Parents must be held accountable for their children’s offences- Community head

Mojisola Lawal

A Lagos community leader, High Chief Kehinde Kalejaiye has lent his voice to the planned amendment of the State Anti-Cultism Law by the Lagos State House of Assembly which proposes severe punishment for parents of children found guilty of cultism.

Kalejaiye in a statement made available to newsexplorersng.com disclosed that parents are to be held responsible for the actions and inactions of their children as they are the foundation on which child’s morality lies.

According to him, like a shepherd, every parent should be responsible for the conduct of their children noting that the child is the mirror of the parents’ character.

He stressed further “We are in an evolving society where good moral is wearing away while the society celebrates bad conduct and immoralities. Societal ills and crimes like cyber-crime, Yahoo-Yahoo, armed robbery and banditry, rape and cultism are reflection of the kind of parental upbringing inculcated in today’s youths.

Many parents have failed in their responsibilities of watching every step of their children. Why is this so? Some will blame poverty. While I partly agree that poverty is responsible for why many parents couldn’t control or check the excesses their children, I think our children in their adult years are what we make of them in their early years.
If a child is adequately fed with good morals and contentment, he will not grow up to become a menace to the society. Such child will not grow up to become a fraudster and a cultist. And from what I have seen, many of these cultists after graduating from school ended up becoming armed robbers. But with this new bill we can be rest assured that cultism will be reduced in the State.”

While commending Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt Hon. Mudashiru Obasa and other members for the “Unlawful Societies and Cultism (Prohibition) Bill, 2020” which had scaled through the second reading through a voice vote, Kalejaiye said parents of children found guilty of cultism must be answerable for the crime of their ward.

He stated “The proposed punishment is intended to prohibit unlawful societies and cultism in Lagos State. As a community leader, I am highly concerned about happenings not only in my immediate community but also in Lagos State. Considering the level of crime and cult related activities in the State, if the bill is eventually passed into law, it will bring about reduction in crime rate and make parents more responsible and watchful to know the kind of friends their children keep and the association they belong. I therefore want to appeal to all the parties involved to ensure quick passage of the bill to make our society more habitable.”

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