By Adeyinka Adeniran
Stakeholders have advocated for safe motherhood and responsive fatherhood as key ingredients required for proper upbringing of children while calling for the eradication of child labour in our society.
The stakeholders including experts, academics, non governmental organizations as well as students spoke under the aegis of Strengthening Capacity for Research and Policy Engagement in Shifting Notions of Motherhood and Fatherhood for Improved Children’s Wellbeing in Africa (SCaRPE-A).
The conference organised in collaboration with the Department of History, UI and Women’s Research and Documentation Centre (WORDOC), University of Ibadan, Nigeria held at the Otunba Subomi Balogun Conference Centre, UI.
Highpoint of the conference was the presentation of the policy report titled: “Parenting and children wellbeing In Nigeria: Dynamics, interventions and agenda action”.
The report was presented by the two conveners of the conference, Dr. Mutiat Oladejo, a Senior Lecturer at the Department of History, University of Ibadan and Dr. Sharon Omotoso who is a Senior Research Fellow (Gender/Media Studies) at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan.
The event had scholars from various disciplines who also added their research inputs to the theme of the event.
In his opening remark, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, University of Ibadan, Professor Solomon Oyetade, said organising the Conference on parenting and children wellbeing in Nigeria is an important area of consideration in the world today owing to the changing notions in parenting and child upbringing.
He noted that the upbringing of a child is the collective responsibility of society, but due to the high level of decadence in society nowadays, the upbringing of the child suffers a setback.
He also made reference to how modernity has affected the upbringing of a child and thereby making it worse, the product of this according to him is what he described as (Abi Iko) one who was born but not trained and (Ako Igba) one who received moral training but refuse to put the training into use.
Also, the Head of Department of History, UI, Prof. Rasheed Olaniyi while joining the conversation called for the eradication of child labour in the society.
He attributed some challenges facing children in the society to bad parenting and that adequate steps needed to be taken to address those challenges.
He however enjoined the political elites to address socioeconomic problems confronting the nation as this will reduce economic burden on parents who engage their children in hawking and other forms of street trading when they were supposed to be in school.
Speaking with reporters on the Policy report, Dr. Mutiat Oladejo highlighted some of the challenges facing motherhood in the society which she said have placed burden of child parenting strictly on mother while neglecting important role of fatherhood as an integral component in child upbringing.
She said “We have been in this project since 2021 and our advocacy is to improve children wellbeing and ensure proper child upbringing irrespective of whether you are father or mother.
“Notion of motherhood is usually entangled in the problem of women discrimination, biases against women in the society as there is too much burden on being a mother while fatherhood is relegated to only financial support to mother thereby neglecting the aspect of social, psychological and moral support to the mother.”
She therefore called for responsive fatherhood and safe motherhood to improve parenting and children wellbeing in Nigeria.
The Communique issued at the end of conference however raised numerous issues as it bothers on the theme amd findings of the researchers.
