Hi ,

Today, Nigeria marks Children's Day. And I cannot only celebrate.

This morning I am thinking of the 19 million Nigerian children who are not in school. Of the 5.4 million children facing acute malnutrition while we go about our day. Of the 670 schoolchildren taken from their classrooms in the past two years. Of Michael Oyedokun, the Oyo mathematics teacher who was beheaded twelve days ago, and whose colleagues and pupils are still in captivity tonight.

And I am thinking of the children whose deepest danger is not in any forest it is in the bedroom next door.

I have written a longer reflection on my blog — what I see, why it weighs on me, and what I still dare to hope for. I hope you will read it, share it, and most of all, sit with it.

👉 Read the full reflection

If today moves you, do one small thing: say a name. Michael Oyedokun was a teacher. The principal taken with him has a name. The pupils still in captivity have names. They are not numbers.

And hold your own children close today. Look them in the eye. Listen for what they are not saying. So many children suffer simply because no adult is paying attention.

To every Nigerian child today — you deserve more than survival. You deserve childhood.

With grief and with hope,

Latifah Parent & Teen Coach | Author of The Phone-Free Teenager and Beyond the Goat Pen

P.S. If this letter spoke to you, please forward it to one person. Silence is its own kind of complicity.