THE Senate has summoned key members of President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet, including the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, to explain the alleged collapse and mismanagement of the Safe School Initiative, a multi-million-dollar programme created to secure schools from attacks across Nigeria.
News Point Nigeria reports that the summons was issued on Wednesday during the inaugural sitting of the Senate Ad-hoc Committee probing the failure of the scheme. The committee, chaired by former Abia State governor and Senator for Abia North, Orji Uzor Kalu, is expected to receive the ministers next Tuesday.
Others to appear are:
Dr. Tunji Alausa, Minister of Education
Gen. Christopher Musa (rtd.), Minister of Defence
Dr. Ahmed Audi, Commandant-General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps
Representatives of private school proprietors
Senate Begins Probe Into “Failed” Education Security Programme
Speaking after the session, Senator Kalu said the Senate was determined to uncover the circumstances that led to the apparent breakdown of a programme that received significant domestic and international support but failed to prevent repeated mass abductions of schoolchildren.
He noted that the Safe School Initiative, launched in 2014 following the abduction of the Chibok girls, had received more than $30 million in donor funds between 2014 and 2021, in addition to the N144 billion recently released by the Federal Government.
Despite these investments, Kalu lamented that schools remain highly vulnerable.
The committee chair disclosed that over 1,680 schoolchildren have been kidnapped and about 180 educational facilities targeted by terrorists and bandits in the past decade.
“It is unacceptable that our schools remain soft targets for terrorists and kidnappers,” Kalu said. “We will track every naira and every dollar allocated to the Safe School Initiative. Nigerians deserve to know why, despite enormous funding, our children remain unprotected.”
Kalu stressed that the inquiry is not designed to witch-hunt any official or organisation but to strengthen transparency, accountability and restore public confidence in the national school safety programme.
He said the committee will conduct a full financial and operational audit, engage state governments, security agencies, civil society partners and school proprietors, and recommend reforms that will guarantee the safety of schoolchildren.
According to him, the Senate owes Nigerian parents a responsibility to ensure that children can attend school without fear of abduction.
The Senate investigation follows renewed public anger after the recent abduction of 25 female students from Government Girls’ Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, in Kebbi State, and the kidnapping of over 200 students at St. Mary Catholic School in Niger State.
Lawmakers say the recurring attacks highlight the urgent need to determine what became of the billions invested in school security and why the Safe School Initiative has failed to deliver on its core mandate.