By Omoyeni Ojeifo
In a major step toward reshaping childcare, the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs has launched Nigeria’s first-ever National Caregivers Summit.
The landmark event aims to reinforce the country’s care systems and champion value-based, inclusive parenting.
The summit, themed “Future Now: Promoting Inclusion for Every Nigerian Child,” took place on Monday at the National Centre for Women Development, Abuja as a flagship event for the 2026 Children’s Day celebrations.
Addressing attendees, Women Affairs Minister Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim praised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s “Renewed Hope Agenda.”
She highlighted the administration’s commitment to human-centered governance, human capital development, and social inclusion.
She said the administration has continued to strengthen the social contract with citizens through policies that prioritise families, children and vulnerable groups.
“His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has given government a human face through his commitment to human capital development and social inclusion,” she said.
The minister noted that caregivers remain largely unrecognised and underappreciated in national development structures.
“Caregiving remains a critical but often invisible pillar of national productivity, and government is committed to building a system where caregivers are properly recognised, supported and rewarded,” she stated.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Esuabana Nko Asanye, in her remarks, underscored the need for stronger national coordination on caregiving and child development.
She said early investment in care systems remains critical to national growth and human capital development.
Also speaking on the occasion, tounder and Chief Executive Officer of Caring Africa, Blessing Adesiyan, called for urgent investment in structured care systems to address Nigeria’s demographic realities and improve women’s participation in the economy.
“We need to build childcare systems, we need to professionalize the care workforce, we need to introduce employer-supported care policies,” she said.
She further explained that care is central to national productivity and economic inclusion.
“Care is a system that enables families to function, women to participate, businesses to grow, and economies to scale.”
Adesiyan also warned that failure to properly recognise care work would continue to deepen inequality and limit workforce productivity, especially for women.
The programme featured presentations from students of government secondary schools, who called for the incorporation of etiquette, moral instruction and value-based education into the national school curriculum to promote discipline and responsible behaviour among young people.
The call for etiquette is aimed at promoting discipline and responsible behaviour among young people.
Persecondnews correspondent at the event reports that the highlight of the event was the unveiling of the “Etiquette Adventure,” a value-based initiative aimed at promoting discipline, etiquette and moral instruction among children and young people.
The event also had in attendance the wife of the Chief of Defence Staff, heads of agencies and departments, representatives of UNICEF, the United Nations, ECOWAS, and other development partners.
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