Speech by the Vice-Chancellor, Rivers State University, Nkpolu-Oroworukwo, Port Harcourt, for the 2026 Children’s Day Celebration on Wednesday, May 27, 2026 at the Vice-Chancellor’s Lodge.
Theme: “Future Now: Promoting Inclusion for Every Nigerian Child”
Protocol/Introduction
My dear Children of the Rivers State University family, Happy Children’s Day to every one of you.
Today, as your Vice-Chancellor, I am not speaking to you as students or pupils alone. I am speaking to you as a Father, as a Teacher, and as a fellow member of this great RiSU family. Whether you attend RSU Staff School, Demonstration Secondary School, RiSUWAEC or you school in Port Harcourt or anywhere else in Nigeria, you are our children. And today is your day.
1. Why We Are Celebrating You
The Federal Government has given us a powerful theme for 2026: “Future Now: Promoting Inclusion for Every Nigerian Child”
“Future Now” means we cannot postpone your happiness, your safety, or your education until tomorrow. What we do for you today decides what Nigeria will become tomorrow.
“Inclusion” means you all matter, the child of a Professor, the child of a Security Officer, the child of a Cleaner, the child of a Librarian, the child of a Technologist. It means the child who speaks fast and the child who needs more time. The child who runs and the child who uses a wheelchair. Nobody is to be left outside.
2026 is also President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s “Year of Families and Social Development”. This University is your extended family. Your parents work here; teaching, researching, cleaning, securing, administering; all to build a better society. So, as Vice-Chancellor, my duty is to ensure this family protects and lifts every one of you.
2. What RSU Promises You
As children of staff who make this University run, here are my promises to you:
a. You will be protected through a safe campus and a safe Nigeria where you can walk without fear.
b. You will be educated. From digital skills to moral values, we will support your schools and give you access to RiSU libraries, laboratories, and ICT hubs during holidays. I hope our head teachers explore our ICT Innovation Hub for hands-on training on emerging technologies for you.
c. You will be heard. We will create “RSU Children’s Parliament” session in today’s event where you can tell us what you need from the University in 30 minutes after we have appointed a Speaker. You will also take the RiSU Children’s Day Pledge.
d. You will be celebrated. Not just on May 27, but every day. Your talents in science, sports, music, and art matter to us. The initiative to have a University Pupil Choir announced during our 2026 Easter Hymnal is in pursuance of this.
3. My Charge to You, Our RSU Children
As the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, reminds us: “Never allow your circumstances limit your dreams”.
So here is your assignment:
a. Dream Without Limits. You can be Engineers, Doctors, Artists, Aoders, farmers, or a Vice-Chancellor in future. This University was built by people who once sat where you sit now.
b. Practice Inclusion. At school, do not leave any classmate alone. If someone has no lunch, share. If someone is struggling, help. That is how we build “Future Now”.
c. Love Learning. Read beyond your textbooks. Ask questions about technology, about Rivers State, about climate change. The “Right to Digital Knowledge” is yours. I am a product of this disposition.
d. Honour Your Parents and Teachers. Your mummies and daddies in Registry, Bursary, Works, Faculties, and Departments wake up daily to serve. Make them proud by being respectful, hardworking, and kind. Same applies with your teachers.
4. To Our Parents (Teaching & Non-Teaching Staff)
Thank you. You are nation-builders. Every lecture you deliver, every file you process, every compound you sweep, every gate you man, you are investing in these children. RiSU appreciates you. Permit me at this point to thank our dear Governor, HE Sir Siminalayi Fubara, for implementing the harmonized new minimum wage for the University this month. Indeed, most of our staff are smiling; and as Management, we will continue to improve staff welfare because when the home is stable, the child thrives.
5. Conclusion
My dear children, you are more than 40% of Nigeria’s population. That means Nigeria’s future is literally in your hands.
So today, play well, laugh loud, and eat the cake. But from tomorrow, remember: the future is not later. The future is now. And in this RiSU family, every child will be included.
On behalf of the Governing Council, Senate, Management, staff, students and the entire RiSU community, I say: Happy Children’s Day 2026!
God bless you, our precious children.
God bless the staff of Rivers State University.
God bless Rivers State.
God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Thank you.
Prof. Isaac Zeb-Obipi
