Former Minister of Education Obiageli Ezekwesili has issued a searing public rebuke of President Bola Tinubu, governors, legislators, and the entire Nigerian political class, telling them they forfeited the moral right to issue Children’s Day goodwill messages the moment they chose not to protect the children they now sought to celebrate.

Ezekwesili, Founder of Human Capital Africa, FixPolitics, and the School of Politics, Policy and Governance, and co-founder of Transparency International, declared May 27 a national day of shame rather than a day of celebration, citing the abduction of school children, a deteriorating education system, widespread hunger, and the systemic abandonment of millions of Nigerian children by successive governments.

She described the recent abduction of 39 students and seven teachers from schools in Ahoro-Esinele community in Oyo State on May 15, 2026, as a troubling extension of insecurity into the South-west. She also referenced the abduction of 25 schoolgirls from the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Kebbi State in November 2025, many of whom remained missing, and the seizure of 303 students and 12 teachers from St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary School in Niger State, an attack that she said contributed to the closure of more than 20,000 schools nationwide.

She reminded political leaders that the Chibok schoolgirls abducted in 2014 remained largely unaccounted for more than a decade later, saying governments had moved on while families continued to endure grief and uncertainty.

“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. You have no moral standing to wish anything to Nigerian children. None,” she declared.

Beyond insecurity, Ezekwesili cited statistics showing approximately 19 million Nigerian children remained out of school due to insecurity, poverty, and social factors, while about 70 percent of children aged 10 could not read or understand a simple sentence. She said the United Nations World Food Program had estimated that 35 million Nigerians could face hunger in 2026, with children bearing the heaviest burden.

She demanded that the government disclose the whereabouts and status of all children still in captivity, publish audited figures on child mortality, out-of-school children, malnutrition, and learning poverty, and provide measurable commitments within the current fiscal year toward improving school safety, healthcare access, and social protection for children.