Inadequate public investment in children risks severe consequences for Nigeria’s future development, an academic has warned.
Ali Madina Dankumo, a lecturer in the Department of Economics and Development Studies at the Federal University of Kashere, Gombe State, delivered the warning at a one-day capacity-building workshop for media practitioners in Bauchi.
Dankumo, who also works as a social policy consultant, stated that failing to fund child welfare adequately will derail progress across education, healthcare, labour productivity, and poverty reduction.
The event, hosted at the Yimir Hotel by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Bauchi Field Office, brought together journalists from Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Plateau, and Taraba states.
Organisers designed the programme to help media practitioners leverage the 2027 electoral cycle to advocate for expanded public financing for children.
Depriving children and young people of educational and economic opportunities heightens their vulnerability to recruitment by criminal networks, bandits, and terrorist groups, Dr Dankumo noted.
”Children’s public finance is not only a children’s issue, but a general one because poor investment in children affects crime and insecurity, poverty, inequality, and others,” he said.
He explained that uneducated children are more easily drawn into criminal activities that disrupt community peace.
Such disruption suppresses overall economic output. Reduced national productivity depresses gross domestic product (GDP), drives down per capita income, and deepens poverty.
Consequently, public spending on children must be treated as a broad societal priority rather than an isolated social welfare issue.
Dankumo urged journalists to scrutinise state and national budgets to determine whether funding deficits are harming key interventions.
Priority areas requiring close media oversight include school feeding initiatives, therapeutic feeding, infant and young-child interventions, micronutrient supplementation, acute malnutrition treatment, clean water access, and caregiver education.
He charged reporters to place children’s welfare at the centre of political debates before the 2027 elections.
Journalists must challenge political candidates to outline clear policies, financial commitments, and measurable targets for improving child wellbeing.
Dankumo called on politicians at all levels to incorporate child-focused policies into their manifestos, while urging governments to demonstrate sustained commitment to securing quality education, healthcare, and growth opportunities for every child.
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