At about 2 a.m. on Tuesday, sleep abandoned me. I lay awake, tormented by the abduction of Oyo schoolchildren and the beheading of a mathematics teacher. Without realising, I began to mutter aloud. Then I shouted: “Oh my goodness…”
My family rushed in. “Alhaji, Daddy, Sir, are you alright?” they asked, fearing the worst.
I could not hold back. I wept for the children. I wept for their parents. I imagined a mother waiting for her three-year-old to come home—a father pleading with kidnappers for his wife and child.
My wife, equally distraught, said: “I have been thinking about those little ones and their mothers. If they cannot sleep, why should I?”
A Celebration We Do Not Deserve
On Children’s Day, I struggle to celebrate. I am ashamed to call myself part of a society that marks a festive occasion while nursery and primary school pupils are held in forests—no shelter, no safety, no food.
Are we not being callous?
As a Muslim, after slaughtering my ram, I packed the meat into the freezer and returned to my prayer mat. I had forgotten I invited friends, as is my yearly custom. Some still came. I apologised and offered them fresh meat, explaining I was not in the mood to celebrate while innocent children remained captive.
Later, I overheard: “Ko sowo lowo Alhaji ni”—the Alhaji has no money to entertain guests.
But I ask: have we lost our humanity?
Leadership and Lost Priorities
Today, we mark anniversaries, political milestones, and public festivities. But what exactly are we celebrating? Our failure to curb insecurity? Our inability to stop kidnapping?
God help us.
To our leaders, school owners, and the political class: it is an international embarrassment to celebrate Children’s Day when we should be in sober reflection. Even more troubling—political campaigns, primaries, and victory rallies continue while children remain captive.
Our leaders must rethink how they value human life. Our children are our future—yet that future is held hostage in forests while those in authority look away. Have we lost our soul?
Technology or Tragedy?
Why have we refused to fully deploy modern technology in the fight against insecurity? Drones, surveillance systems, and intelligence tools have helped smaller nations reduce insurgency and crime. Nigeria clings to outdated methods.
A Moral Crisis
Our youths need urgent reorientation about life, dignity, and legitimate work. Kidnapping and banditry are becoming normalised as a “business.” Recent arrests in southern Nigeria revealed young men aged 20 to 25 involved in kidnapping—across different ethnic backgrounds. This is no longer a tribal issue. It is a national moral crisis.
We are busy discussing the 2027 elections while citizens cannot sleep peacefully. We debate politics while farmers cannot reach their farms. We plan campaigns while children cannot safely attend school.
Our leaders should, for once, send their aides to feel the pulse of ordinary Nigerians—if they truly do not know what is happening.
God help us.
God help Nigeria.
— Lai Gidado
Publisher, Ebony Herald International Magazine
30th May 2026