Children’s Day: A Letter to Nigerian Pupils Held in Captivity -By Abdulkadir Salaudeen

Dear Nigerian Pupils in captivity,  Children’s Day was observed two days ago without you. It would have been one of the most meaningful occasions because the day coincided with Eid al-Adha, a festival celebrated by Muslims all over the world.

I could not bring myself to celebrate or watch the festivities, knowing you are in kidnappers’ dens. I hope you do not lose hope for a reunion with your parents. I know you are in pain, but always keep hope alive.

I am writing to tell you something that will remind you of your worth, lift your spirits, and bring a smile to your face even in pain.

Do you know that you are important not only to your parents but also to your country? Do you know that you are loved not only by your parents but also by your country?

You are loved because you are special gifts from God. Your presence in any human settlement — not in a kidnappers’ den — is a strong sign of continuity. In a broader sense, you children guarantee the survival of every civilization. You are proof that a civilization is not dying.

The quality of children in any state or country determines its future, progress, and development. That is likely why a day is set aside in your honor to be celebrated as Children’s Day.

When a country has a good number of children who are responsible, well-trained, properly educated, and morally upright, we can say that country has a very bright future. That is why every responsible government, anywhere in the world, prioritizes meeting your needs before meeting the needs of others.

I understand the government has disappointed you. I feel your pain. I know the very reason government exists is to protect you, but it failed to do just that. I affirm that you were right to choose going to school over roaming the streets aimlessly. I believe, as you do, that you are the leaders of tomorrow. But I am confused, pained, and I wonder why the leaders of tomorrow should be held captive by kidnappers and criminals in a country that has “leaders” of today.

I thought, as you must have thought, that you would not spend a night in a kidnappers’ den, knowing that without you, the country’s future is bleak. Now it is two weeks in captivity and counting, with no news — not even fake news — about your release.

I thought President Tinubu would give marching orders to the service chiefs: bring you back within 48 hours, and dismiss them all if they failed to reunite you with your parents. The President did not do that.

Though he did act. Not much, but he acted. What he did, as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and Jagaban of Borgu land, was to appeal to Nigerians — including your parents — to pray that bandits and terrorists repent. What kind of Commander-in-Chief is this?

And honestly, we may not blame President Tinubu alone. Even your teachers, who should have shut down schools and demanded your return, did the same thing. The Oyo State chapter of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) declared a three-day fasting and prayer program for your safe return. I mean those of you from Oyo.

I am not aware whether the Borno State chapter of the NUT also declared a three-day fast and prayer for those of you from Borno. Perhaps they are tired of praying and fasting, since mass abduction of schoolchildren is not new to them in that part of Nigeria.

No doubt, we are a nation of prayer warriors. I strongly believe you will return safely, for I know how effective prayer is. I must admit my fear: I know the consequence of prayer without action — especially when action is needed.

Dear Nigerian children in captivity, do you know why you are in captivity? It is because you chose schooling over criminality. Have you ever heard of hopeless, homeless vagabonds or criminals of the underworld being kidnapped? No. It is because they are not the future of any country. Those who kidnapped you did so because they know you are the country’s future. They did not just kidnap you; they kidnapped Nigeria’s future.

Another reason you are in captivity is that your parents elected the wrong people to steer the affairs of the state. Though the blame is not entirely your parents’, they too were deceived by religious clerics in turbans and those in cassocks. With the support of these clerics, politicians campaigned in the name of God but ruled like agents of Satan. They impoverished your parents so that they could be bought with peanuts in the next election cycle, just to remain in power.

I strongly believe you will be back. The government really needs to bring you back, as that will be counted as an achievement — in a country where the government’s achievement is not preventing citizens from being kidnapped, but paying ransom to rescue them after it happens.

My prayer for you is that when you are released, you become better citizens despite all the horrors you must have endured. I told you before that you are the country’s future and tomorrow’s leaders. That is a dream you must be determined to realize. To realize it, make your education a priority. Do not forge results. Those who forge results never become responsible leaders.

When you are ultimately released, avoid drugs and drug addiction. You must have observed that your kidnappers use drugs. Cruelty is one of the traits that characterizes drug addicts. They are merciless and brutal to the core. That is why they developed a heart of stone, which led them to kidnap you and your teachers and even kill your teacher in the most gruesome way. In the same way, when drug addicts wield political power, citizens suffer untold hardship and are plunged into multidimensional poverty. Avoid drugs, no matter the temptation.

Do not be ethnic jingoists. Jingoism, fueled by jingoists, kills a country. Jingoists in a multiethnic country like Nigeria do not believe in one Nigeria. No amount of exhortation can make them work to achieve unity in diversity. Their jingoism is incurable. They will always work to break the nation by any means.

Dear Nigerian children in captivity, there is something more dangerous than all I have mentioned above that you must avoid: religious bigotry. It is cancerous. I have never seen a religiously bigoted nation that has ever developed. When you become a religious bigot, the first sign is skewed thinking — you stop thinking clearly.

If you are a bigoted Muslim, you will blindly and doggedly support and defend everything your brother in Islam does, whether right or wrong. If you are a bigoted Christian, every act of criminality and corruption committed by your church members will be seen as a virtue. Whoever fails to see it as a virtue must be treated as an enemy to be fought.

Dear Nigerian children in captivity, I believe you will be released and become great. Your present bitter experience is meant only to make you emerge stronger and become unifiers. I warn you again and again: religious bigotry is dangerous. In fact, it is one of the reasons — the major reason — you are in kidnappers’ dens. I wish I had time to explain this fully to you one day when you regain your freedom. Understand this: bigots are incapable of uniting people to foster development.

I am impatient and eager to see you reunite with your parents and other Nigerian children. You will be back very soon, God willing. When you are back, I have other things to discuss with you to make Nigeria great, because I have great confidence in you.

Yours sincerely,

Abdulkadir Salaudeen

salahuddeenabdulkadir@gmail.com