On a poignant Children’s Day, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu addressed the nation, celebrating the resilience and potential of Nigerian children while confronting the painful reality of those held captive by criminals.
Tinubu’s statement, released to celebrate the Children’s Day May 27, underscored a solemn commitment to ensuring safety and future of every child, particularly those enduring the trauma of abduction.
The President’s message, themed “Future Now: Promoting Inclusion for Every Nigerian Child,” resonated with both hope and urgency.
He lauded children excelling in academics, learning trades, living with disabilities, and those who have faced adversity yet retain hope.
“Today belongs to you,” he declared, emphasizing their role as “the pride of our Republic, the custodians of tomorrow’s promise.”
However, the celebratory tone was tempered by the grim reality faced by some Nigerian children and the teachers in Oyo and Borno states, who remain in captivity. 
The President acknowledged the anguish of their families, stating, “Some parents cannot join today’s celebration because their hearts are set on one prayer: ‘Bring our children home.’”
Speaking as a father and President, Tinubu assured the captives and their grieving families, “You are not forgotten. You are not abandoned.”
He pledged that the government would not turn their pain into mere ceremony, but would instead “continue to work until children taken from their homes, schools and communities are returned safely, and until those who profit from this cruelty are brought to justice.”
In response to the ongoing crisis, President Tinubu announced several directives:
• Intensified Rescue Operations: All relevant security agencies have been instructed to sustain and intensify intelligence-led, carefully executed rescue operations for abducted children and other vulnerable citizens across the country, with a primary focus on safe recovery.
• Strengthened School Protection: Measures to protect schools in high-risk areas will be bolstered. This includes updated school vulnerability mapping, enhanced coordination between state governments and security commands, rapid response links between schools and local security units, and stronger community-based early warning systems.• Deepened Safe Schools Framework: The Federal Ministry of Education, in
collaboration with state governments, is tasked with deepening implementation of the Safe Schools framework, ensuring clear reporting, responsibility, timelines. The goal is for every school in vulnerable area to have clear protocols for identifying danger and protecting children.
• Comprehensive Reintegration Support: Recognizing that rescue is not the end,
President Tinubu directed relevant ministries and agencies to provide proper reintegration support for children who have survived abduction, violence, and displacement. This includes care, medical attention, counseling, education, and dignity, ensuring they receive “not temporary attention.”
The President also stressed that the responsibility of protecting children extends beyond the government.
He called upon parents, teachers, traditional rulers, religious leaders, community leaders, youth groups, transport unions, local vigilantes, and the media to play their part. He warned against complacency, stating, “When a community sees strange movement around a school and keeps quiet, a child is placed at risk.”
The President reiterated his administration’s commitment to a Nigeria where every child can learn safely, grow healthily, access opportunities, and dream without fear.
He highlighted investments in education, healthcare, nutrition, social protection, digital skills, and safer communities, affirming that “childhood must not be a privilege reserved for a few. It is the right of every Nigerian child.”
Concluding his address, the President affirmed to the children, “you matter—your dreams matter; your safety matters. Your education matters… we will safeguard it.”
