Children's Day: Ezekwesili, Enioluwa, others demand action over abducted pupils

As Nigeria marked Children's Day, a wave of grief and condemnation swept across social media, with citizens demanding government action over abducted children nationwide. The most recent trigger was the abduction of dozens of schoolchildren and teachers from three schools in the Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State on May 15.

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Do not dare open your mouths on May 27 to wish Nigerian children a ‘Happy Children’s Day. 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.

Former Minister of Education and co-founder of Transparency International, Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili, published an open letter to President Bola Tinubu, state governors, and the National Assembly. She demanded that the political class remain silent rather than issue "ghost-written platitudes." "Do not dare open your mouths on May 27 to wish Nigerian children a ‘Happy Children’s Day,’" she wrote on X. "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."

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You are wishing ‘Happy Children’s Day’ to at least 1,799 students seized in a dozen of the largest abductions since Chibok , and to the 670 children affected by at least 10 school kidnappings in less than two years – a litany of horror compiled not by your security agencies, but by international human rights organisations doing the work your government refuses to do.

Ezekwesili listed children to whom the government would be "dishonouring" with its wishes. These included the Oyo school abductees and students kidnapped in previous school abductions. She stated that the government would be wishing "Happy Children’s Day" to at least 1,799 students seized in a dozen of the largest abductions since Chibok, and to the 670 children affected by at least 10 school kidnappings in less than two years. She attributed this "litany of horror" to international human rights organizations, not Nigeria's security agencies. Ezekwesili also noted that around 19 million Nigerian children, 27 percent, do not attend school due to the threat of kidnappings, poverty, and cultural factors, one of the highest numbers globally.

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You are wishing ‘Happy Children’s Day’ to around 19 million Nigerian children – 27 per cent- who do not attend school due to the threat of kidnappings, poverty and cultural factors, one of the highest numbers in the world.

Her sentiments resonated on X, where Nigerians expressed outrage. Broadcaster Oseni Rufai posted, "Children’s Day and children are in kidnappers’ den." Popular social media personality Enioluwa Adeoluwa dedicated his Children's Day post to the kidnapped children, writing, "Today, Children’s Day is dedicated to..."

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Children’s Day and children are in kidnappers’ den.