Nigerian-Born UK Councillors Seek Tough Measures Against Kids

The Association of Nigerian-born councillors in the UK on Wednesday expressed concern over the current policies of the British government hindering parental discipline.

Adedamola Aminu, Chairman of the group, who raised the concern at a press briefing in London, described such policies and the system as failures.

Aminu, who was commenting on the recent riot across London, said the current policies and system had failed, and urged the government to look into such laws that did not allow for parental discipline.

“Many of the fundamentals that is needed for parental discipline, without labelling parents, even teachers abusive have been taken away by the law. Perpetrators of the four-day riots, which witnessed violence and looting are from our communities and they do have parents but how many of the parents can control these kids without them phoning the police?”

Aminu appealed to government to empower parents and teachers to be able to discipline their children and wards, adding that “it takes a community to raise children and not law enforcers. ”

On the way forward, he said there was need for leaders to work hard to bring back normality to the affected communities.

“Our job now as representatives of the people is to work hard to get our Boroughs back to normal as quickly as possible. “We are already engaging members of the communities in series of town hall meetings within various Boroughs to sensitise parents and youths,” Aminu added.

NAN reports that the association, which has members across the various local government councils in London, was formed in 2006 to promote unity among its members and to serve as a bridge between Nigerians and the UK authorities.

It also aims at enhancing contributions to the welfare and growth of Nigerian communities in the UK.