Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo said on Sunday that to father a child was not the only factor that made one a man.
Osinbajo diclosed this, during a service to mark Father’s Day at the Aso Villa Chapel at the Presidential Villa Abuja.
The Vice President, noting that men must honour women and stop treating them as their subordinates, said men and women were born equal.
Osinbajo acknowledged the important roles played by men in the family setting and the society at large.
The VP’s mother, Mrs Olubisi Osinbajo, the Deputy President of the Senate, Ovie Omo-Agege, and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha, were among dignitaries who joined him at the service.
Speaking to State House Correspondents, the VP stated, “I think the responsibility of the father is incredible indeed and I think what is most important is to teach our men, young men growing up, that they must honour women, not just their wives.
“Of course, you must honour and love your wives, but I think that it is very important that we honour women.
“We don’t treat them as subordinates to us; they are created equal to men.
“But, most importantly, we must honour them and recognise their role as partners, not just in families, but in the society as well.”
He noted that to be a father implied taking up the responsibilities of a father, whether one was a biological father or not.
Osinbajo explained, “It is not the ability to father a child, the ability to have a child that makes you a father; it is the courage to bring up one, ability to raise one.
“That’s what really makes you a father and I think the responsibilities of fatherhood are so many, whether one is a biological father or whether you are one who wants to take care of other children.
“I think that all of us, as men, have a role to play in the lives of so many, not just our biological children but so many of them who have no fathers; even to some who have fathers to who we have responsibility to set example to lead exemplary life, to bring them up as scripture says in the way of the Lord.”
The First Reading of the service was taken from Malachi 1: 3-6 by Sen.Omo-Agege.
The deputy Senate President said children learnt a lot from their parents by seeing the life the latter led.
“It is not what we tell our children, but the lives we lead and they see us lead”, Omo-Agege added.
Mustapha too gave his own perspective, saying that men were both the spiritual and physical head of their families.
He spoke further, “It is not about the celebration; I think it is a constant reminder about our responsibilities as fathers.
“We are reminded of the fact that, first, we are the priests of our homes; so we ought to pray for our families.
“And when you have children that are aware that as a father, you are praying for them, the chances of their drifting will not be there because they know that the eyes of their father are constantly on them.
“Constantly, you are reminding God that He has entrusted you with this responsibility and you ought to live up to the responsibility.
“The second thing is that, as fathers, we are supposed to exemplify the life of Christ in the lives of our children because we are just like letters that our children read on a daily basis.
“It is not about how much we say, or what you say; it is about our lifestyle.
“The other reminder is that we are breadwinners in our families and we ought to provide for our families.”
