By Simeon Ndaji

Rape and ritual killings are aberrations people condemn all over the world, but when it has to do with rape of minors and ritual killings involving children like what is happening in Nigeria it is absolutely despicable.

The situation is worrisome because it is continually assuming a profound dimension daily. Even a cursory look into the root cause of this malady is traceable to the lapses in the home-up bringing of children by parents; and mothers play pivotal roles…

In an interview with a UK-based educationist/counsellor Peter Ogudoro spoke on this issue.

Excerpts:

Should parents be held responsible for incessant cases of rape of minors and ritual killings of children?

The truth of the matter is that the economic challenge and changes in social environment have made all of us to come to conclusion that all we need to be happy today is money. This is a wrong notion for money does not guarantee happiness; and the effect in this wrong assumption is that parents especially the mothers have abandoned their traditional role of bringing up their children properly, and preparing them for leadership in search of money through the pursuit of career goals.

The evidence we have states clearly that most successful people who have balance are individuals who were brought up by mothers who created time for them. The absence of effective fatherhood as a result of special economic challenges are wrong assumptions promoted largely by Western culture has worsened the situation. Our children are getting all their learning from television which in the case of Nigeria is delivering how the West live life, and not the way life should actually be lived.

The western society have themselves come to the realisation that they have made mistakes with respect to many aspects of family values and are now working hard to effect damage control. African societies are oblivious of this, and have continued to copy what the West has abandoned in search of all profitable values.

For example, in Sweden, a woman and her husband officially get a whole year to sit at home and take care of their new born baby. This replicated in other Nordic countries like Norway and Denmark. But in Nigeria, women have only three months of maternity leave .when they put to bed. What it means is that the baby gets only six weeks of attention — and the parents make alternative arrangement to take care of the baby when the mother resumes work.

The government of Sweden gives the couple officially one year to take care of the baby.

Why are these anomalies on the increase?

We have not put enough protection in place at different levels of the society including giving a girl child the type of education that gives her enough confidence to say ‘NO’ to what she does not like, and report her abuses to law enforcement agents. There is the angle of provocative dressing on the part of young girls which takes us back to the influence of Western culture. These are basic problems. Note also that our law enforcement mechanism is week—which only protects the high and might, not the underdogs.

Parents were inculcating the right values in their children in the olden days, but the reverse is the case today. Why are they failing in their roles?

In those days parents and children shared together and learned together. There were exposed to the same communication signals. It is not the same today. Poor people, market women, taxi drivers have DSTV at home and their children are exposed to all kinds of things—nudity, sex, music, immorality, blue films etc. Some of these things are not quite favourable to children upbringing. In fact, Satellite television has made a mincemeat of African culture because wrong cultures are promoted through DSTV, Laptop, PSP etc., and the internet has made the world a global village.

In the light of the challenge what are the educational institutions, churches, mosques, NIPR, counsellors and other stakeholders doing to curb the anomaly?

We don’t have a good philosophy of education as a country—meaning that we don’t even know what purpose our educational system should serve.

The second major problem is the so-called stakeholders who have the responsibility to promote progressive culture in Nigeria lack understanding and skill needed to make helpful contributions.

My colleagues are not adequately equipped because they have not been assisted by their employers to acquire the resources they need to help the society optimally. Imagine you are professor of Guidance and Counselling, you don’t belong to any global association and you don’t attend international conferences and you depend on the books you wrote 20 years ago, and you have made that the Bible students need to pass their exams. You have not updated any knowledge in your field.

As a professional counsellor if l depended on what l studied in the university l will not operate at the level I’m operating today.

What is the essence of our education?

One of the courses you study abroad is School and Society, and such course deals with society and parents. My father taught many things through proverbs, and such knowledge is quite relevant in life. There is no university in the world that teaches proverbs.

A good philosophy of education should incorporate competent skillful hands to run our educational system. Most of our teachers are misfits who can’t deliver what good philosophy of education is all about.

Why is our Government not taking any step to proffer solution to the societal ills?

Government has a lot of issues to grapple with; they are distracted to face the challenges. So the days of our salvation is far.

Where is the way out of the woods?

The way out is reorientation that must begin from our educational system. We have identified that we don’t have the right philosophy of education. The education we offer today lack the capacity to be of much help. The right philosophy of education will develop courses/curriculum that will deal with our peculiar challenges as a people.

How will the right education rub off on the parents?

Our understanding of education is to pass exams and get jobs in the bank and oil companies. Such education cannot deal with our problems. Abroad they have moved away from such educational philosophy. They are rather developing curricula that will meet their challenges that will proffer lasting solutions. Any problem that arises they create the course that will address it and people apply to study them.

The education we offer must address our peculiar challenges as a people.