President Muhammadu Buhari has urged parents to treat their children with dignity, while staying focused on discipline.

Buhari also enjoined Nigerian parents and children to hold onto the ancient truths of integrity, honesty, knowledge, and hard work in spite of the changing times, saying the landmarks remain the pillars of destiny.

“Every child is special and should be specially treated with dignity,” the President said in a statement issued on Saturday, May 27, by his spokesman, Femi Adesina, in commemoration of the 2023 Children’s Day.

He added: “On this special day, we are immensely grateful to God for another opportunity to celebrate our children, on May 27th, 2023. Every Children’s Day reminds us of the future, and the necessary sacrifices and building blocks by parents, guardians, teachers, leaders, and government to secure our greatest assets on earth, the younger ones.

“As a father and grandfather, I share in the joy that children bring into our lives and the fulfillment of seeing them grow. And I also feel the pain of loss, anxiety, and frustration that comes with uncertain times, like the disruptions to families due to insecurity, which we have worked hard to contain in the last eight years.

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“We must not lose hope, and our faith should be rekindled in the ability of government to safeguard the future of our lives and children. In eight years, we have focused on children, negotiating and fighting for the release of many that were taken captive, and painstakingly building intelligence on the whereabouts of others. Some have been released; more will come, by God’s grace, as the next administration continues on the same noble path.”

President Buhari further thanked parents, government officials, development partners, professionals, and religious leaders for the support his administration received “in realising some of our targets, like the school feeding programme, resuscitation of the primary health care system, and protecting our schools by the security agencies.”

“As we are aware, raising healthy and promising children is a collective responsibility. In Nigeria, like in most of Africa, the community has a stake in the upbringing of the child. Truly, it takes a village to raise a child. And as the world continues to become smaller with new technology, and the borders on culture and cultural values are steadily getting blurred, we must retain our identity and values.

“Our core values of integrity, honesty, hard work, and love for learning should not be negotiated. Our children should know, and stay with the ancient landmarks of what is true, and right at home, and abroad,” Buhari added.

The Star