Former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, has cautioned President Bola Tinubu, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, and other political leaders against issuing Children’s Day messages while insecurity and school abductions continue across Nigeria.
In a lengthy post shared on X on Wednesday, Ezekwesili criticized the political class for what she described as a failure to protect Nigerian children, arguing that leaders lacked the moral right to celebrate Children’s Day.
Addressing the President, Vice President, governors, members of the National Assembly, and state lawmakers, she accused them of abandoning and failing the nation’s children.
The former minister referenced several cases of school kidnappings involving students and teachers in states such as Oyo, Kebbi, Niger, Kaduna, and Sokoto.
She also recalled the 2014 abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls, noting that many of them remain unaccounted for more than ten years later.
According to Ezekwesili, the repeated attacks on schools and mass kidnappings reflect poor leadership and the government’s inability to guarantee the safety of children.
She further claimed that thousands of students have been affected by school abductions in recent years, with many schools shutting down due to insecurity.
Ezekwesili insisted that political leaders should prioritize tackling insecurity and safeguarding children instead of releasing ceremonial Children’s Day statements.
Part of her statement read: “To the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Vice President, governors, members of the National Assembly, state assemblies, and the entire political class that has captured and destroyed the Nigerian state: Do not dare.
“Do not dare wish Nigerian children a ‘Happy Children’s Day’ with recycled speeches prepared by media handlers.
“Do not stand before cameras with carefully arranged children to pretend to care when millions of Nigerian children have been abandoned and left to suffer.
“You have no moral standing to wish Nigerian children anything.”
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