Patience Ozokwor says shielding children from hardship is the fastest way to ruin them
Veteran Nollywood actress Patience Ozokwor, known as Mama G, has said parents are wrong to shield their children completely from hardship and hard work.
Speaking in a recent interview with media personality Femi Baba, she said the fastest way to ruin a child’s life is to decide they must never suffer as the parent did. She recalled evicting her son from home so he would go out and earn a living.
“The fastest way to ruin a child’s life is to say you don’t want them to suffer the way you did. When you’re gone, they may start fighting over your property. I told my son, ‘My house isn’t yours. Go and work for your own.’”
Ozokwor said she raised her children with discipline and work, and that they were doing well as a result. She urged parents not to deny their children struggle out of love.
The warning is about inheritance as well as character. A house that is treated as the child’s by default, she argues, becomes a prize to fight over when the parent dies. Sending a son out to work is presented as protection of both the child and the family’s future peace. The advice will sound harsh to parents who equate love with comfort.
Ozokwor’s counter is that comfort without work leaves a person unready for the day the parent is gone. Whether that lesson is applied with support or with a locked door is a private choice. The public claim is simpler: a life without hardship is not a gift if it produces adults who cannot stand on their own.
