*No Child should grow up afraid-President Tinubu
By Tolu Meduna
Bullying: A Personal Reflection and a National Call to Action
Having experienced bullying while growing up, I can confidently say the psychological effects often linger into adulthood. Dealing with it feels like an unending unraveling of emotions and memories.
It started as early as primary school. I was excluded simply because I didn’t “belong” to the popular group. The so-called “mean girl” led a clique that believed if you didn’t live in a duplex, then your parents weren’t important enough—certainly not directors—and so, you didn’t qualify to talk to them. Unfortunately for her, my best friend was the daughter of a Director and lived in a duplex, while we lived in a bungalow—thanks to my mother’s job at the staff clinic. We all lived in the same senior quarters.
But the mean girl fought hard to alienate me. Sometimes I ended up playing alone on the school playground. Thankfully, after a few days, my best friend would come back to her senses and rejoin me, ignoring the clique’s pressure.
Then one day, I found courage.
I walked up to the squad leader and said, “If my dad were alive, we too would be living in a duplex. What does your mother do, anyway? Does she even work here? My mother is the only one working in my home, and yet we can afford to live in the senior quarters—even if it’s a bungalow.”
She went home crying.
Her mother came to report me to my mother, and I thought that was the end for me. My mum is a gentle, tough disciplinarian. When she’s angry, the room doesn’t explode—it quietly crashes down on you. But this time, she didn’t beat me. She calmly listened, settled the matter, and saw the truth.
She kept asking the other mother to find out what her daughter had said to me first. That was the first time I remember my mother defending me. I was in Primary 3 or 4. After that, the duplex girl never came for me again.
But I wasn’t free yet—other bullying experiences especially from adults followed, each with its own sting. “I’m pretty sure I’ve written a whole book about it.”
So, when I heard this year’s National Children’s Day theme—“Stand Up, Speak Up: Building a Bullying-Free Generation”—announced by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, it felt deeply personal. I felt like I finally had a father figure who recognizes the pain of children like me—those who have endured bullying and those still facing it.
The theme struck a chord. It highlights the urgent need to create safe spaces—physically, emotionally, and digitally—for every Nigerian child. President Tinubu emphasized that bullying remains a widespread global challenge, with more than one in three children experiencing it regularly. In Nigeria, he revealed, up to 65% of school-age children have endured some form of bullying or aggression—an alarming and unacceptable reality his administration is determined to change.
In response, the President outlined a robust set of government interventions. Chief among them is the full implementation of the National Plan of Action on Ending Violence Against Children (2024–2030). This plan offers a comprehensive roadmap for prevention, legal prosecution of offenders, survivor support, and nationwide awareness. It’s backed by dedicated funding and multi-sector collaboration.
Finally, we are beginning to stand up. Finally, someone in authority is speaking up—for me, for the children before me, and those who are growing up now.
Earlier during a recent Regional Meeting of Pathfinding Countries on Ending Violence Against Children in Africa, held in Abuja and hosted by the Ministry of Women Affairs, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu launched the National Action Plan on Ending Violence Against Children in Nigeria. He called for the strict enforcement of the Child Rights Act and other child protection laws to ensure the safety, dignity, and future of Nigerian children, aligning with the continental goal that no African child should grow up in fear.
President Tinubu represented by the vice president Kashim Shettima highlighted concrete measures being implemented by his administration to realise this goal, including the establishment of a dedicated Child Protection and Development Agency, the introduction of a Universal Child Grant to alleviate household poverty and reduce children’s vulnerability, as well as the development of a National Child Protection Database and a Child Well-being Index to monitor government progress and ensure accountability.
Assuring that key government institutions—particularly the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs—are equipped with the necessary training and resources to lead efforts at all levels of governance. He emphasised that safeguarding the Nigerian child requires genuine commitment and integrity, stating, “But we must be honest with ourselves. We cannot protect the child by merely reciting the anthems of their struggles or romanticising their vulnerability.”