Felix-Adejumo, Others Encourage Parents to Make Children’s Future Priority

Rebecca Ejifoma

Parenting is one of the most challenging yet rewarding jobs in the world. This is a fact that global speakers like Funke Felix-Adejumo, and the I Need to Know Foundation have come to terms with when they beckoned on parents and guardians to love and invest in their children more.

This counsel was one of the highlights of the third edition of the Parents Forum powered by the I Need to Know Foundation in Lagos state. 

“As parents, we want what’s best for our children, and one of the most important things we can do is to love them unconditionally,” says Felix-Adejumo.

According to the global speaker, a robust parent-child relationship is essential for a child’s healthy social, emotional, cognitive, and motivational development.

She insisted that when children feel loved, they are more likely to develop a secure attachment, which can lead to better outcomes for them. 

With the theme, “Parenting against All Odds,” the President of the Funke Felix-Adejumo Foundation, Funke Felix-Adejumo (a Reverend), succinctly drove home her points.

“The illiterate of the 21st Century are not the people that can read and write,” she cited. “But the people that cannot unlearn.

“We need to start learning. This generation we are dealing with is knowledge-based.”

Her counsel to parents includes loving, training, befriending, and listening to their children. “Do this so that they will become vulnerable. They have feelings, too.”

While underscoring the significance of such a family conference, Felix-Adejumo expressed dissatisfaction at the low turnout of fathers.

Her words: “I expected that we would have more fathers here. There’s a time bomb that is ticking. We need to start investing in our children.”

She also reminded parents and guardians that the child they nurture today would nourish them tomorrow.  

Arguing that the labour age has long withered, the global speaker and author cautioned parents against being swayed by social media. “Not everything that glitters is gold,” she chipped in.

The Founder of the I Need to Know Foundation, Mrs. Vivian Kayode-Yusuf, said the initiative stemmed from their work with children, teenagers, and young adults. 

“Following our interaction with them,” she noted, “we saw the need to follow up on parents.” 

She and her team saw the need to bring the parents into the picture. “It will amaze you that most of these children, in themselves, are good. For a lot of them, their parents are their problems.”

Kayode-Yusuf, however, lamented the sordid number of absent parents and those who are “too busy doing nothing.” 

According to her, she continues to caution parents of the imminent danger of not paying attention to their children. 

“If you make all the money in the world, and your children are nowhere to be found, who are you making the money for?” she argued. 

The convener, therefore, called for parents to be available for their children. “We need parents that will groom these children.

Other speakers, who engaged the minds of parents and guardians, included the President of the Global Centre for Drug Eradication, Mr. Keji Hamilton, the CEO of No Left-Over Nigeria Ltd, and Mrs. Ayodeji Megbope.

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