Mrs Mojisola Alli-Macaulay, the lawmaker representing Amuwo Odofin Constituency 1 in Lagos State House of Assembly, on Thursday urged parents to give their children proper training that would help be better citizens.
Alli-Macaulay made the appeal during the Constituency’s Stakeholders’ Meeting which held at Amuwo Odofin Local Government secretariat in Lagos on Thursday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the event was, “Post COVID-19 Pandemic: The Challenges and Prospects.”
According to the lawmaker, the world, not only Nigeria, is plagued with challenges, particularly with the COVID-19 pandemic.
She said that in spite of the challenges facing many countries, the citizens did not stoop to looting and destruction of property.
Alli-Macaulay noted that the family unit had failed in its responsibility to prepare children to be good citizens that could help build the nation.
She added that when her generation was growing up, parents would not allow their wards to bring home things that didn’t belong to them.
The lawmaker said that children were made accountable for their actions, and disciplined when necessary.
She asked: “Where have we gone wrong? Those parents are still alive, why did they stop working?
“Whether they are looking for shelter, clothing, food, they must be responsible for the upbringing of these children.
“The family is the smallest unit and it reflects society.
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“These young people, hoodlums come from homes. What are we doing as parents?”
Mr Gbenga Oyerinde, Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor on Central Business District, urged the populace to key into the state government’s empowerment schemes aimed at helping businesses and curbing poverty.
“There are a lot of opportunities, interventions at the state level for both small and medium-scale businesses.
“We also have a trust fund to support people whose businesses are on the verge of collapse,” Oyerinde said.
Earlier during the interactive session, stakeholders gave suggestions and recommendations that they believed would help improve the constituency.
Pastor Segun Kunrunmi, who represented the Youth Wing of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), urged the state government to create a transfer window to enable parents to transfer their children from private to public schools.
Kunrunmi also urged the government to provide land within the community for mechanised farming to help engage the youths.
Also, Mr Adeyemi Ayilara, President of Amuwo Odofin Landlords Association, urged the government to reenact policies and relax tariffs to help small businesses to thrive.
Others called for a database of residents of the community to aid proper planning, provision of soft loans that could be easily accessed, empowerment schemes and improvement of decaying infrastructures. (NAN)