By Ozioruva Aliu

BENIN CITY – THE Institute of Family Engineering and Development (IFED) few days ago held its 9th African Family Life Delegate Conference tagged: Reclaiming Our Heritage and Strength in Benin City the Edo State Capital where participants called on governments at levels to generate policies and programmes that would lead to creation of jobs, invest in education among other things to make life meaningful for the people.

This, they said, would go a long way in making families succeed and make their positive contributions to making a better society on the African continent and in developing countries.

The IFED is a community of people committed to promoting the dignity of persons in Africa and developing countries through professional family life practice.

The event which was held at the Victor Uwaifo Creative Hub, Benin City, was attended by academia, school children, and government officials.

The Founder and Chief Host, Praise Fowowe said the conference “provides family life practitioners with family system management tools, promote best practice templates in family life practice across Africa and develop solutions to complex family life problems through in-depth research and divine wisdom. The family is a system. There is nobody traveling around the world today that did not emerge from a family so the question is what did they do to them in their families that could have been different so there is need to raise our children properly because they could be leaders of tomorrow. ”

The keynote speaker, Professor Eddy Erhagbe, emphasized the need for government at all levels to provide jobs, education and help families to succeed “Parents that have no jobs, children that have no jobs are likely to be prone to criminal actions as it were.”

The conference featured two panels of discussion on topical issues such as building Centenary family businesses, Reclaiming the family heritage: the ideal African man, and the need to inculcate family values in their children

The conference afforded participants the opportunity to ask questions relating to families, marriage, and parenting.

The Local organizing chairman Dr Teajay Chunu said family is important and urged everyone who attended the program to truly know their identity, adding that “we are Africans because of our values, as it is what makes us who we are.” He encouraged everyone to think global when building a family.