The former Nigerian Ambassador to Mozambique, Albert Gbolahan Omotayo has presented a book titled “Fifty Reasons Why I Love You” to the public,” aimed at strengthening family ties in Nigeria and ensure nation building.
Speaking at the presentation of the book in Abuja, Omotayo, who served as the Private Secretary to former President Olusegun Obasanjo and later as the Head of State said the battle against marriage and the family is fierce and sustained, yet soft and elusive.
He said marriage institution is on its way to extinction while infantilism and criminal propensities are fast being accepted as the new normal.
Omotayo, who also inaugurated Qoodrat Adebola Abeni Omotayo Literary Award (QAAOLA) in honour of his wife said the rate of separation and divorce in the country is soaring stressing that this could only be checked with true love and strong marriage institution.
His said, “The rate of separation and divorce is soaring everywhere, the socio-intellectual movements which articulate marriage to be bondage that must be broken are gaining more ground and their disciples are fast growing.
“The world is getting drowned deeper in the sea of consumerism and instant creation, the root of world-wide economic hardship and inter-personal intolerance which is in turn pushing our humanness to a dangerous limit and making ordinary relationships increasingly more difficult to maintain.”
He further lamented that values in all walks of life are being turned upside-down in a counter-cultural protest against “old “culture and tradition.
The retired Diplomat said he wrote the book not only to promote good family value system in Nigeria, but to also appreciate his wife whom he noted staunchly believes in marriage institution and transparently lives it.
On why he inaugurated a non-profit organization for his wife who is also an Author, and who turned 50 on Tuesday, Ambassador Omotayo said “The NGO is a literary award because the crusade is not about laws, it is about the reorientation of human mind which can be challenged and move to change only through writings in all manners of genre.”
In his remarks, a former Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Zubairu Dada commended Ambassador Omotayo for coming up with a book that touches on love at the family level and advised Nigerians to read the book which he noted is capable of strengthening family ties and creating a better society.
