Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, has called on parents and religious leaders to address pressing societal challenges, emphasising their role in shaping values and fostering a better future.
Speaking on Sunday at the 20th edition of the Late Justice Muri Okunola Memorial Ramadan Lecture, held at the Radio Lagos/Eko FM Marquee, Hamzat highlighted the critical influence of families and faith communities in instilling moral principles.
He lamented that many parents are failing in their responsibilities, neglecting to equip their children with strong moral foundations, which has led to a decline in societal values.
“Our sermons must now evolve in the mosques and churches. The issue now is how do we start to re-orientate ourselves toward making our society better. As we all know, the corporate world has changed the DNA of our women to what they are not.
“Let us in our sermon as Muslims deal with those contemporary issues, proffering solutions to them. If not, humanity can be in a big problem. My admonishment for us as parents and religious leaders is to look into issues that affect our society and the family unit,” he said.
The Deputy Governor further stressed that many children today are unprepared for the realities of adulthood due to a lack of proper upbringing. “We are now raising children that are not ready for life,” he noted.
Chief Imam of Adangba Central Mosque, Ejigbo, Lagos State, Imam Abdulrahman Sulaiman Adangba, in his lecture titled “The Distress in Family Values & Morality in Our Society: A Multidimensional Approach,” urged Nigerians, particularly Muslims, to embrace truthfulness, proper management, and reliance on Allah as key virtues for societal transformation. He emphasised that parents must strive to create an environment built on peace and integrity.
The cleric further noted that external peace in society fosters internal stability, stressing that Nigerians should uphold values that instil positive morals and can be passed down to future generations.
