Children of Nigeria, you are not just faces in uniforms or names on school registers. You are the sacred seeds in our cracked soil, the living poems of a country still trying to find its voice. Today, as the world celebrates you, let me say what many have forgotten to say: we are sorry. We have not built the Nigeria your dreams deserve. Yet you still laugh. You still play. That alone is a miracle.
You wake to hunger, walk through danger, and sleep to noise. Some of you sell sachet water on highways while others fetch hope from dry boreholes. Your schools leak when it rains, your books are few, and your teachers often absent—not because they don’t care, but because the system breaks their spirit too. Still, you come. Still, you learn. Still, you believe. You are stronger than steel.
When I see you, I see prophets without microphones, inventors without platforms, leaders without thrones. You are kings in sandals, queens with braids, angels wearing torn shirts. Do not let your surroundings define your story. From stable to palace, from slum to sky, God has always used the small to shame the mighty. Be like David. Let your faith be your weapon. Let your pen be your stone.
Dr. Paul Enenche once declared, “Where there is no vision, children perish before their time.” And I ask, what vision has this country given you? What future have our leaders painted beyond campaign slogans? If the rich child learns with tablets while the poor child writes in the sand, we are digging a grave too wide for our tomorrow.
But you, dear children, must rise. Build a new Nigeria in your minds first. Dream beyond the chaos. Let your hunger birth innovation. Let your rejection shape resilience. You are not victims; you are vessels. Use your pain to write poems, build apps, farm lands, win medals, tell stories—anything that breathes healing into this hurting land.
And when you grow, remember this: don’t be like those who ate the future of their children. Be the light that refuses to go out. Be the adult you needed when you were younger. Light candles, even if you were raised in darkness. Let those coming behind you walk without fear because you first built the road with tears and truth.
Happy Children’s Day. I pray for you. May your dreams outlive your scars. May your joy remain loud, even in silent homes. May you never stop shining, and may your light blind the darkness we failed to fight.
– Inah Boniface Ocholi writes from Ayah – Igalamela/Odolu LGA, Kogi state.
08152094428 (SMS Only)
