By CHIEDU UCHE OKOYE

A political stalwart and international business man, Hon. Obinna Igboebisi, has advised fathers not to shirk their parental responsibilities.

He gave the fathers the advice on the occasion of the commemoration of the Father’s Day, which is observed yearly on every third Sunday of June, globally.

Igboebisi, who is a father, adverted the fathers’ minds to the corollaries that would arise from their abandonment of their fatherly duties.

“As Christ is the head of the church, so are fathers heads of families. And because they are fathers, they should play their fatherly roles.

“But if they fail to carry out their duties as fathers, their children would be neglected. And they would grow up to become maladjusted young people,” Igboebisi said.

More so, the leader of the revered Nze na Ozo in Uruowulu village, Obosi, Nze Chijioke Ejindu defined a father as a man who has children and wards, who depend on him for guidance and provision of their material needs.

“A father is a man who takes care of the material needs of his biological and non-biological children. He provides the basic necessities for them.

“Again, as stakes are provided for yam tendrils for twining to guarantee the farmers plenteous yam harvests, so are fathers needed by children for guidance in order that they would become achievers in the world.

“More so, a father complements the motherly roles played by his wife to ensure the existence of of peace and unity and progress in the home,” Ejindu said.

In his own comment regarding father’s day, Mrs. Njideka Okoyeagu congratulated fathers on their celebration of the father’s day.

And see begged women to desist from making excessive demands for money and material things from their hubbies.

She noted that some men had embraced criminal lifestyles in order to live up to the expectations of their wives.

“I am congratulating all fathers on their commemoration of the Father’s Day. But I am begging the wives to be home-builders, and not home-breakers.

“Many a man had taken to a life of crime because their wives made ceaseless demand for money from them,” Okoyeagu said.

Fatherhood is a thing of joy. And men who have joined the club of fathers are expected to live up to people’s expectations and billings.

As heads of families, they are the lodestars that should guide their children and wards and provide the moral compass for them.

•Chiedu Uche Okoye is of the Anambra State Ministry of Information.