ABUJA, Nigeria (NPA) — Former Minister of Education and public policy advocate, Dr Obiageli Ezekwesili, has issued a scathing warning to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Federal Government, National Assembly, Governors’ Forum, and the wider Nigerian political class, urging them not to wish children a “Happy Children’s Day” without first acknowledging their failures.
In a strongly worded statement released on May 27, 2026, Ezekwesili said the political class had forfeited the moral right to celebrate Nigerian children, citing decades of neglect, insecurity, and poor governance.
“Do not dare wish our children ‘Happy Children’s Day’ today. If you must speak, then for once, speak the truth of your failures. Stand before Nigerians and confess that you have failed our children,” she declared.
Ezekwesili demanded that the government account for public budgets that have failed to guarantee children’s safety in schools, quality education, healthcare, and social protection. She specifically called for transparency on the fate of abducted children, including the Chibok girls, the Kebbi schoolgirls, the Niger State students, and the recently kidnapped children in Oyo State.
“Tell the parents of these children exactly what your government has done and not done in the days, weeks, months, and years since each abduction,” she said.
She urged authorities to publish audited figures on out‑of‑school children, child stunting, learning poverty, and child mortality, alongside measurable commitments to improve conditions within the current fiscal year. Anything short of that, she argued, would desecrate Children’s Day and deepen the wounds of Nigerian children.
Ezekwesili described May 27 not as a day of celebration but as a “National Day of Shame.” She highlighted grim statistics: 19 million Nigerian children — about 27% — are out of school, while 70% of 10‑year‑olds cannot read a simple sentence, reflecting a deep learning crisis. Millions of children face hunger, stunting, and preventable diseases due to poor healthcare and governance failures.
She condemned the political class for prioritising luxury convoys, foreign medical trips, and pensions while children suffer. “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,” she said.
She listed recent and historic abductions, including 39 students and 7 teachers kidnapped in Oyo State on May 15, 2026; 25 schoolgirls abducted in Kebbi State in November 2025; 303 students and 12 teachers taken from Niger State in November 2025; and 287 students kidnapped in Kuriga, Kaduna State, in March 2024. She also referenced the Chibok girls, with over 90 still missing 12 years after their abduction, as well as children killed in violent attacks across Plateau, Benue, Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina, Borno, Yobe, and Oyo, and those displaced in slum demolitions like Makoko.
Despite her harsh words for leaders, Ezekwesili offered encouragement to Nigerian children: “Some of us see you. The Nigeria you deserve is a country in which you are safe, educated, fed, healed, free to dream and work hard to be the best of anything you choose to become in this world. The shame of May 27, 2026, belongs not to you, but to those who have governed you into this tragic condition.”
Oby’s frustration with Nigeria’s governance failures, particularly in education and child protection, reflects a broader demand for urgent reforms in security, education, healthcare, and social welfare. It adds to ongoing debates about Nigeria’s education crisis, child safety, and governance accountability, with Children’s Day 2026 being a stark reminder of the need for improved performance in children’s welfare.
She concluded with a direct rebuke: “To President Tinubu and the rest of his ilk in Nigeria’s political class — be silent on this day. You have not earned the right to speak to our children today. Don’t you dare. Period.”
