Byline: Eseme Eyibo
Year 2025 Children’s Day was different for 536 students drawn from about 27 schools around the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja as they celebrated the customary Children’s Day with senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria at the instance of the President of the Senate, Distinguished Senator Godswill Akpabio, GCON.
The colourful event witnessed the arrival of the students to the premises of the National Assembly. They were welcomed by the President of the Senate, who gave each of them a warm and fatherly handshake before inviting them into the Senate Chamber.
For them to, however, be admitted into the Senate Chamber, the Senate had to suspend its rule to give a force of effect and legitimacy to that decision which was designed to honour the children.
At the Red Chamber, the students were counselled on the need to stay on the path of moral rectitude and shun anything that would distract them from focusing on their studies.
Senator Akpabio in his advice to the students enlightened them on the adverse effects of drugs, which he said is the common indulgence of young people, adding that “drugs have the potential to derail the dream of a promising child and set him or her on a path of destruction.” He charged them to study and prepare themselves for a future that would give them opportunity to contribute to nation building.
Senator Akpabio noted that, “Children’s Day is about celebrating the joy, wonder and boundless potential in every child,” adding that “the celebration is about nurturing dreams, protecting innocence and building a brighter future for the next generation.”
The students leveraging on the suspended Senate Rules addressed the Chamber. The three speakers spoke glowingly of the Senate President, describing him as uncommon. They expressed gratitude to Senator Akpabio and other senators for the warm welcome accorded them, promising that they would heed the counsel given to them.
It is instructive to note that history is replete with stories of how children encountered leaders, became inspired and were influenced and shaped by these leaders who became their role models. Of course, this often rebuilds a destiny that reflects the new trajectory and reshapes the individual’s ambition.
Former President of the United States, Bill Clinton, is said to have been inspired at the age of eight through a handshake with a serving President. Barack Obama, another former President of the United States, has a similar history. Our own Godswill Akpabio, President of the Senate and former two terms governor of Akwa Ibom State, is also said to have encountered a one-time military governor of the then South Eastern State , Brigadier-General U. J. Esuene, during a May Day celebration and that fired the ambition that has made him the leader he is today.
What the President of the Senate has done to the children that visited the Senate for the 2025 May Day celebration is a conscious and concerted reengineering of the psyche of the children towards the building of big dreams. And as it is often said, what the mind can conceive, the man can achieve. Akpabio has sparked the ambition of these young people and the story of the encounter would be told as a testimony in the years ahead.
But despite the moral value and far reaching gains that Akpabio’s encounter with the children portend, a mischievous reporter from Daily post still went ahead to report falsehood by stating that Akpabio snubbed the students. If Akpabio snubbed them, how come they were in the Senate Chamber from where they spoke ornamentally of the Senate President? Sadly, we are in an era when the fine qualities of journalism are easily compromised for lucre. Facts which are knowingly sacred in the practice are jettisoned and fabrications are promoted and celebrated. But pictures don’t lie.
The historic event of 2025 May Day celebration had 15 students each drawn from 27 schools averaging 400. In addition, 10 students from School for the Blind participated, as well as 10 students from Air Force School and 10 students from POWA School. The highest pool of students were children of NASS staff which had 106. Two teachers from each school and care givers too joined the celebration, thus giving the event which was the first of its kind in the history of the Senate an uncommon niche under an uncommon Senate President.
* Rt. Hon. Eseme Eyibo is Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President of the 10th Senate.
