A career counselor and founder of the Divine Intervention Impact Foundation (DIIF), Oluwafunmilayo Okene, has warned parents against forcing career choices on their children.
She spoke during an educational and charity event organised for students as part of the World Children’s Day Celebration in the Onigbongbo community, Atan-Ota in the Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State.
The programme organised by her foundation with the theme, “My career, my choice,” attracted students from about 15 schools within the community.
Okene, who is also the Assistant Registrar at Crawford University, noted that forcing career choices on children by their parents could be dangerous to society.
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She said many children whose parents forced career choices on them had dropped out and were wandering the streets. The founder of DIIF explained that the NGO was set up to assist indigent students in remote areas in order to attain their full potential.
She said “From my experience, some parents will impose a particular career on their children. Just because Mrs A’s daughter is studying medicine, my son or daughter must also study medicine. That’s why you see many of them drop out or they may struggle to complete the course but may not be useful in that particular aspect.
“But let me tell you, if you pick the wrong career, you can never make it. The fact is that you will not be able to achieve what you want to achieve in life.”
Okene called on the children to think deeply about themselves and their personal strenghts while deciding their career choices.
She also called on the government to redouble its efforts in order to reduce the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria.
The Community Development Committee Chairman Onigbongbo Area, Cornelius Kehinde Olusola commended the foundation for imparting knowledge on the students as well as the educational materials and urging other Nigerians to emulate the gesture.
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