The Federal Government is set to review the implementation of the Safe Schools project, with plans to convene a national summit that will bring together representatives from all 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory.
This was confirmed by the National Coordinator of Financing Safe Schools in Nigeria, Halima Iliya, in an interview with Sunday PUNCH.
When asked about a possible review or national summit to assess the initiative’s progress, Iliya said, “Yes. We want to round off with South-West before the review,” although she did not specify when the review would take place.
Meanwhile, Commander of the National Safe Schools Response and Coordination Centre, Rabiu Muhammad, disclosed that over 11,000 schools have so far been registered on the agency’s central monitoring platform.
“At the moment, over 11,000 schools have been registered on our website,” Muhammad said, noting that the development is part of a larger strategy to enhance school safety across Nigeria.
He emphasized that the registration exercise was not a revenue-generating measure but rather a tool to ensure timely responses to security threats. “Schools should note that the registration exercise is not for revenue generation by way of taxation. It is to enable us to promptly respond to possible threats from insurgents,” he explained.
Muhammad also revealed that while the Safe Schools project was originally designed to run from 2023 to 2027, aiming to secure all schools by 2026, funding gaps have hampered progress.
“In Nigeria, one-third of schools are not safe. There was budget allocation at inception in 2023, but zero budget allocation in 2024 and 2025. Funding is needed to carry out activities,” he stated.
The Safe Schools Initiative was launched in 2014 in the wake of the Chibok schoolgirls’ abduction in Borno State. It was introduced by the United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education, Gordon Brown, in partnership with the Nigerian Global Business Coalition for Education and private sector leaders during the World Economic Forum on Africa.
The initiative focuses on a range of safety measures including school-based interventions, community protection efforts, and targeted support for schools in high-risk areas.
At inception, the Federal Government committed $10 million to the Safe Schools Fund, a figure matched by an equal pledge from the private sector.
