Do our children now have to choose between getting an education

Obiageli Ezekwesili, a guardian of justice and truth, spoke with trembling fire when she said: “Do our children now have to choose between getting an education and dying? Some of us cannot move on and accept that kind of society.” These words are not mere lament, but a cry against the decay of humanity. They echo across the ages as a warning and a call: when a society becomes so broken that the pursuit of knowledge becomes a risk to life itself, then that society stands upon the brink of ruin. For what hope can there be, if the path to education, the very foundation of the future, is lined with fear, blood, and death?

The origin of this outcry lies in the tragedy of Nigeria, where Boko Haram’s terror campaign sought to extinguish the light of learning, particularly for young girls. Most remembered is the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls in 2014, a horror that shook the conscience of the world. Ezekwesili, as co-founder of the “Bring Back Our Girls” movement, gave voice to this anguish. Her words carry the weight of mothers who weep, fathers who despair, and children who tremble on their way to school, uncertain if the classroom will be their sanctuary or their grave.

History itself offers mirrors of such suffering. Recall the Dark Ages, when ignorance spread like a plague as warlords destroyed libraries, or the time when the Mongols burned Baghdad’s House of Wisdom, and the river ran black with the ink of countless manuscripts. In each of these moments, the destruction of education was not only the loss of books but the deliberate crippling of civilizations. The oppressor knows that to kill learning is to enslave the future. So too, in Ezekwesili’s time, the enemies of light sought to chain the minds of children by striking fear into the very act of learning.

Her words, “some of us cannot move on,” resound like a vow. She refuses the apathy that poisons many hearts, the willingness to accept injustice as normal. She reminds us that silence is complicity, and that when children are forced to weigh knowledge against survival, the soul of a nation is already bleeding. To “move on” in such times is not strength but surrender. To refuse to move on is to keep alive the hope of redemption, to declare that human dignity is not negotiable.

The deeper meaning is that education is more than schooling—it is the sacred birthright of every child. It is the light by which the path of life is made clear, the shield against ignorance, and the ladder out of poverty. To risk death for education is the most tragic irony: that the very gift meant to preserve life and uplift society becomes a cause for danger. Such a society, Ezekwesili warns, cannot endure, for a nation that does not protect its children’s future is digging its own grave.

The lesson for us is heavy yet urgent: never grow numb to injustice. Defend the right of every child to learn without fear. If you are a parent, encourage and protect your child’s education. If you are a citizen, raise your voice when schools are attacked, when teachers are silenced, when knowledge is threatened. If you are a leader, remember that your sacred duty is not only to govern, but to safeguard the young, for they are the nation’s tomorrow.

Practical action is demanded. Support schools with your presence and your resources. Advocate for policies that protect teachers and students alike. Stand in solidarity with those who fight for the right to learn, as Ezekwesili did for the Chibok girls. And above all, refuse to “move on” when tragedy strikes—carry it as a burden until justice is done. For only the restless heart that refuses complacency can bend the arc of history toward hope.

Thus, Obiageli Ezekwesili’s words shall echo like an ancient oracle: when children must choose between education and life, the very fabric of society is torn. But if we refuse to accept such a world—if we fight, speak, and labor for the safety and knowledge of the young—then we become healers of nations, builders of light, and guardians of the eternal flame of learning.