Investigation into Nigeria’s Safe School Initiative Program by the Nigerian Senate, on Thursday suffered a setback following the non appearance of security chiefs before the upper legislative arm.
Abuja Times reports that the Senate Ad-hoc Committee constituted to investigate the Safe Schools Initiative program had scheduled a meeting with the Nigeria security chiefs. Unfortunately, the security chiefs did not turn up, except the Commandant-General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Dr. Ahmed Audi.
The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Olufemi Oluyede; Director General, Department of State Service (DSS), Mr. Adeola Oluwatosin and Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, were absent, though represented.
Irked by the development, the Committee chairman, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, explained that the mandate given to the Committee is to invite heads of security agencies to appear before it.
While commending the security chiefs for their relentless efforts in curbing insecurity in Nigeria, Senator Kalu emphasized that the Committee will not back down on its mandate, insisting all security chiefs in charge of the program must appear before it.
“The mandate of the Senate must be carried out to the letter. It’s not my mandate. The Senate has said on the floor that we should interact with the security chiefs on this matter,” he stressed.
Making his presentation, Dr. Audi said the Corps has prevented over a hundred attacks on schools nationwide since it was charged with the responsibility to provide security for the schools.
Dr. Audi traced the history of Nigeria’s school safety effort to three major phases, beginning with the Safe Schools Initiative launched in 2014 after the abduction of the Chibok girls.
The initiative, he said, was originally driven by the Ministry of Education with support aimed at protecting schools in the conflict-ridden Northeast.
He explained that the second phase emerged in 2019, following the visit of former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, which led to Nigeria’s adoption of the Safe Schools Declaration, an international commitment to protect education from attack.
The third and most ambitious phase began in 2021, when the NSCDC was assigned to develop a comprehensive framework for protecting schools, classified as part of Nigeria’s critical national assets and infrastructure.
“We thought we should come up with a very detailed programme on how to provide safety and security for schools,” he stated.
According to him, for the Corps to guide its work, it commissioned a nationwide vulnerability assessment in 2022.
Dr. Audi said the survey produced what the official described as “very shocking data.”
He said the report shows that Nigeria had over 81,000 schools at the time of the survey, “More than 60,000 of these schools lacked any form of security presence.
He further disclosed that the NSCDC submitted a ₦24 billion budget to launch its full school protection activities. However, the Corps was informed that funds were not immediately available.
According to CG, ₦3.3 billion was eventually allocated to the NSCDC under the 2023 national budget’s capital component—far below what the agency requested.
Despite the shortfall, he said the Corps began rolling out its planned activities, combining its internal programme with components captured in the National Safe Schools Implementation Plan developed under the Financing Safe Schools initiative.
The NSCDC boss noted that the Corps has intensified nationwide advocacy campaigns on the importance of school safety and has initiated several of the protection strategies outlined in the national plan. More activities are expected as funding improves.
He emphasized that the Safe Schools Programme remains essential to national security, given the persistent threat of attacks, especially in Nigeria’s northern regions.
The Committee however, rescheduled for Tuesday 16 November for the absent security chiefs to appear before it.