Former Minister of Education Oby Ezekwesili has attributed Nigeria’s worsening insecurity and the repeated abduction of schoolchildren to what she describes as “cancerous, systemic corruption” that has debilitated the nation’s institutions.

In a post on her X handle on Monday, Ezekwesili said corruption had so deeply eroded the country’s foundational values that key institutions, including the military and judiciary, are now compromised and unable to fulfill their mandates.

“Endemic corruption gradually ate up the very values on which they were founded and rendered them the impotent institutions we now know,” she wrote.

The co-convener of the BringBackOurGirls Movement added that despite years of warnings about the consequences of neglecting good governance, Nigeria is now grappling with the full impact of institutional decay.

Citing data from UNICEF and Save the Children, Ezekwesili noted that over 1,680 students were abducted in 70 attacks between 2014 and 2022, while another 816 students were kidnapped in 22 attacks between 2023 and November 2025.

Reflecting on more than a decade of advocacy since the Chibok schoolgirls abduction in 2014, she said public outrage is no longer sufficient, describing the recurring kidnappings as evidence of state failure rather than isolated security lapses.

“The latest group of abducted children are not just hostages of terrorists; they are hostages of the unforgivable failure of governments and a political class that refuse to be moved, and of a people whose empathy has been steadily eroded,” Ezekwesili wrote.

She emphasized that the persistent attacks highlight state collapse in its most fundamental duty: protecting the nation’s children.

According to Ezekwesili, 10 years after the Chibok abduction, the Federal Government can no longer claim ignorance or a learning curve, underscoring the urgent need for systemic reforms.