Importance Of The Family To National Development

Importance Of The Family To National Development

There is no gainsaying that the family is the bedrock of the society.

It is made up of a man and woman with their siblings in either a nuclear or extended family system.

As the oldest institution ordained by God, this process forms villages, regions, and countries.

Several countries come together to constitute a continent while the continent makes up the world.

The foundation of this entire process is the family that plays crucial roles in society.

The family is the principal institution for the socialization and upbringing of children.

The importance of the family unit to the overall development of the nation can not be underestimated, without which there can not be a nation.

There is, therefore, the need to strengthen the family unit to inculcate a strong moral value in children for a better tomorrow.

This important family role made the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1992, to separate a day every year to celebrate the family.

This is to raise awareness on issues relating to families and also increase knowledge on how different economic, demographic, and social processes affect the family.

The theme for this year’s celebration is “families and climate change”.

This year’s observance focuses on the need to increase awareness regarding the effects of climate change on families and encourage them to take action to mitigate these impacts as family and community initiatives play a vital role in climate action by providing education, information access, training, and community participation.

It is also an opportunity to emphasise the importance of maintaining strong relationships with relatives, thereby benefiting both individual families and society as a whole.

It has been said that with a strong family, a nation becomes virile.

Therefore, all hands must be on deck to provide the family system with all required necessities to enhance family development.

It is quite clear that some challenges currently confronting the country, ranging from corruption, drug addiction, cultism, teenage pregnancy, kidnapping, child abuse, domestic violence, terrorism and prostitution have their foundation in dysfunctional family units.

As part of measures to reduce the impact of these challenges, the family unit must be bound together in love, and children must be raised with the fear of God coupled with moral values.

These will bring about a good and peaceful country, where social vices are reduced to the minimum.

If the nation must make meaningful progress in all spheres of life, the family, which is the mirror by which the success or otherwise of any society is measured, must be strengthened.

The federal government should, therefore, initiate policies aimed at ensuring equal opportunities and participation for all.

It must also create viable platforms for families to bond and contribute meaningfully to the development of the country.

Knowing that development is about the people, government programmes should be geared towards lifting more families out of poverty.

It also behoves parents to rise up to the responsibility of training their children with love and affection for stronger family ties.

By Fawzeeyah Kasheem, Edited By Grace Namiji