Is it wise making career choices by parents?

Now the big question is, what if the little boy grows up and wants to become a professional footballer, musician, or a fashion designer? This scenario is not uncommon among many societies in Nigeria. More often than not, parents and guardians  feel they should be the one to choose a career path for their kids […]

Now the big question is, what if the little boy grows up and wants to become a professional footballer, musician, or a fashion designer? This scenario is not uncommon among many societies in Nigeria. More often than not, parents and guardians  feel they should be the one to choose a career path for their kids or wards.
Having intelligent kid is a blessing and some parents think that because their kids do very well in some school subjects at the elementary level, this makes them to have some kind of insight as to what the kids are supposed to study in the tertiary institutions. From  kindergarten to  primary school,  high school to a tertiary level, some parents make it their duty to choose and impose a career path on their children according to their own preference.
The truth about this course of action is that, some parents or guardians who aspired to be something or become a particular professional as children,but could not achieved that dream for themselves tend  to pass on the same dream to their kids, regardless of  whether their children have any interest in such field.
Although, some people may see nothing wrong with this trends, it is good for the parents and guardians to take time out to consider the fact that their kids or wards may not do well or be interested in pursuing their choices of career path, due to the fact that the child may have interest in  another that appeals to him. Everyone of us has a particular field of interest that appeals to us hence parents should allow their kids to choose a career path that better suits them.
Another reason why parents would want to choose career path for their children is because other people have or are making  lots of money in that field hence the reason for their meddling.
One thing parents and guardians should know is that their children are the ones who will pursue these career path,  thus they should be allowed to pursue a career path which they can do well, irrespective of the financial rewards involved because career is all about  interest, focus, determination and towards a particular field of endeavour or discipline in life. This is why we are all created differently, each one of us has his  own unique ideology,philosophy,perception ,taste and ambition about life.
A typical example is that a professor of literature and a Nobel Laureate; Wole Soyinka may not be among the richest people in the world today,but he is well known world wide by virtue of the fact that he had chosen to be a literary icon and today he is well celebrated. This is seen as greatness and the reward that comes for allowing a child engaged in what he aspired to become which gives him piece of mind at the same time satisfying the needs of others. So it is with people like John Obi Mikel who plays his professional football with Chelsea Football Club  of England.
In most universities in Nigeria, there  have been many cases of students pursuing a degree under the influence of their parents,after which they abandoned the certificates to pursue their hearts desire,leaving their parents disappointed. Just think of how much headache would have been avoided if those parents had allowed their children to pursue what they like in the first place .
Professor Umar Pate of the Department of Mass  Communication,University of Maiduguri is of the view that children should be given the chance to excel wherever their hearts go while parents on their part should give them the necessary moral and financial support to enable them actualise their dreams but not to meddle in  their career or vocation as every  person’s destiny is different.
Ameenu writes  from Department of Mass Communication, University of Maiduguri.