Veteran Nollywood actress Patience Ozokwor, popularly known as Mama G, has urged parents to avoid over-pampering their children, saying excessive comfort could hinder their development into responsible and independent adults.

Ozokwor, who spoke about parenting, wealth and inheritance, advised parents to allow their children to face challenges and understand the effort required to build their own lives.

“When you say, ‘I don’t want my children to suffer what I suffered when I was growing up’, you see, that’s the best way to destroy your children,” she said.

The actress clarified that she was not advocating deliberately making children suffer, but encouraging parents to allow them to experience challenges and work through difficulties.

“I’m not saying allow them to suffer, what I’m saying is allow them to struggle. Go through the process,” she said. “But when you pamper them, they don’t come out to be anything.”

Ozokwor also cautioned parents against making their children overly dependent on family wealth, arguing that children should be encouraged to build their own assets rather than simply expect to inherit what their parents have accumulated.

She said she had applied the same principle to her own son, telling him that her home was not automatically his and that he should work to acquire his own.

“I told my son, my house isn’t yours, go and work for your own,” she said.