Does your child really belong to you? Can your child really belong to you to the point that you have unfettered access to his/her soul, spirit and body to the point that you can do and undo as it pleases you with THE PERSON OF THE CHILD?

To who does the child belong is a question we hardly ponder on in Africa both in conversations with ourselves and with the child, yet it goes to the root of the child’s personal and social identity and constitute one the pillars in laying a solid foundation of purposeful childhood for a meaningful adulthood.

Growing up in Orere-Owu Street, Ado Ekiti, old Ondo State and later Okedasa Street, Ondo it was a question that was never within the radar of conversation at home and the community(religious places of worship, schools etc.). Our studies in school, according state approved curriculum did not deem this discussion necessary for our holistic development and I am not sure the tide has changed today.

When a child does not know to who he/she belongs or the closest persons to him/her are confused as to this reality or do not even discuss same, we initiate the child into the confusion of where to place his/her loyalty in life. 

In retrospecting over the childhood I was denied of, one of the first questions I have asked was that would the attitude of my parents and others, who truncated my childhood been different if they had asked and answered the questions: to whom does this child really belong?

Let me quickly state here that children belong to 5 institutions in hierarchical proportion and they play different roles in the life and well-being of the child. The hierarchical is not necessary for the purpose of loyalty to the institutions. Loyalty is beyond the hierarchy.

For the child to live soundly and maximize his/her potentials in life, it is my humble submission that the child must be deliberately intimated with who he/she belongs, in which order and their roles. Once this is skillfully done, one of the early results is that the child develops an order of allegiance to these institutions and becomes a solid rock members of society on whom we can all count on.

On Saturday, February 29, 2020 at our PARENTING According to SOCIAL PROTECTION conversation, we will answer these salient questions practically: what are these 5 institutions to which the child legitimate belong? What are the fundamental and globally accepted and enunciated principles guiding their relationships with the child? Is there an hierarchy of authorities in these institutions and how does that instructs the child’s allegiance?  How does the child’s knowledge of these institutions and their roles impact his/her sense of identity? Which of these institutions is saddled with the primary roles of  helping the child understand who he/she belongs, why and how?

Please register here right NOW https://bit.ly/2TOm989 and kindly share within your areas of influence.

Thank you and do have an INSPIRED day.

Yours IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE PRECIOUS AFRICAN CHILD,
Taiwo AKINLAMI