The Concourse
By Soney Antai, serial awards-winning columnist
The Concourse
By Soney Antai, serial awards-winning columnist
To the children of Nigeria
I understand that the 27th of this month was your day, so I congratulate you on being alive and, I hope, well. I apologize that I did not follow how you marked the occasion; I am not sure if you had fun with march-pasts, your instructors keeping you in lockstep. I also do not know if there were personalities in the covered stands of the stadia, smiling down like your leaders and occasionally breaking into applause. If such occurred, it might have gladdened your hearts—even more so if you won any prizes.
To provide some historical context, your day began in 1954, when the United Nations established Universal Children’s Day, recommending that every country select a date to promote child welfare and togetherness. The UN picked November 20th. In 1964, just four years after Nigeria gained independence, it adopted the idea but chose May 27th. The goal was to honor you, highlight your rights, and remind us—the children-grown-and-aging—of our responsibility to guide, protect, and educate you. In 2003, Nigeria passed the Child Rights Act, which domesticated the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. At least on paper, this indicated some level of investment in the child and a commitment to your future.
The Nigerian government of that era, then populated by more conscionable and futuristic personalities, chose a date that fit the school calendar so that schools could organise major events before the end-of-year exams. In the 1960s and 1970s, our political leaders told your predecessors that they were the “leaders of tomorrow.” They challenged those children to be patriotic, to love education, and to respect their elders. They believed in a tomorrow that belonged to the young and took steps, however faltering, to hand over that future in good shape to the children they were raising.
That was why Chief Obafemi Awolowo, for instance, introduced free education in the Western Region, and why Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe named the university in Nsukka the “University of Nigeria.”
The political leaders of that time were not perfect—not even close—but they believed children deserved a better future, and so they did not sell their country to foreign money lenders. They treated crime as a plague; they did not loot the treasury mercilessly. Back then, you could travel by road from any part of the country to another at any time with only occasional incidents of robbery. We had shoe manufacturing concerns, car assembly plants, functioning petroleum refineries, quality education with well-equipped technical schools, holistic science laboratories, and flourishing agricultural outfits. Unemployment was low, and applicants were offered a level playing field in objective interviews. Recruiters wanted the best, and there was little recruitment by quota or “slots.” Our currency was stronger than the American dollar, and productivity was highly valued.
My children, the political leadership of my generation, and indeed my generation of parents, have failed to protect you as we should have. Some of my age-mates are still in the civil service; they have been “reborn” in office twice or more. With such people occupying positions indefinitely, your chances of employment have shrunk. People in their 70s and 80s who have been in power for decades are bent on staying, and you are left wondering: Where is the tomorrow we were promised? You see people in their 40s and 50s answering to the title “youth leader,” and you wonder what the meaning of “youth” even is. Worse, some of you have been preyed upon by your teachers, and others by people old enough to be your grandparents who use money and favours to seduce you. That is not right.
As you read this, dozens of your age-mates, seized by terrorists from schools in Oriire, Oyo State, earlier this month, are being tortured by their captors; one of their teachers has already been beheaded. Your government issues only the usual bland statements while actively pursuing political campaigns. It has the power and resources to have tracked down and dealt decisively with those monsters, but it has failed to do so. The fact that the government has shown such tepid seriousness in this matter says everything about those who run our national affairs.
As of January 2026, the most comprehensive estimate of out-of-school children in Nigeria exceeds 28 million, though your government often uses the 15-million figure for reintegration programmes. The Northern Elders’ Forum claims that 80% of Nigeria’s 20 million out-of-school children (adolescents excluded) are from Northern Nigeria—the very region that has held national power far more often than the South. One wonders: why do these rulers—misnamed “leaders”—allow this?
Between 2014 and May 2026, over 2,000 children have been abducted in mass school-based kidnappings. Two contrasting occurrences highlighting official negligence are the 2014 Chibok and Dapchi abductions, alongside the cold, jarring calls to grant mass murderers amnesty—even from security chieftains. By 2021 alone, it was estimated that 11,500 schools had been forced to close due to insecurity. As of 2026, many state governments, including Plateau, Niger, and Katsina, have intermittently shuttered “unity schools” in response to credible threats.
Children, the security landscape is not encouraging. Therefore, I say to you: be security-conscious, learn to obey your parents, and be content with what they provide. Stay within the law and remain prayerful. Your “big men” and women have stolen your tomorrow, but do not let them steal the future of your own children. If you ever get to lead any part of this country, or the country as a whole, do not be as pleonexic as many of your current leaders. Separate the public purse from your personal purse. Work hard to fix power, roads, and insecurity. If the evil men preaching amnesty for terrorists are still in power when your time comes, retort with Vladimir Putin’s take on pardoning terrorists: “It’s God’s duty to pardon them, but it is my duty to send them to God.”
Never pursue an “I-and-me-and-myself” policy. Remember your Creator while you are young, for old age is burdensome and unforgiving. Never lose hope. If the country is sliding—and it is—help to fix it when you are in a position to do so. Never look down on the poor children around you; you never know what tomorrow holds. Never neglect your parents or disdain the vulnerable.
God bless you all!