FirstBank plans to mark Childrens Day 2026 with sponsored events across Nigeria over three days, starting on 25 May with support for the NTA Abuja Children’s Day in Abuja and the Youth Edutainment Theatre Festival in Lagos.
The bank said it will also back the Nigeria Future Leaders Festival on 26 May and, a day later, the Lexicon Children’s Day Games, the NTA Channel 10 Lagos and the NTA Yola Children’s Day Party. Olayinka Ijabiyi said the engagements fit FirstBank’s youth development and empowerment strategy and are meant to foster creativity, inclusion and confidence among children from different backgrounds.
“Children are the foundation of a sustainable and prosperous future,” Ijabiyi said, adding that the support is an intentional investment in nurturing creativity, building confidence and giving the next generation opportunities to grow and thrive. He said FirstBank is happy to partner with the Nigerian Television Authority, Nigeria Future Leaders Festival and Lexicon on engagements designed to create meaningful experiences that inspire tomorrow’s leaders across the country.
The sponsorship push lands as Children’s Day 2026 draws broader official attention to child welfare and civic values. In Abuja, President Bola Tinubu addressed an awareness campaign on the dangers of mercury exposure, while the National Orientation Agency urged Nigerian children to embrace patriotism, learning and moral values. The Federal Government has declared 2026 the Year of Families and Social Development.
FirstBank said the campaign ties into its Sustainability framework, which prioritises education, health and welfare, and into youth-focused products including KidsFirst, MeFirst and Xplore First. The bank also said it will support the ReadBug Literature Festival 2026 in Abuja in July, extending the Children’s Day effort beyond May and into literacy programming later in the year.
The year’s theme for the mercury awareness campaign, “Future Now, Effects of Mercury: The Invisible Threat to Nigerian Children,” put the health and environmental risks of mercury use in artisanal and small-scale gold mining at the centre of the day’s official messaging. For FirstBank, the answer to what comes next is already scheduled: more child-focused programming in July, and a sequence of public events over the coming weeks that turns Children’s Day from a one-off celebration into a longer campaign of support.
