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Clement Idoko | Abuja
THE Federal Government has flagged off the National Safe Schools Response Coordination Centre as part of measures to rein in the spate of attacks on school facilities.
Commandant-General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Dr Ahmed Abubakar Audi, speaking at the ceremony at the headquarters of the corps in Abuja, said no nation could achieve sustainable development in the face of widespread insecurity of lives and properties.
Audi, while lamenting the atrocities committed by insurgents in the northern part of the country, revealed that about 2,295 teachers had been killed and 19,000 others displaced in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states between 2009 and 2018 alone, while an estimated 1,500 schools had been destroyed since 2014, with over 1,280 casualties among teachers and students.
After the abduction of about 300 school girls from Chibok, Borno State, the Federal Government in 2014 launched the Safe Schools initiative as part of efforts to ensure that children in conflict areas continue with their education.
To further solidify the commitment to secure schools, President Muhammadu Buhari in December 2019 signed the Safe Schools Declaration Ratification document.
Accordingly, the Federal Government had in December 2022 launched N144. 8 billion Safe Schools Financing Plan, with a view to protecting schools from terrorist attacks.
At the event in Abuja, the Minister of Finance, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, said that the plan would be implemented between 2023 and 2026.
She said: “The National Plan will be implemented between 2023 and 2026, with a total investment size of N144.8 billion. The Plan proposes N32.58 billion in 2023, N36.98 billion in 2024, N37.15 billion in 2025, and N38.03 billion in 2026 respectively.
“To this end, the Federal Government has made a provision of N15 billion in the 2023 Budget, leaving a funding gap of N13.6 billion in 2023, expected to be filled by state governments, agencies, the private sector and other development partners that are interested in supporting Nigeria.”
Audi speaking further at the flag-off of the National Safe Schools Response Coordination Centre said the violent attacks on schools have negative effect on teaching and learning thereby reversing sustainable national development efforts.
He said: “The various cases of insecurity that stem from high profile crimes, perpetrated through transnational syndication and racketeering, have continuously posed threats to the survival of nations.
“Nigeria’s political history has been replete with various forms of violent insecurity challenges ranging from the civil war, election-related mayhem, riots and protests, militancy, insurgency and herdsmen and farmers clashes.
However, the rise of Boko-Haram sect has created a new dimension to Nigeria’s insecurity problems.
“The main ideological objective of this violent extremist group is, strangely, to target the elimination of western education in Nigeria.
“The negative operations of this group against education became glaring following the abduction of 276 students of Government Girls College, Chibok.
“Following afterwards were several other cases on attacks of several other secondary schools with cases of kidnapping of teachers and students.
“There were also cases of killing of students and their teachers. Bombs were brazenly detonated in school assemblies, destroying the lives of many students and teachers such as the case of the Yobe school attack while school buildings were burnt, hindering teaching and learning.
“Intelligence also revealed cases of dormitory raping, though several other attacks remained unreported.”
He added that in view of the importance of education and human capital development towards overall national development, it has become expedient for the Federal Government to deploy extraordinary measures to tackle the spate of attacks on school facilities
Audi noted that such effort is the commitment and endorsement by the Federal Government of Nigeria to ensure that all Nigerian schools become safe and secured for uninterrupted teaching and learning activities.
He further revealed that in the consideration for a multi-sectoral working group, the NSCDC has been made the lead agency with the mandate to host the National Safe Schools Response and Coordination Centre.
He said: “Following this responsibility, I immediately convened a Technical Committee composed of personnel of the NSCDC and consultants to develop strategies for the effective and efficient implementation of the National Plan on Safe Schools across the country.
“The committee has been working assiduously towards the production of a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for this national project.
“Soon after the national flag-off ceremony, we shall immediately initiate the various processes leading to the stakeholders workshop to validate the Standard Operating Procedure for this project to allow for smooth operations of the National Safe Schools Programme in Nigeria.
“Consequently, capacity building programmes for programme coordinators at the State levels and sub- national levels will commence alongside with programmes that will target the psycho-social care of various communities as already identified from the results of vulnerability studies conducted earlier,” he said.
He thanked the Federal Government for the onerous task given to the NSCDC while commending the Federal Ministry of Finance for ensuring appropriate provisions to enable the smooth take off of this critical national security assignment.
Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem IKanade Agba, in his remark said that “government must ensure that every child is able to learn in a safe environment where they could get the quality education they need to unlock their full potential and contribute to building a better Nigeria.
According to him, the Federal government has already committed to the financing of safe schools through the National Plan on Financing Safe Schools. “A high- level forum entitled ‘Financing Safe Schools: Creating Safe Learning Communities’ was held in April 2021, which highlighted our commitment to providing adequate funding for implementation of the National SSD Plan of Action 2021– 2023.
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