By Vincent Ujumadu

Awka — WORRIED by frequent marriage breakdowns, especially among Christian couples, members of the Onitsha Metropolitan Council of the Knights of St Mulumba, KSM, have evolved ways to sustain stability in marriages, especially at this period of economic recession in the country.

Participants at the marriage seminar, which took place at the Mulumba Hall of the St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Awka were drawn from the 39 sub-councils of KSM in the three states of Anambra, Enugu and Ebonyi.

Participants at the marriage seminar in Awka

The Onitsha Metro Advocate of KSM, Bro Zeph Anyaogu, who chaired the event, observed that success of every home depended on the stability of the marriage, explaining that KSM decided to set up marriage counseling committee at the Metro level and marriage counseling units at the sub-council level because of the discovery of enormous pressure on families due to the economic downturn in the country.

Anyaogu explained that the Awka seminar was a kind of training the trainers, who would subsequently train other Knights on how to counsel families to ensure stability in the homes.

Dr. Ben Emeasoba, who delivered a paper titled ‘Family Challenges in Contemporary Society’, observed that the pursuit of money had left modern couples little time to enjoy their marriages and raise their children.

He said: “The ability to bear hardship has been eroded by a pervasive atmosphere of cross less Christianity and a prosperity mentality. It has been observed that if money does not flow in the quantity that will satisfy some people, the resultant inconvenience, real or imagined, is often crisis.”

In another paper titled, ‘Counseling: The healing process’, Professor Felix Uzoka said those counseling families should possess great observatory skills required to do the job.