By Princess Dr. Joan Jummai Idonije
In a video that has gone viral, small hands reach for scraps. Children scramble over discarded plates, eating voraciously whatever is left. Many watched. Many shared. Many commented. And then many moved on. Yet for some of us, this is not merely a trending clip. It is a painful reminder of a reality that has existed for decades.
Long before smartphones and hashtags, this scene was already written into our social fabric.
From as far back as the late 1980s, at parties and celebrations across Nigeria, children would quietly hover around tables, hoping someone would notice them and pass on the leftovers.
I remember attending a traditional wedding in Surulere, Lagos, in those years. While guests were wining, dining, and making merry, a group of children would approach the tables softly repeating a phrase that sounded strange to outsiders but was familiar to many: “Pass me the ajekus.” In Yoruba, ajekus means leftovers. Some of these children waited patiently for scraps, carefully sorting through abandoned plates, even those littered with bones and serviettes, to devour what they could. It was heartbreaking then. It remains heartbreaking now.
Years later, during a religious event organised by friends and me, I witnessed something even more unsettling. Children scrambled for food that had fallen on the ground. When I tried to stop them, one looked up and said simply, “Mama forget, abeg sand no dey kill person. Na food we dey chop,” meaning, “Mama, please don’t worry, dirt will not kill anyone; we are only trying to eat.” That moment stayed with me. On closer engagement, I learnt that they had lost their mother. Survival had become their daily assignment. School was no longer part of their story. This is why that viral video matters, not as content, but as a call to conscience.
It is also why the declaration by His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, proclaiming 2026 as the Year of Family and Social Development, is both timely and profound. It signals a national awakening to the foundational role of family, social protection, and human dignity in building a stable and prosperous Nigeria. This bold declaration aligns seamlessly with the Renewed Hope Agenda and speaks directly to the realities faced by millions of vulnerable children and families across our country.
Equally commendable is the leadership of the Honourable Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hon. Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, fsi, whose deep understanding of these challenges continues to activate the full mandate of the Ministry. Her unwavering commitment to strengthening families, protecting children, empowering women, and restoring dignity to the most vulnerable reflects leadership that is both compassionate and strategic, recognising that social development is not peripheral, but central to nation-building. Yet government alone cannot carry this burden.
So I ask: beyond sharing videos and expressing momentary outrage, what action have we taken?
We are all stakeholders in the journey to rebuild the Nigeria we desire. These children are dangerously exposed, easy prey for predators. They watch our affluence. They observe our comforts. And these images quietly shape their minds. Nation-building does not begin in conference halls alone; it begins in our homes, on our streets, in the quiet decisions we make when no one is watching. It begins when we choose empathy over indifference, action over applause.
If each of us reaches just one child, steadies just one trembling family, or restores dignity to one fragile life, we begin to heal the fractures of our society. Let us not merely pass the ajekus. Let us pass on hope, opportunity, and compassion. Because the future of our nation is already watching, and in this declared Year of Family and Social Development, we are all being called; gently but firmly to rise together.
