Dr Okafor Emefesi, President of a Bauchi-based non-governmental Organisation, Couples Network International, has advocated for the establishment of ‘Ministry of Marriage and Family Affairs’.
Emefesi made the call in Bauchi on Saturday while delivering a speech on behalf of his Organisation during a seminar tagged ‘Women’s Health Improvement Seminar on Osteoporosis and Arthritis- Natural ways to maintain and sustain strong bones.”
He explained that the establishment of such ministry would help in addressing the myriad of challenges bedeviling marriages and the family institution, resulting in their failure to play the stabilising roles expected.
According to him, enduring marriages are paramount for the survival of the family institution, and the two are vital in checking social vices that have been threatening the survival of the country as a nation.
“Concerning the stability and progress of Nigerian families, the Federal Government should establish a Ministry of Family and Marriage Affairs.
“This will bring a lasting solution to the crises facing Nigerian families. The survival of the Nigerian families is crucial to the survival of the nation at large,” he said.
Emefesi further called on government to establish Women Development Banks in order to empower women to be economically self-reliant, saying “women are the drivers of the economy who are also actively involved in family production.”
He also noted that the major problem facing Nigeria was not religious bigotry or ethnicity, but poverty.
He said poverty was the number one cause of most of the social ills in the country which had given birth to terrorism, kidnapping, corruption, marital breakdown, ethnic and religious crises, unemployment, as well as youth restiveness.
Speaking on health, Emefesi called on the Federal Government to introduce ‘national policy on calcium supplement for women and children in the country’.
Also speaking, Mrs Aishatu Kilishi, President Federation of Muslim Women Associations of Nigeria (FOMWAN) Bauchi state chapter, said most of the issues that affected women, were calcium related problems and bone issues.
She said bone problems were rampant among the women folk than in men, adding that women were taunted by bone issues because they engaged in domestic and farming activities.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the seminar was organized by FOMWAN, Bauchi state chapter, in collaboration with ‘Couples Network International.” (NAN)
