Follow Us on Google
The Nigerian Children’s Day will be marked today across the country with parades, march pasts, fanfare and lofty speeches by government officials and other stakeholders on how to improve the welfare and protection of Nigerian children. The first Nigerian Children’s Day was observed on May 27, 1964. Since then, the event has been used to draw attention to issues that affect Nigerian children, including the protection of child’s rights. The day provides an opportunity for children to speak on issues that affect them.
The theme for this year’s celebration, “Future Now: Promoting Inclusion for Every Nigerian Child,” ensures that no Nigerian child is left behind in development regardless of age, ability or disability, socioeconomic background, religion, ethnicity or geographical location. Instructively, this year’s celebration comes under President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of 2026 as the “Year of Families and Social Development.”
Unveiling the theme of this year’s Nigerian Children’s Day in Abuja, as part of activities to mark the day, the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Ms. Imaan Sulaiman, described the day as more than a ceremonial event. She pointed out that children make up over 40 per cent of Nigeria’s population, making child development and protection central to national progress.
“It is not merely a ceremonial celebration but a national moment of reflection, accountability and a renewed commitment towards safeguarding the future of our nation through deliberate investment in our children,” the minister stated.
In the same vein, the UNICEF Nigeria Acting Chief of Child Protection, Mona Aika, has enjoined the federal government to treat the day as a moment of accountability rather than ceremony. Mona also called for stronger action to protect children and amplify the voices of adolescent girls, adding that “their voices should shape the policies, programmes, budgets and community decisions that affect their lives.”
As we mark the day, it is a sad commentary that many Nigerian children have become victims of mindless abductions by terrorists and bandits, especially in the North-East, North-Central and North-West zones of the country. Currently, Nigeria has an estimated 15 million to 18.5 million out of-school children. This represents one of the highest rates globally.
According to UNICEF, one in every five of the world’s out-of-school children is in Nigeria. Although primary education in Nigeria is free and compulsory, about 10.5million of Nigerian children aged 5-14 years are not in school. Only 61 per cent of 6-11 year-olds regularly attend primary school and only 35.6 per cent of children aged 36-59 months receive early childhood education.
The UN agency says that the picture is even bleaker in the north, with a net attendance rate of 53 per cent. The agency also observed that getting out-of-school children back into education poses a massive challenge. Reportedly, sates in the North-East and North-West have female primary net attendance rates of 47.7 per cent and 47.3 per cent, respectively. This means that more than half of the girls are not in school.
About 95.5 per cent of children with disabilities in Nigeria are out-of-school, leaving an estimated five to seven million disabled children without access to basic education. Approximately 11 million Nigerian children under five live in severe food poverty, meaning they consume two or fewer of the eight essential food groups daily.
Recent reports show that the number of displaced children rose 46 per cent to 13 million globally in 2025, as 35,b000 children were forced from their homes daily in the same period. Nigerian children fall among the most displaced young people in Africa. Over seven million Nigerian children are displaced due to armed conflict, banditry and climate disasters such as flooding.
Children also account for about 60 per cent of Nigeria’s Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). The hotspots are in the North-East states of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe; and the North-West, and North-Central regions of the country. Conflicts and armed violence are the primary drivers of their displacement. The clashes between farmers and herders contribute to displacement of children.
From the foregoing, the challenges facing Nigerian children are enormous but not insurmountable. We call on the federal and state governments to map out elaborate plans to holistically address these challenges. There should be more investments in health and educational needs of Nigerian children. The schools must be safe and secure for them. Their continued abduction by bandits will harm them and the future of the country. With enormous Nigerian resources, Nigerian children should not have pact with hunger and poverty. It is by aggressively addressing these matters that the government can truly ensure that no Nigerian child is left behind in development.
