Stakeholders urge proper upbringing of children

Deaconess Monisola Fadoju, founder of Fruitful Welfare Initiative for Women and Children, and other faith-based stakeholders say proper upbringing of children is vital to national development.

They stated this at the ‘2024 children’s love feast’ organised by the NGO on Sunday in Abuja.

Fadoju urged parents to raise their children in a godly way to impact positively the future of the country.

“When you bring up a well-trained child train, you bring up a just nation,” she said.

According to her, introducing Christ to the children at a very tender age makes them to have the character of God in them.

“It also makes them different from others wherever they go to. Just like Daniel in the Bible, as teenager, he was taken as a slave to Babylon, but he decided to be different from others,” she said.

Similarly, Pastor Paul Adegbola, Teenagers’ Assembly Pastor, Christ Apostolic Church, Durumi-Abuja, also tasked parents with the proper upbringing of children through godly teachings.

Adegbola said that the challenges confronting the society could not be addressed by intellectual and scientific knowledge but through the knowledge of God.

“The scripture says, teach a child in the way he will go, so that when he grows he will not depart from it. That is what we need.

“ If you look at a lot of things happening in our society today, you will find out that a lot of these children are not exposed to the knowledge and the fear of God from their creed.

“When many of them entered university or secondary school they met their peers who advised them to do what is not of God.

“Because they were not well rooted in the knowledge of the word of God, they were easily swayed aside to do the wrong thing,’’ he said.

Adegbola also urged the government to put in place policies that would encourage religious studies and moral discipline in schools.

Also, Elder Jones Adeyinka, a retired Director at the Ministry of Police Affairs, advised parents to engage their children in Bible clubs to acquire God’s knowledge that would benefit them in the future.

Adeyinka also stressed the need for parents to monitor their children in higher institutions of learning, through unannounced visitation.

“As parents, you need to follow-up on your children when they are in secondary and tertiary institutions.

“Pay them surprise visits in schools, no matter the distance. This will go a long way to help them in the fear of God,’’ he said.

Adeyinka commended the founder of the initiative for her consistency and commitment to the proper upbringing of children in a godly way.

On his part, David Effiong, a 10-year-old student, urged parents to prioritise the education of their children in 2025.

He also urged the government to reduce the cost of education in the country.

“The lesser the cost of education, the higher the number of children who will be enrolled in school, and the better for the nation,’’ Effiong said.