Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, the Governor of Osun State has called on Nigerians, especially married couples to embrace family planning so as to curtail population explosion in the country.
The Governor said that with the spate of insecurity in the land, all hands must be on deck to ensure that the population of the country must not get to the level that the Nigerian state cannot handle.
Aregbesola while addressing people at the 2018 Ramadan Lecture organized by the Osun State Broadcasting Corporation (OSBC), at Oke-Baale in Osogbo, stated that the increase in population had contributed to the security challenge the country is facing.
He said for Nigeria and other parts of the world to enjoy relative peace, parents must begin to inculcate values and virtues into their wards and children.
Aregbesola, speaking on the theme of the Lecture: “Insecurity in Nigeria, Islamic Perspectives to Finding Solution”, said it has become incumbent on parents to complement government efforts at ensuring security of lives and property by reducing the number of children to the number they can adequately take care of.
He described the lack of parental care, poor upbringing and unchecked procreation as causes of security challenges confronting the nation.
Aregbesola charged government at various levels to come up with pro-masses programmes capable of empowering citizens and support their needs for national integration, growth and development.
He emphasised that one of the practical ways to fight insecurity and rescue the country from the menace is for parents to begin to inculcate in their children the virtues of “Omoluabi”.
“As parents, we must do all we could to give our children the best in term of training, education, character and virtues if we are truly serious about addressing security challenges.
“We must be conscious of our population and see the need to embrace family planning as population explosion has been the major factor to security challenge in our country.
“Today, a sizable number of our youths are unemployed, thus contributing to security threats and societal unrest.
“While government at various levels are charged to be alive to their constitutional responsibilities, Nigerians must support and complement government in the actualization of these goals”, Aregbesola stressed.
Earlier in his lecture, the guest lecturer and Chief Imam of Offa, Sheik Muideen Saman Hussain, advocated good governance as panacea to security challenges in the country.
The cleric called on well-meaning Nigerians and religious leaders to support government’s efforts at ensuring the security of lives and property of the citizenry.
Packaged by Rahman Salami
