Family Issues That Affect Nation Building


A family is a group of persons united by the ties of marriage, blood, or adoption, constituting a single household and interacting with each other in their respective social positions, usually those of spouses, parents, children, and siblings. The family group is distinguished from a household, which may include boarders and roomers sharing a common residence, and from kindred (which also concerns bloodlines) but may be divided into several households and having various families too. Frequently, the family is not differentiated from the marriage pair, but in the essence of this article, the family group is the parent-child relationship, which may be absent from the former.
Now nation-building is constructing or structuring a national identity using the power of the state with the aim of unifying the people within the state so that it remains politically stable and viable in the long run. South African Department of Arts see nation-building as “the process whereby a society of people with diverse origins, histories, languages, cultures, and religions come together within the boundaries of a sovereign state with a unified constitutional and legal dispensation, a national public education system, an integrated national economy, shared symbols, and values, as equals, to work towards eradicating the divisions and injustices of the past; to foster unity; and promote a countrywide conscious sense of being proudly South African, committed to the country and open to the continent and the world.” For one to speak of nation building one must mention unification, and for a people to be unified there has to be balanced in every aspect of society.
For a nation to be formed, there needs to be a people, for a people to be formed, there needs to be the birth of individuals, ideas, location, language, and many more.
Here, we link that a nation cannot be formed if there are no people produced from a family.
Alan Walker, in his journal article titled The Family and The Nation, says the family circle remains the nation’s nursery of character, quoting in addition that Hebrew religion has always insisted that healthy family life is the very basis even of political stability.
The fate of families is therefore of very great importance to the nation, Alan concluded.
The Former President of India, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam in his book Family And The Nation The (Hb), stated that ‘only a strong and happy family can lead to the birth of a noble nation.
”As we talk of rising economic prosperity and a strong and confident India, this book gently reminds us of the values that make for a truly sustainable society, at the heart of which is the family. For it is not economic growth or military strength alone that will make India strong. Sustainable success comes from values, and these can sustain a society, and a nation, even in times of hardship”, he wrote.
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Having examined these, it is safe to say that when the family is not functioning well, has issues, then a nation cannot be built to work effectively and efficiently.
Family issues vary from one home to another but for the purpose of this article, we focus on challenges, problems generated within the family or via a member of the family that ends up tampering with societal balance or results to ills in the society, hindering growth in the nation.
Family life can be a place of refuge and security but for some, it is a source of pain and disappointment. Our families absorb many of the stresses and strains from the outside world, and the pressures can boil over.
Sometimes a personal problem, particularly in a young person, can overwhelm a family and there seems to be no clear way forward.
At other times changes within the family leave other members confused and angry or hurt.
1. One major issue in the family that affects nation building is Communication.
Open and honest communication is vital for healthy families. Without clear, effective communication, members of the family won’t feel heard. The absence of communication in the family most times result to the children seeking the attention of outsider which in turn sometimes give birth to sexual assaults, exploitation in different ways and then the cycle of revenge, wrong perceptions to life are birthed, affecting the nation at large.
In a family, there should be the presence of that parent-child relationship where children feel like they can talk to parent(s) about anything, and knowing that their feelings, thoughts, and dreams are valued.
Parents should share feelings with them too.
Sometimes we assume that other people know our needs, feelings, and opinions without telling them., which creates enmity, annoyance, and many other wild thoughts in the minds.
A family can get through a lot with a strong communication system and the products of such families do better in judgment when they link up in the society.
Physical expressions, gestures, and even an affectionate look are all effective ways to communicate.

2. Another issue is Finance/Poverty and this writer thinks out of a hundred, at least 95% of families in Nigeria have this issue.
Financial troubles can add significant tension to any household, although this can be dealt with in various ways, including not only better budgeting and money management, but also a change in the way we look at money and material possessions.
There have been cases of youths who have been arrested for using human body parts for rituals, advanced cybercrime (yahoo plus), etc, most of whom say they are trying to make ends meet as they come from poor homes. Females literarily sell their bodies for money and give the same reason – lack of money.
Some say money is a necessary evil because it has its good and bad sides. No matter the financial issues present in the family, parents need not let it becloud their judgment or overcloud their home that the children begin to develop the mindset that they have to fend for themselves in any and every way possible, a situation which has become the order of the day in a country like Nigeria.
This only results in a major hindrance to nation-building as we all can see, leading to vices of various forms in society.

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3. Of course, when two or more people come together in a place, there is bound to be Conflict.
Disagreements are normal, after all, each individual has his own opinions.
However, when healthy communication falters and discussions increasingly become arguments, a solution must be found as it can be stressful.
Some members of the family find it difficult to manage their feelings and become intentionally hurtful, aggressive, or even violent, leading to a violent world. With the way some families fight, they make it look like that is the right way to live or respond to situations and people.
Whether between spouses or with children, conflicts can seriously raise tensions in the family. Depending on the severity of the disagreement, they can even permanently damage relationships connecting to the society then the nation at large. Destructive behaviors garnered from conflicts in the family, in turn, tend to produce criminals whose way of reasoning has been tinted.
Families with irreconcilable differences that end up getting a divorce in most cases affect nation building. That sense of unification is broken and the children in the home are the ones that usually pay for all of these.
No nation thrives well with a large number of divorce cases. It is said that once divorce cases are high, there is bound to be a negative effect on nation building.
With all of these, it is therefore critical to handle conflict with care, not allowing heightened emotions to get the better of the members of the family.
Again, the family makes up the society, the society makes up the nation.
Nation building will surely be hindered when there is a dysfunction in the family.
There are a million and one family issues that affect nation building but the above are some of the most common which usually result in growth in societal ills.
As these issues have been brought to light, it is imperative that they be taken note of, so as to have a stronger and better nation. Happy International Families’ Day, KOKOfam!
Photo Credit: Getty
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