2027: Keep Nigerian children out of political campaigns
As Nigeria moves into another election season, campaigns have officially started, political parties and politicians prepare for rallies, meetings, consultations and other activities that will dominate public spaces in the months ahead. Across communities, politicians will look for supporters, volunteers and large crowds to demonstrate their popularity. But there’s one group that should never be…
In Nigeria, as political campaigns commence for the upcoming elections, politicians and parties gear up for rallies, meetings, and other activities that will be prevalent in public spaces. However, one group that should not be involved in these campaigns is school-age children. A political campaign is an adult activity, and children who have not reached the legal voting age should not be recruited, transported, paid, or mobilized to attend rallies merely because their presence would make the crowd appear larger.
Children should be in classrooms, learning centers, homes, and other safe environments where they can acquire the knowledge and skills necessary for adulthood. This matter is particularly important as many children being recruited for political activities are not experiencing a typical childhood. They may be children living on the fringes of society, such as those who have dropped out of school, never attended school, orphans, almajirai, scavengers, or those who work alongside their parents.
These children require strong protection against exploitation. Nigeria already faces a significant education crisis, with over 20 million children out of school, and education deprivation is especially severe in northern Nigeria. Children are often found collecting plastic and metal from garbage due to their family's financial needs, while others act as guides for their parents, soliciting alms from people passing by.
Almajiri children frequently spend their days outside the protection of a formal education system, while orphans depend on relatives or strangers for survival. Some children have never stepped foot inside a classroom. For these children, political rallies can serve as opportunities for food, money, transportation, or other incentives.
This is why adults must exercise caution. Poverty can render a child vulnerable to manipulation. When a child attends a political rally solely because someone paid them to be there, we should not applaud the size of the crowd. Instead, we should inquire about the reasons behind their availability for recruitment in the first place.
Political events can turn into dangerous environments for children due to crowded roads, uncontrolled vehicle movement, fights, stampedes, political violence, and other forms of disorder. Young individuals may also become susceptible to manipulation, substance abuse, and recruitment into violent activities when political mobilization is inadequately controlled.
A child can comprehend democracy without participating in a campaign rally, learning about elections without carrying a political poster, and understanding citizenship without being transported from one rally to another. In fact, one of the most effective ways to prepare children for democracy is through education, providing them with access to books, teaching them about government operations, informing them about their rights and responsibilities, educating them on how to question and evaluate information.
Most significantly, teaching them that democracy involves more than attending rallies, carrying flags, or shouting slogans. The irony is that politicians may invest millions of naira in organizing rallies while millions of Nigerian children remain out of school. UNICEF's recent reports reveal that two-thirds of Nigerian children live in multidimensional poverty.
In its 2025 report on Nigerian children, UNICEF observed that millions of children lack access to basic education, healthcare, protection, and other essential services. Nigeria does not require a generation of children trained to shout political slogans while their education is neglected; instead, we need a generation trained to think, read, create, innovate, work, and lead.
Our politicians should campaign for the future of Nigerian children, not exploit their vulnerability. A political rally lasts only a few hours, whereas a child's education can shape an entire lifetime. Let us safeguard, educate, and prepare the child for the Nigeria we aspire to build. Dr. Mukaddas, an advocate for educational equity, expressed these sentiments via tjmuqaddas@gmail.com.
Written by urgent.news from Daily Trust's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
