Director for Women and Children at the United Nations POLAC, Prof. Cynthia Amaka Obiorah, and former Minister of Education, Obiageli Ezekwesili, have strongly criticised Nigeria’s political leadership over the poor state of child welfare and security.

Obiorah urged Nigerian leaders and citizens to move beyond speeches and take actions to protect children, warning that millions of young Nigerians still faced hunger, abuse, displacement and lack of access to education.

In her 2026 Children’s Day message, Obiorah lamented the harsh realities confronting many children across the country, including girls forced out of school, children displaced by conflict, and minors struggling to survive on the streets.

She said no Nigerian child should be denied the basic rights to safety, healthcare, education and dignity.

The founder of the Hope Aglow Charity Foundation described Nigerian children as “brilliant, resilient and full of dreams,” despite the mounting social and economic challenges facing families nationwide.

She stressed that government, parents, faith leaders, civil society organisations and traditional institutions must urgently work together to secure a better future for the younger generation.

She also called for increased investment in schools, child protection laws, healthcare and nutrition, saying: “When we lift the child, we lift Nigeria.”

IN her statement yesterday to commemorate the 2026 Children’s Day, Ezekwesili accused the Federal Government, state governors, lawmakers and the broader political class of failing to protect Nigerian children from insecurity, poor education, hunger and preventable diseases.

The former Minister of Education warned public office holders against issuing ceremonial Children’s Day messages amid persistent kidnappings, poverty and learning crises affecting millions of children across the country.

Claiming that political leaders lacked the moral authority to celebrate children while many remained victims of abduction, violence and deprivation, she referenced several school abductions across the country, including the recent kidnapping of students and teachers in Oriire district of Oyo State, as well as previous incidents in Kebbi, Niger, Kaduna and Sokoto states.

Ezekwesili also recalled the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls in 2014, lamenting that several of the girls were still unaccounted for more than a decade later.

According to her, successive governments had failed to provide adequate security for schools and communities, while public officials continued to enjoy privileges funded by taxpayers.

She further decried the growing number of out-of-school children in Nigeria, rising poverty levels and what she described as a worsening learning crisis among school-age children.

Ezekwesili described the current state of children in Nigeria as a “national day of shame” rather than a moment of celebration, urging political leaders to refrain from issuing what she termed hypocritical Children’s Day messages.