Weekend Trust Page 3 Comment, Saturday June 6, 2026
The abduction of school children in Oyo and Borno states between May 15 and 17 has once again exposed a painful truth Nigeria has been reluctant to confront: despite billions of naira spent on the Safe Schools Initiative and repeated official assurances, schools remain dangerously vulnerable.
In Borno State, armed groups attacked schools in Mussa, Askira-Uba Local Government Area, abducting 42 pupils. In Oyo State, long considered relatively insulated from mass school kidnappings, gunmen attacked three schools in Oriire Local Government Area, abducting 39 students and seven teachers. These incidents are not isolated. They are the latest reminders that more than a decade after the Chibok tragedy, Nigeria has yet to provide adequate protection for its most vulnerable citizens.
The timing of these attacks is particularly troubling because they come amid revelations that about N145 billion has been committed to the Safe Schools Initiative and related protection programmes between 2023 and 2026. Yet more than 600 pupils and teachers were reportedly abducted during the same period. This contradiction raises serious questions about the effectiveness, transparency and direction of a programme established precisely to prevent such tragedies.
The Safe Schools Initiative emerged after the abduction of 276 schoolgirls from Chibok in 2014. Developed with support from international partners, it was designed to ensure that schools in conflict-prone areas adopted minimum safety standards, including perimeter fencing, security lighting, trained guards, early warning systems and direct communication links to security formations.
In several conflict-affected countries, similar frameworks have produced measurable results when implemented with seriousness and accountability. Nigeria’s experience, however, has been markedly different.
School children remain among the most vulnerable victims of the insecurity that has plagued the country since 2009. That this situation persists despite substantial funding and repeated government assurances suggests that the problem goes beyond money.
There is little evidence that the Safe Schools Initiative has been implemented as originally envisioned. Instead, it increasingly appears to be another intervention programme heavy on announcements and publicity but light on measurable outcomes.
One of the most disturbing aspects is the disconnect between expenditure and impact. Billions of naira have reportedly been allocated for school protection, yet many rural schools, the very institutions the programme was meant to prioritise, still lack basic security infrastructure. In many communities, there are no perimeter fences, lighting systems, trained security personnel, alarm mechanisms or effective links to nearby security formations.
The result is predictable: schools remain easy targets for bandits, terrorists and criminal gangs.
The situation is compounded by the reality that many members of Nigeria’s political and economic elite have largely abandoned public schools. Their children attend private institutions or study abroad, reducing the urgency that should accompany efforts to secure public education.
Equally troubling is the apparent absence of a coherent coordination framework among the institutions involved in implementing the initiative. There appears to be little synergy between federal and state authorities on implementation, monitoring and accountability.
Questions have also been raised about why a programme centred on education is managed primarily through financial and security bureaucracies rather than institutions with direct responsibility for school administration.
This lack of clarity has contributed to what appears to be a drift from the programme’s core objectives. Resources that should have focused on practical school protection measures have often been directed towards activities whose impact is difficult to verify. The consequence is a programme that has consumed enormous resources without delivering commensurate results.
The placement of the National Safe Schools Response Coordination Centre within the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps was intended to provide operational coordination. However, the recurring attacks on schools have raised legitimate concerns about the effectiveness of the current arrangement. While no single agency should bear sole responsibility, the available evidence does not inspire confidence that the existing structure is equal to the task.
Perhaps most concerning is the growing perception that the initiative has become a cash cow. Such perceptions are fuelled by the absence of transparent audits, measurable benchmarks and publicly verifiable outcomes. When huge sums are reportedly spent while schools remain exposed, questions about accountability become inevitable.
Daily Trust believes an independent audit of the Safe Schools Initiative is urgently required. Nigerians deserve to know how funds have been allocated, what projects have been executed, which schools have benefited and why expected outcomes have not materialised.
But accountability alone will not solve the problem.
The government must return to the original intent of the initiative and implement it faithfully. Priority should be given to schools in high-risk communities. Every vulnerable school should have a minimum protective infrastructure, including perimeter fencing, adequate lighting, trained security personnel, early warning systems and direct communication channels with security agencies. Community participation must also be integrated into school protection frameworks.
However, policymakers must recognise that no school can be safer than the society in which it exists. School security cannot be separated from the broader challenge of national insecurity. As long as armed groups retain freedom of movement across large parts of the country, schools will remain at risk.
Yet this reality should not become an excuse for failure. The existence of wider insecurity does not justify the ineffectiveness of a programme created specifically to protect schools.
The abductions in Oyo and Borno should serve as a wake-up call. Nigeria cannot continue to respond to school attacks with outrage, sympathy and fresh promises while underlying vulnerabilities remain unaddressed. After 12 years of lessons, declarations and billions in expenditure, the country owes its children something far more meaningful, i.e. schools that are genuinely safe.
Anything less would amount to a betrayal of public trust and the nation’s future.