A stern warning has gone out to Nigerian parents over the systemic collapse of family values caused by the aggressive pursuit of professional and financial success.

THENEWSCREDIT reports that Professor Hannah Edim Etta, a Professor of Genetics and Biotechnology at the University of Cross River State (UNICROSS), raised the alarm while delivering the institution’s 12th Inaugural Lecture at the Mass Communication Auditorium.

Speaking on the theme, “Links, Linkages and Missing Links: From DNA Backbone to Social Cohesion,” the academic argued that the modern rat race for promotions, multiple jobs, and side hustles has created severe "missing links" in child upbringing.

According to Prof. Etta, the economic pressure on parents has forced them to outsource their foundational duties to caregivers, schools, and social media. This lack of emotional support and discipline, she noted, is directly driving the surge in juvenile delinquency, drug abuse, and youth mental health crises across the country.

"We are in a race where everyone is chasing titles and money, but losing their homes in the process," Etta lamented. "The family is the first school of the child. When parents are not there, we create a vacuum that the streets and social media will fill."

She further cautioned that many parents only realize the gravity of their neglect when the damage has already become irreversible.

To avert a total societal breakdown, the don urged the government to implement urgent policies supporting work-life balance, such as flexible working hours and robust parental leave provisions. She also called on religious and community institutions to champion family cohesion over materialism, declaring: "No career achievement can compensate for a broken home."