Be Agents Of Peace, Wike, Others Urge Fathers

The Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, has felicitated with fathers on the occasion of the Fathers Day, urging them to be agents of peace, discipline, uprightness and development.
In a message on the celebration of the 2017 Fathers Day, Wike advised fathers to work with mothers to build homes that will contribute meaningfully to the growth of the state and humanity.
He charged fathers to be worthy role models to their children, pointing out that their role remains critical to the peace and development of the state.
The governor assured all families in the state that his administration will continue to implement projects and programmes that will empower them to cater for the needs of their children.
He appealed to fathers to use the occasion of the 2017 Fathers Day to re-dedicate themselves as fathers, meditate on the significance of their paternal duties, and strengthen their family structures for the sake of their children.
He said as a father himself, he will continue to live an exemplary life that will serve as an encouragement to other fathers in the state.
In a statement earlier, the Deputy Governor of Rivers State, Dr. Ipalibo Harry Banigo, called on fathers not to shirk their responsibilities to their families no matter the challenges that may confront them.
According to Banigo, fathers were supposed to be symbols of discipline and mentorship in homes, stressing that the family becomes dysfunctional when a father fails to play his role.
She said unruly behaviour, truancy, cultism and gangsterism amongst young people can be traced to the absence of a fatherly figure in their lives, and urged fathers to ensure that they direct their children to the right path at all times.
The deputy governor, who quoted Proverbs 22 verse 6; “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it”, said it behoves on fathers to be up and doing in the upbringing of their children.
“I remember with nostalgia how I was groomed by my father during my formative years, and today, I am a public health physician and a deputy governor,” she said to underscore the importance of fatherly tutelage.
She enjoined fathers not to renege from training their female children, adding that, “It is because my dad was determined to train me to my fullest potential that I have been able to succeed in life today”.
Banigo, who felicitated with the state Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, on the Father’s Day celebration, said despite being a young man, he has continued to discharge his responsibilities creditably as the father of the state.
Similarly, a cleric, Rev. Maxwell Onyia, has urged fathers to promote love and understanding in homes through closer family ties.
Onyia gave the advice, yesterday, while delivering a homily at a Fathers’ Day Service held at the Anglican Church of Ascension, Enugu.
He said that the disciplining of children should be done with love, adding that a father should also show understanding to his spouse in the home.
The cleric said that most fathers had scattered their homes through meanness and lack of love to their wives and children.
“That fathers are losing out in the household communication and communion is a known fact.
“Today, in most homes even where fathers are providing the needed daily bread and necessities, they are still seen as highly rigid and unapproachable.
“Children today confide more in their mothers that listen to them.
“Thus, fathers are largely isolated and left out of affairs and the sharing found in most homes.
“This scenario has made most fathers to stand alone in their homes,’’ he said.
The cleric therefore urged fathers to start cultivating closeness to the children by ensuring that a child clearly understood why he or she was being scolded.
“The present computer-age child is no longer attuned to the authoritarian stand of some fathers, especially when they want to assert their authority as a man without any cause for it,” he said.
Onyia also urged fathers to spend more time with their families, instead of hanging out always in joints with friends and peers.
“Fathers should return home and strive to understand their homes.
“They should understand the individual differences in their children, which make them unique from one another in terms of characters and their view points,’’ he said.
One of the leaders of fathers’ fellowship in the church, Chief Temple Udeh, said that the fellowship was meant for spiritual upliftment and interaction among fathers.