Former Minister of Education, Obiageli Ezekwesili, on Wednesday strongly criticised Nigeria’s political leadership, cautioning President Bola Tinubu, governors, lawmakers and other public officials against issuing routine Children’s Day messages while, according to her, failing to safeguard the nation’s children.

In a sharply worded statement released to mark Children’s Day, Ezekwesili accused successive administrations of neglecting children through worsening insecurity, poverty, hunger, poor education and avoidable deaths, insisting that the annual celebration had become hypocritical given the realities facing many Nigerian children.

Addressing the president, vice president, members of the Federal Executive Council, National Assembly lawmakers, governors and state legislators, the former minister argued that political leaders lacked the moral authority to celebrate children while thousands continued to suffer from school abductions, violence, hunger and educational deprivation.

Ezekwesili, who is Founder of Human Capital Africa, FixPolitics and the School of Politics, Policy and Governance, as well as Co-founder of Transparency International, pointed to several school kidnapping incidents across the country as evidence of what she described as a collapse in government responsibility towards child protection and welfare.

She cited the abduction of 39 students and seven teachers from schools in Ahoro-Esinele community in Oyo State on May 15, 2026, describing it as a sign that insecurity had spread further into the South-west region.

She also referenced the kidnapping of 25 schoolgirls from Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Kebbi State in November 2025, noting that several of the girls remained missing months after the incident.

The former minister equally recalled the abduction of 303 students and 12 teachers from St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary School in Niger State in November 2025, adding that the attack contributed to the shutdown of over 20,000 schools nationwide.

According to Ezekwesili, the country’s leaders were attempting to celebrate children despite unresolved tragedies such as the Chibok schoolgirls abduction of 2014, many of whose victims remain missing more than a decade later. She accused political leaders of moving on while affected families continued to endure grief and uncertainty.

She further mentioned attacks in Kuriga, Kankara, Kagara, Jangebe, Afaka, Greenfield, Bethel Baptist and Tegina, arguing that the country had become desensitised to mass abductions because Nigerians 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,” she stated.

“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.

”Beyond insecurity, Ezekwesili described Nigeria’s education sector and child welfare situation as alarming. She said nearly 19 million Nigerian children remained out of school due to insecurity, poverty and other social challenges, while roughly 70 per cent of children aged 10 could neither read nor understand a simple sentence.

According to her, the country was facing a deep learning crisis that governments had failed to address with seriousness.

“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.

“There is no moral universe in which the architects of this abandonment may also serve as its celebrants.

”Ezekwesili also criticised what she described as elite indifference in the face of economic hardship, accusing public officials of prioritising luxury and personal comfort while millions of children struggled with hunger and deprivation.

She cited estimates from the United Nations World Food Programme indicating that about 35 million Nigerians could face hunger in 2026, warning that children would suffer the worst consequences through malnutrition and stunted growth.

The former minister additionally condemned the demolition of waterfront communities such as Makoko, saying poor children were being displaced and denied education and shelter under urban renewal policies.

She lamented the poor condition of primary healthcare centres, the persistence of child hawking and the continued existence of the almajiri system, arguing that millions of children had effectively been abandoned by the state.

Ezekwesili said many parents could no longer afford food, transportation, school fees or medication for their children because of worsening economic conditions and governance failures, while political leaders continued to enjoy lavish privileges and allowances.

Describing May 27 as a “National Day of Shame” rather than a celebration, she urged public office holders to abandon ceremonial speeches and instead provide concrete accountability concerning children’s welfare and security.

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

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