Don’t celebrate children’s day while school pupils are unsafe – Ezekwesili slams leaders

Former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, has warned President , Senate President and other political leaders against issuing Children’s Day messages amid worsening insecurity and repeated abductions of schoolchildren across the country.

In a post shared on her X handle on Wednesday, Ezekwesili accused the Nigerian political class of failing children and lacking the moral justification to celebrate Children’s Day while many young Nigerians remain unsafe.

Addressing the President, Vice President, governors, members of the National Assembly and state assemblies, the former minister said the country’s leaders had “abandoned, betrayed, and condemned” Nigerian children to suffering and uncertainty.

Ezekwesili cited several incidents of school abductions across the country, including the reported kidnapping of students and teachers in Oyo, Kebbi, Niger, Kaduna and Sokoto states. She argued that the repeated attacks on schools had created fear among parents, students and educators.

The former minister also referenced the abduction of the in 2014, noting that many of the victims were still missing more than a decade later.

She said the recurring incidents of mass kidnappings and attacks on schools reflected a deeper failure of leadership and exposed weaknesses in the country’s security architecture.

Ezekwesili further claimed that thousands of students had been affected by school abductions in recent years, while many schools across affected communities had been forced to shut down because of persistent insecurity and fear of attacks.

The former minister maintained that Nigerian leaders should focus more on addressing insecurity, rescuing abducted children and protecting schools, rather than issuing ceremonial Children’s Day messages that, according to her, do not reflect the harsh realities faced by many children in the country.