Jason's Jive July 2026

Bring Back Our Children (and Teachers). It has been about a month since a group of school children and a few teachers, were kidnapped in Oyo State, Nigeria. A few years ago, we had he case of over 300 school girls getting kidnapped by Boko Haram terrorists. We have a problem in Nigeria – insecurity! It is time to call a spade what it is. I typically do not write about politics, but the government in Nigeria needs to do something about the growing insecurity situation.

I grew up half my life in Ibadan, Oyo State. My late father was a University lecturer at the University of Ibadan, and my mother (who is from St. Kitts-Nevis in the Caribbean) taught music at the International School on the same university campus.  I had somewhat of a sheltered life, growing up. In my teen years, I started exploring the city more as I was able to go about on my own. I never once had to live in fear of my environment.

As a child, we would roam the streets of the University campus, playing (till the street lights came on --- our cue to go back home). I cannot begin to imagine what the kidnapped children (Elementary School age) are going through mentally, living in presumably rough conditions, exposed to the elements and more. The trauma they have been put through is going to be with them the rest of their lives. Praying they are found alive and rescued, how do you now send them back to school to learn? What resources are going to be put in place for them to reintegrate into the regular learning environment? The questions are many and answers are few?

As politicians, now I am speaking directly to those in authority in Nigeria – how do you go to sleep at night, knowing an economically challenged family is missing a child or children? A community has lost custody of their innocent children, due to insecurity. How do we expect these children to grow into leaders?

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Politician, you owe it to the country and to the communities, to provide a safe and comfortable enough environment for our children to be able to go to school, learn and do other things that children do, so they can have fond memories to look back on.

A lot of my elementary (primary) school peers and I are still in touch with each other. We have a group on WhatsApp, where are able to share memories that make us look back at our childhood and say those were some of the best years of our lives. Some of us have been friends from before we could walk, and thanks be to God, in 2026, we can look back and laugh. We share memories how nicknames were created way back then in the 1970’s and those names still identify with some of us, till today. We enjoy meeting each other’s families and telling each other’s kids, things about their parents that they find fascinating. We still remember birthdays, the first crush at that age, birthday parties and more. You my dear reader, also have memories I am sure you hold dear, to this very day.

So, what are those children going to talk about later in life? We were in captivity and had to sleep in harsh conditions, eat and drink in an unhealthy environment? Will they say that the political leaders failed them, when it mattered the most?

If you are a Nigerian, reading this, you need to start asking the questions to those in positions of authority, “When will you bring back the kidnapped school children? You can sleep in a nice bed, on a nice pillow and even go under a blanket for additional warmth. A school child does not have that luxury. A school child cannot eat breakfast and then walk playfully with their peers to school, eager to start a new day, filled with new educational challenges. A brother or sister has to walk past an empty bed, as their sibling has been kidnapped.

So, my dear politician, enough of the talking and workshops and seminars and articles. The time for real action is here. We owe it to our children, their siblings, their cousins, their parents and the immediate communities.

Please, bring back the children and double please, let us allow the children to grow up enjoying their childhood. Provide a safer environment for them. These are the doctors and other professionals that will be taking care of some of us when we are older. We owe them a better childhood. I may not be in a position of authority, but I have a voice. You have a voice too and collectively we can echo the cry, “bring our school children back.”

That’s the Jive!