Ezekwesili to Tinubu, Others: Don’t Celebrate Children You Can’t Protect

• Former minister laments abduction of pupils, out-of-school kids 

•Declares May 27 ‘national day of shame’

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

Former Minister of Education, Obiageli Ezekwesili, yesterday launched a blistering attack on Nigeria’s political leadership, warning President Bola Tinubu, governors, lawmakers and the  political class against issuing customary Children’s Day goodwill messages, after failing to protect them.

In a strongly worded statement issued to commemorate the day, Ezekwesili accused successive governments of abandoning children to insecurity, poverty, hunger, poor education and preventable deaths, describing the annual celebration as hypocritical in the face of worsening conditions across the country.

Addressing the president, vice president, members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), the National Assembly, governors and state assemblies, the former minister declared that the country’s leaders lacked the moral standing to celebrate children while thousands remained victims of school abductions, violence, hunger and educational neglect.

Ezekwesili, Founder, Human Capital Africa; FixPolitics and the School of Politics, Policy and Governance (SPPG) as well as Co-founder, Transparency International (TI), cited a series of school kidnappings across the country as evidence of what she called the collapse of state responsibility towards children’s safety and welfare.

Among the incidents she referenced was the recent abduction of 39 students and seven teachers from schools in Ahoro-Esinele community in Oyo State on May 15, 2026, describing it as a troubling spread of insecurity into the South-west.

She also mentioned the abduction of 25 schoolgirls from the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Kebbi State in November 2025, noting that many of the girls were still missing months later.

The former minister further recalled the seizure of 303 students and 12 teachers from St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary School in Niger State in November 2025, saying the attack contributed to the closure of more than 20,000 schools nationwide.

According to her, the country’s leaders were also attempting to celebrate children despite unresolved cases such as the Chibok schoolgirls abducted in 2014, many of whom remain unaccounted for over a decade later. She accused political leaders of moving on from the tragedy while families of the victims continued to suffer emotional trauma and uncertainty.

Ezekwesili also referenced attacks in Kuriga, Kankara, Kagara, Jangebe, Afaka, Greenfield, Bethel Baptist and Tegina, saying Nigeria had reached a point where many abductions no longer generated national outrage because the country had “run out of capacity to grieve.”

“Do not dare open your mouths on May 27 to wish Nigerian children a ‘Happy Children’s Day.’ Do not dare release the recycled, ghost-written platitudes your media handlers have already drafted.

“Do not dare stand in front of cameras, surrounded by carefully arranged children in matching uniforms, to perform a tenderness you have never extended to the millions of Nigerian children you have abandoned, betrayed, and condemned to lives of suffering. You have no moral standing to wish anything to Nigerian children. None,” she maintained.

Beyond insecurity, the former minister painted a grim picture of Nigeria’s education sector, poverty levels and child welfare indicators. She said about 19 million Nigerian children remained out of school due to insecurity, poverty and social factors, while about 70 per cent of children aged 10 could not read or understand a simple sentence.

According to her, the country was facing a foundational learning crisis that governments at all levels had failed to confront with urgency.

“A government that cannot protect its children has forfeited the right to celebrate them. A political class that has built its wealth on the broken backs of the poor has forfeited the right to address their children with affection. There is no moral universe in which the architects of this abandonment may also serve as its celebrants,” she emphasised.

Ezekwesili further criticised what she described as elite insensitivity amid worsening economic hardship, accusing political office holders of prioritising luxury spending while millions of children faced hunger and deprivation.

She pointed to estimates by the United Nations World Food Programme indicating that 35 million Nigerians could face hunger in 2026, warning that children would bear the heaviest burden through malnutrition and stunted development.

The former minister also condemned the demolition of waterfront communities such as Makoko, arguing that poor children were being displaced and denied access to education and shelter in the name of urban renewal.

She lamented the state of primary healthcare centres, the prevalence of child hawking, and the continued existence of the almajiri system, saying millions of children had effectively been abandoned by the state.

Ezekwesili said many Nigerian parents could no longer afford food, transportation, school fees or medicines for their children because of economic policies and governance failures, even as political leaders continued to enjoy lavish benefits and allowances.

Describing May 27 as a “National Day of Shame” rather than a celebration, she called on public office holders to abandon ceremonial speeches and instead provide concrete accountability regarding the welfare and safety of children.

She challenged the government to disclose the whereabouts and status of all children still in captivity, including victims from Chibok, Kebbi, Niger and Oyo states, and to publish audited figures on child mortality, out-of-school children, malnutrition and learning poverty.

Ezekwesili also demanded measurable commitments within the current fiscal year towards improving school safety, healthcare access and social protection for children.