weak family structures  by ensuring adequate access to social, health, and educational services through their programmes to help check the hindrances that seek  to deprive families of opportunity to plan a better future for their children.

Infact, all stakeholders must show sufficient commitment to support and strengthen the family units to enable them play the roles ascribed to them by the society by addressing the challenges facing them, particularly at this time of socio-economic and security challenges.

Evidently, the socio-economic exclusion of the families from policy formulation to execution has, no doubt, posed a clear and present danger with its attendant dis-equilibrium which occasions increasing criminality, violence and other anti societal behaviours.

It is important, therefore that all do understand and appreciate the unique challenges that families face so as to formulate policies and programmes suitable for them, especially in the face of alarming poverty among various families.

Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development: Hajiya Zainab Maina, struck the right chord when she said, the more we understand and appreciate the implications of poverty, particularly, the impact of poverty on the family and society, the better we can design policies in ways that are proactive, comprehensive, effective and functional.

The Tide agrees but regrets that successful Nigerian governments’ educational policies geared towards uplifting the Nigerian child and families have failed to yield commensurate results. An example is the 6:3:3:4 education system aimed at providing technical and vocational skills for the child just as various poverty alleviation polices of successive dispensations have failed to achieve desired objectives which is perhaps why unemployment and poverty rate still pervade amongst  Nigeria families.

As the world celebrates the family day, we expect that government and non-governmental organs at all levels will move beyond the traditional funfair often associated with annual observances and property articulate programmes that truly defend and strengthen the family structure and ensure its expected nurturing and sustenance of enduring values like integrity, fear of God, love for state and nation among the children, to grow and become good citizens and dependable adults.