*The recent visit of UNICEF officials to Kwara State of Nigeria and the delivery of 3,964 cartons of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food was not a mark of achievement but a clarion call鈥攁 rescue mission by the body to ‘a state grappling with an avoidable humanitarian crisis’, signifying governance has failed

Sa鈥檃d Ayinde

In a week that ought to spark deep national introspection ahead of Nigeria鈥檚 annual Children鈥檚 Day, the Kwara State Government has, unsurprisingly, chosen to cloak its failings in hollow declarations and misleading headlines.

In a widely circulated statement, Mr. Rafiu Ajakaye, the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara State, claimed that the recent visit of UNICEF officials to Kwara State and the delivery of 3,964 cartons of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) signify progress in child health.

Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara State

On the contrary, the visit was not a mark of achievement but a clarion call鈥攁 rescue mission by UNICEF to a state grappling with an avoidable humanitarian crisis.

The truth is simple and painful: when international agencies have to donate life-saving food to prevent child deaths in large numbers, governance has failed.

Fifteen years ago, in May 2010, Kwara State was a national benchmark for child protection and rights-based governance. The state hosted a groundbreaking National Conference on Child Rights, organised by the Wellbeing Foundation in collaboration with UNICEF, WHO, FIDA, the Legal Aid Council, and the Kwara State Government.

That two-day event, held in Ilorin, brought together distinguished Nigerians and international dignitaries.

Dr. Bukola Saraki, then Governor of Kwara, welcomed participants, including Justice Amina Augie, Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, and representatives from leading human rights and development organisations.

The Conference produced a communique that laid out a robust, actionable roadmap to make Kwara a child-friendly state.

Among its key resolutions were the establishment of family courts, implementation committees for the Child Rights Act (CRA), gazetting of the CRA into state law, creation of a state Children鈥檚 Commission, development of child-friendly police and schools, and capacity building across institutions.

It was agreed that child protection would be multisectoral, involving collaboration between education, health, justice, and social welfare. Simplified versions of the CRA were to be developed for mass education, while Child Rights Clubs and school programs were to promote awareness among children and youths themselves.

These resolutions were not idle aspirations.

The CRA was, indeed, gazetted in Kwara State in 2007 and operational frameworks were initiated, with legislative and executive arms working in synergy.

Copies of the 2010 communique, the gazette of the CRA, and photographic records of the landmark conference are still available for public access at the Kwara State Ministry of Women Affairs.

At that time, UNICEF proudly identified Kwara as 鈥淔it-for-a-Child,鈥� based on the state鈥檚 legal commitment, institutional readiness, and programmatic planning to protect children鈥檚 rights.

Fast forward to 2025, and the contrast could not be starker.

The same UNICEF that once applauded Kwara鈥檚 child rights infrastructure has now returned with emergency supplies of therapeutic food to save malnourished children. According to Christian Munduate, UNICEF鈥檚 Country Representative, over 300,000 children in Kwara currently suffer from wasting, with more than 40% experiencing stunted growth.

These are not abstract figures; they are the lived realities of children whose lives are now endangered by systemic neglect.

Ms. Munduate lamented that access to treatment remains limited to a handful of facilities across the state, even as the threat of child mortality increases.

While UNICEF and the Kwara Government each contributed $100,000 under the Child Nutrition Fund, this action is remedial鈥攏ot revolutionary.

A donation to save starving children is not an endorsement of good governance; it is a humanitarian response to an administrative collapse.

Under the AbdulRahman Abdulrazaq administration, what was once a vision for holistic child protection has degenerated into a struggle for basic survival. The administration has made no significant investment in community-based nutrition programs.

There is no clear state policy or budgetary framework addressing malnutrition.

The CRA, though domesticated and gazetted, remains largely unenforced.

Primary health centres are underfunded, child protection agencies are skeletal, and public sensitisation is non-existent.

The government has spent more energy branding photo opportunities than building child-friendly systems.

While media handlers boast about 鈥渞esults,鈥� children are dying in villages for lack of food, clean water, and medical attention.

The deterioration from 2010 to 2025 is not just a matter of time鈥攊t is a direct consequence of failed leadership.

In 2010, Kwara was planning, legislating, and investing in systems to protect its children.

In 2025, it is reacting, begging, and scrambling for international aid.

What was once a state seen as a pacesetter in child rights enforcement has become an object of pity鈥攁 cautionary tale of how not to govern.

It is in the face of this glaring reversal that Prof. Ali Ahmad has chosen to speak truth to power.

As a former Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly and lead advocate for the domestication of the CRA, Prof. Ahmad understands the institutional gaps and legal requirements necessary to build a resilient child protection framework.

His recent comments were not political jabs but policy alerts.

He called for immediate commissioning of a nutrition vulnerability survey, full equipping of primary health centers with CMAM (Community-based Management of Acute Malnutrition) facilities, the establishment of an inter-ministerial task force on child health, integration of nutrition into budget planning, and revitalisation of community-based platforms such as Child Rights Clubs and school health programs.

Rather than engage with these concrete suggestions, the government chose to issue a tone-deaf press release, hailing itself for its role in what is essentially a crisis response.

Such posturing is not only dishonest; it is dangerous. Governance is not public relations.

It is service delivery, crisis prevention, and evidence-based decision-making. Kwara鈥檚 children deserve more than hashtags.

They deserve leaders who will plan, implement, and protect鈥攏ot just react when the world comes knocking with donations.

Let history bear witness: the 2025 visit of UNICEF to Kwara is a milestone, but not one to celebrate.

It is a marker of a state that has abandoned its duty to its most vulnerable.

It is a grim reminder that slogans cannot replace strategy, and that the lives of children cannot be sustained on promises and propaganda.

Those who seek the truth should consult the 2010 communique, the gazetted CRA, and the pictorial records of the conference, all available at the Kwara State Ministry of Women Affairs.

The story they tell is clear: we once had a vision. Today, we face a verdict.

*Sa鈥檃d Ayinde, a Media Assistant to Prof. Ali Ahmad, former Speaker, Kwara State House of Assembly, writes from Ilorin, the state capital.

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