DON CALLS ON RELIGIOUS BODIES TO DISABUSE MINDS OF YOUTH ON ILL-GOTTEN WEALTH

OGHENETEJIRI NYERHOVWO

Religious bodies as well as other relevant institutions have been called upon to use their various organizations to shape the mindset of the youth against ill-gotten wealth.
This call was made by Dr. Hilary Owamah of the Delta State University made the call on Saturday during the investiture ceremony for the Conferment of Education Ambassadors on some distinguished educationist in Warri.
The Associate Prof. of Civil Engineering said that the quest for ill-gotten wealth had led to the moral decadence in the society, he then urged all and sundry to stand against it.
The university don while delivering lecture on the topic titled: “Attaining Academic Excellence, the Role of Education Stakeholders and Ambassadors” said that education was the bedrock of any developed society.
According to Dr. Owamah, “if you are not educated, you are a bandit in-waiting.”
He blamed the parents on this ugly development and allayed  the fear that the future of the youth and the country might be mortgaged or jeopardised if urgent steps was not taken to address it.
According to Owamah, parents celebrate the ill-gotten wealth of their children without questioning the sources of those wealth and called for a total change of mindset.
He added, “the interest in education from the perspective of the youth has fallen drastically and this can largely be blamed on the society because we are now celebrating moral decadence.  Parents celebrate the wealth of their children without asking for the sources of the wealth. Today, parents buy laptop for their children to do internet fraud  otherwise known as “yahoo yahoo”.
Dr. Owamah added, “you see school drop outs, criminals and fraudster making the money while graduates can not find job. We are in a society that is disconnect, a society that has lost its moral values. The Lawyers, Engineers, Journalists and other great professionals are no longer role models in the society but the criminals and this has shifted the mindset of the youth from acquiring education”.
Dr. Owamah said that before now, parents were role models to their children through education noting that the situation has changed, he attributed this development to the celebration of ill gotten wealth.
“Dr. Owamah added, “education gives one the ability to look at issues theway they are and make the rightful decisions. It helps to mode good characters.We must put an end to the celebration of ill-gotten wealth.  Churches, mosque, educational system and others must rise upto the challenge because we are all celebrating ill-gotten wealth.”
He urged students to set target for themselves and worked towards it stressing that knowledge was like a software that needed to be installed in their body to move on in life.
The university don, while calling on all institutions to rise up to their responsibilities, urged the federal government to invest more in education and also create employment to absorb the teeming unemployed youth.
Earlier in his opening remark, Mr Tony Okwunebe, the convener and publisher, Nigeria Radar Magazine said that the aim of the programme was to chart a new course for the educational system in Delta.
According to Mr. Okwunebe, “it will encourage those in the educational sector to put in more of their best so that we can have a better future for our yout.”
Highlights of the event was the presentation of certificates of Honour to some distinguished educationist.
One of the beneficiaries, Mr McCarthy Ijiebor, Chairman, Sizzlers expressed his appreciation to the convener for the honour.