By Nathaniel Zaccheaus, Abuja
The Senate has intensified scrutiny of Nigeria’s Safe School Initiative (SSI), summoning key federal ministers and security chiefs as lawmakers deepen their investigation into the collapse of the $30 million programme designed to protect schoolchildren from terror attacks.
At the maiden sitting of its 18-member ad hoc committee on Wednesday, the Senate directed the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, to appear before it next Tuesday.
Also summoned are the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa; the Minister of Defence, Gen. Christopher Musa (retd); the Commandant General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Dr Mohammed Audi; and representatives of school proprietors.
Chairman of the Committee, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, said the upper chamber was determined to unravel how a programme backed by substantial government funding and international donor support failed to secure Nigerian schools, despite escalating attacks over the past decade.
Kalu said, “It is unacceptable that our schools remain soft targets for terrorists and kidnappers. We will track every naira and every dollar allocated to the Safe School Initiative, including the $30 million mobilised between 2014 and 2021, and the more recent ₦144 billion. Nigerians deserve to know why our children are still unsafe.”
Since the initiative was launched in 2014 after the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls, more than 1,680 students have been kidnapped, and at least 180 schools have been attacked, according to figures presented to the Senate.
Kalu described the statistics as “a national tragedy” that demands a full-scale audit of funding, implementation and inter-agency coordination.
The Committee’s investigation will cover the utilisation of SSI funds since inception; deployment and performance of security personnel assigned to schools; functionality of early warning and emergency response systems; infrastructure upgrades in high-risk institutions; and the effectiveness of partnerships with donor agencies and private-sector contributors.
Kalu emphasised that the probe would be fact-driven and devoid of political motives.
He said, “This is not a witch-hunt. The Senate owes Nigerian parents a duty to ensure that their children can go to school without fear. We must get to the root of this failure.”
The renewed scrutiny follows nationwide outrage over two recent school attacks: the abduction of 25 female students from Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, Kebbi State, during which the school’s vice principal was killed, and the kidnapping of over 200 pupils from St.
Mary Catholic School in Niger State. Lawmakers say these incidents expose the collapse of the SSI’s core mandate.
During plenary, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi (Kebbi North), who sponsored the motion that triggered the investigation, described the Kebbi attack as “a dirty slap on the face of the nation.”
He insisted that the Senate must demand transparency from all agencies that handled SSI funds.
Former Senate President and Chairman of the Defence Committee, Dr Ahmad Lawan, said, “If schools are still not safe, then we must examine how the funds were utilised.”
Senate President Godswill Akpabio named members of the Committee and gave them four weeks to submit a comprehensive report with recommendations to overhaul the programme.
After nearly a decade of funding commitments from government and donors, including an initial $10 million seed fund and over $30 million in subsequent contributions, the Senate says it is now committed to re-engineering the initiative to meet today’s security challenges.
“The future of our nation depends on the safety of our classrooms. We must not fail.”
