Conference Seeks to Strengthen Family Values, Heal Society

James Emejo in Abuja

The fifth edition of the Strengthening Families Conference (SFC) 2023 has been scheduled to hold in Abuja.

With the theme: “Strengthening Marriages”, the conference seeks to among other things address challenges currently confronting families and society in general as well exploring lasting solutions to these limitations.

The SFC is a non-denominational event sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Saints – and open to all denominations and religions.

The conference, which had been held in Ghana for four consecutive times had contributed immensely to promoting projects and programmes that support family units worldwide and with special reference to the West African sub-region.

Speaking at a briefing in Abuja, the church’s Director of Communication, West Africa Region, Mr. James Owusu-Ansah, told THISDAY, “We hope that we can work to bring some hope to families, especially in West Africa which is devastated by the various challenges that come from them and help them find hope in daily decisions and choices because that would make them strong and together, we forge ahead with unity.”

He said the organisers believed that “When families are strengthened, by default, the society will be well” adding that even though the event is an initiative of the church, “we work with people and institutions of like-minds to improve families; to address challenges that confront families and find lasting solutions to these challenges”.

The event, which is slated for June 21 and 22, 2023, seeks to bring together collaborators – people from within and outside the church – and will try to establish a nexus between societal ills and distortions in family values.

Also, the church’s Director of Seminary and Institute, Area 70, West Africa, Elder Raymond Egbo, said the family remained the bedrock of any society adding that addressing the limitations therein could fix the current challenges that societies are grappling with.

He said, “Whether you are a Christian or Muslim or you do not believe in God at all, one of the things you have a soft spot for is your family. In times of excitement or crisis, the first thing everybody does is think about their families.

“The family binds us together even stronger than religion; it is one of the converging points that Muslims, Christians, Hindus and people who don’t believe in God have in common.

“If we get it right at the family level, we will get it right at a societal level. We complain of vices – the vices that threaten the existence and peace in our societies started because one family somewhere was not looking out for each other as they should.”

On strengthening marriages which is the theme of the conference, Egbo said, “Divorce courts are filed with excitements. Some people go to divorce courts just to hear interesting stories that happened between men and women and they use that as a past-time.

“But all that can change; if a man or a woman goes into the institution of marriage, prepared for what they would face; no one can be over prepared but everyone can prepare to understand that it takes commitment, love, endurance, forgiveness, and be your best self. The marriage is not a place to misbehave but a place to put up your best behaviour.”

He said prominent family, value-oriented personalities, cutting across the divide – cultural, north to south, and east to west, including pastors, imams among others have been scheduled to speak at the conference.

According to him, “We don’t dominate discussions at the conference or present our own ideals about the family as the foremost concept that should be thought. It’s not just about the church and the bible but every good thing that we need to promote families.”

On her part, the church’s Social Media Specialist, Kehinde Olusoga, said the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the main sponsor of the conference, and its major collaborators discovered after painstaking research that family values are fast eroding and no longer exist in many families.

“The church and its collaborators on that note made it a point of duty to sustain this epoch-making event in Abuja Nigeria as its laudable contribution towards supporting and sustaining marriages.

“The SFC Abuja 2023 will assemble prominent and professional individuals, and institutions within Nigeria and across the globe to feature in panel discussions, goodwill messages, and paper presentations.

“The beauty of the conference is the wide spectrum of speakers and discussants drawn from across all divides, religions, and races.”