Children aren’t forgotten — Tinubu pledges rescue, protection on Children’s Day”
President Bola Tinubu
Abdullateef Fowewe
President Bola Tinubu has used his Children’s Day address on May 27, 2026, to celebrate Nigerian children and to promise intensified action to recover abducted pupils and strengthen school safety across the country.
Speaking as the nation marked Children’s Day alongside Eid-el-Kabir, the president praised the resilience and promise of Nigeria’s young people.
“Today belongs to you. It is a day to celebrate your innocence, your strength, your creativity, your aspirations, and the immeasurable value you bring to our nation,” he said, adding that children are “the pride of our Republic, the custodians of tomorrow’s promise.”
Tinubu highlighted the government’s focus on children at risk, drawing attention to pupils and teachers still held captive in parts of Oyo and Borno.
“To those children, their parents, and their teachers, I say this as a father and your President: you are not forgotten. You are not abandoned,” he said, pledging continued rescue efforts.
The president ordered security agencies to “sustain and intensify coordinated rescue operations” and called for measures to make schools safer in high-risk areas, including updated vulnerability mapping, rapid response links between schools and local security units, and stronger community-based early warning systems.
Tinubu also underscored the need for comprehensive care for rescued children.
“Rescue is not the end of the government’s duty. A child who returns from trauma must return to care, medical attention, counselling, education and dignity,” he said, directing ministries and agencies to ensure proper reintegration support with clear reporting and timelines.
The president appealed for a shared national responsibility for child protection, calling on parents, teachers, religious and traditional leaders, community groups, transport unions and local security outfits to act when they see warning signs.
“When information is shared quickly and responsibly, lives can be saved,” he said.
Affirming his administration’s broader commitment, Tinubu reiterated investments in education, health care, nutrition, social protection, digital skills and safer communities so that “childhood must not be a privilege reserved for a few.”
