It was an enlightening and instructive meeting of great minds at the recently concluded 2017 African Regional World Congress of Families as church leaders, government functionaries, civil society groups, stakeholders in the marital and family issues as well as dignitaries from different parts of the world converged to deliberate on issues affecting marriage, family and children development.
The World Congress of Families which was a three-day event held at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Victoria Island Lagos was organised under the auspices of the Foundation for African Cultural Heritage (FACH) to bring people together to have a discourse about issues that has to do with marriage, family, reproductive right and reproductive health as well as to discuss issues that has to do with sexuality and relationship.
The African Representative for Family Health and the Director of FACH, Dr Mrs Theresa Okafor, who spoke to CEOAfrica, stated that the purpose of convening the forum is to unmask the objective truth about marriage and family issues that are shrouded in mysteries and euphemisms, adding that with the forum, people will get an understanding about what they should know about issues affecting the family and comprehensive sexual education.
The conference witnessed a large turnout of dignitaries and participants, among whom are; the President of Family Watch International, Sharon Slater; President of World Congress of Families, Mr Brian Brown; the Campaign Manager for Citizen GO, Mr Josh Craddock and Founder of Pearls and Treasures Trust, Aketch Aimba; the Catholic Archbishop of Ibadan Arch Diocese, Archbishop Gabriel Leke Abegunrin.
President of WCF, Mr Brian Brown in his address, noted the congress is a great place to learn from one another and work together to ensure happier marriages and more stable families because there is so much in the world undermining the life, family and marriage from the national level all the way down to local communities.
According to Mr Brown, “It is important to be here in Africa because the family in under attack all around the world as there is an attempt to redefine marriage and undermine human dignity and there is a high focus on Africa to implement this agenda.”
He further explained that “in order to tackle the issues undermining the sanctity of marriage and protect our families and children from the growing trend of complex sexual orientations, we have to meet together at conferences like this to learn from one another’s experiences. We know that human dignity is worth standing for and no cultural or religious differences will divide us from the common human stand for life, family and dignity.”
He also urged members of the public to stand behind the few individuals- Religious leaders and organisations to speak against abortion, homosexuality and other practices that defy life, family and marriage.
Speaking on the topic “The Protection of Marriage and Family in the 21st Century”, Archbishop Gabriel Abegunrin stated that “all efforts to promote and uphold the image of family should come from the realisation of dignity of humans as image of God. However, the dignity of human person suffers set back because people are preoccupied with other concerns which affects marriage and the family.”
While noting that some family problems emanate from their previous homes, the Archbishop laid emphasis on the importance on marriage and advised that “effective communication has to be established and promoted for families to stand and for marriage bonds to be strengthened.
Speaking from the legal and constitutional point of view, Honourable Jeff Odinaka, a former legislator explained that the laws and constitution of Nigeria holds marriage and family life sacred, adding that activities that run contrary to the sanctity of marriage like; abortion and homosexuality are illegal and they attract severe penalty.
Dr Regina Akosa in her presentation titled “CEDAW and Maputo Protocols: What Research says” condemned the activities of CEDAW and the Maputo protocol in working to legalise abortion and preaching gender equality, adding that the CEDAW committee violate cultural and family values.
She further expounded on why women should not jump on the bandwagon of the Gender equality crusade, noting that such women liberation mentality is only targeted at destroying the values African women already have. She therefore called on women to focus more on their primary role given by God which is to train children to be better people in the society.
In her address, the President of Family Watch International, Sharon Slater gave an enlightenment about the problems of same sex attraction and the dangers encountered when acting out on these unusual attractions.
Mrs Slater, in a video presentation, highlighted the problems associated with homosexuality to include; depression and anxiety, increased risk of HIV/AIDS, hepatitis and other sexually transmitted infections.
While calling on organisations to join in and lend a voice to halt the anti-family agenda, Mrs Slater urged people to stand up for the right of people to get rid of their unwanted same sex attraction. She said “many people struggle with same sex attraction due to no fault of their own because lot of things might have happened to them as they are growing up to create these sexual feelings. So it is important that we reach out, try to help people who have this problem and help them get the help that they need.”
Other speakers at the congress vehemently condemned the current sexual perversities like; homosexuality, bisexuality, incest and many others, describing them as immoral, illegal and unholy activities that threaten the sanctity of God-ordained marriage and family life.
They therefore encouraged people to be prayerful and enjoined them to speak out against these sexual pervasions lest it completely destroys the value of marriage. They also urged women to teach their children the right values for that is the only guarantee for a better world where the values of family life will be respected.
