From Nasir Shuaibu, BAUCHI
Media practitioners have been urged to make children’s welfare a major issue in the 2027 election discourse by demanding clear commitments from political candidates on public financing for health, education and child protection.
The call was made at a one-day Media Dialogue on Public Finance for Children organised by the Bauchi State Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning and Multilateral Coordination in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Bauchi Field Office.
The dialogue, held at Yimir Hotel, Bauchi, attracted 60 media practitioners from Bauchi, Gombe and Plateau states.
Speaking at the event, Managing Director of the Bauchi Radio Corporation and Zonal Chairman, Zone B, Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON), Umar Muhammad Shira, said the media had a critical responsibility to protect the rights and welfare of children.
Shira urged journalists to use their platforms to demand adequate budgetary provisions for children’s healthcare and other essential services.
He said, “Every child deserves access to quality and affordable healthcare, regardless of their location or family background.”
He added that responsible reporting, investigative journalism and constructive engagement with policymakers could help expose funding gaps, amplify the concerns of vulnerable children and promote accountability.
Shira said investment in children should be viewed as an investment in the future development of society.
Also speaking, UNICEF Chief of Field Office, Bauchi, Dr Nuzhat Rafique, represented by Education Specialist and Officer-in-Charge, Abdulrahman Ado, said the 2027 election period offered the media an opportunity to place children’s issues at the centre of political discussions.
She urged journalists to ask political parties, candidates and policymakers what they intended to do to improve financing for the social sector.
According to her, adequate public financing was essential to addressing challenges including out-of-school children, stigmatisation and child protection.
Rafique noted that although UNICEF and other development partners support government programmes, their financial contributions were small compared with the resources available to governments.
She therefore challenged the media to go beyond reporting budgetary allocations by asking whether the funds were producing the desired impact on children.
She said journalists should use their interactions with political candidates and policymakers to establish their plans for child health, protection, education and other areas of the social sector.
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