We have failed our children, Minister laments

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, has lamented the level of moral decadence among Nigerian children and said that the parents have failed.

Speaking on Saturday in Kaduna at a stakeholders’ engagement with 77 district heads, religious and community leaders from the 23 Local Government Areas of Kaduna State, Ahmed regretted that parents no longer instill values in their children.

She, therefore, called on parents to ensure they bring up the young ones with values that instill uprightness in them.

“We are calling the attention of parents that we have failed our children in the sense that the kind of values we use to have is no more.

“We need to remind ourselves that our children need to be upright and that this criminality going on, on a daily basis, is not for their benefits and the benefit of the state and country,” Ahmed said.

On President Muhammadu Buhari’s efforts to assist the youths, she said that the government had created a N75 billion entrepreneurship support fund for the youths.

According to her, the fund is meant to help them to grow their businesses, actualise their innovative and entrepreneurial ideas, be productive and become employers of labour.

READ ALSO: Nigerian govt clarifies position on regulation of social media

Speaking earlier, the deputy governor of Kaduna State, Hadiza Balarabe, urged the stakeholders to ensure they sensitise their communities on why they must at all times be obedient to the law of the land.

“As good citizens, it is part of our civic duty to support the government in the development of the state.

“So, we need these interactions between the government, traditional, and religious institutions that allow us to reason together.

“It is agreed that there are problems, but the government is doing all it can to address them. I urge all on the need to join forces to save society from those seeking to destroy it.

“This is a responsive government and we have listened to the demands of our people and are doing our best to address them,” she said.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now