ACCOUNT FOR N144.86BN SAFE SCHOOLS FUND, ATIKU TELLS FG
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By ‘Sefiu Ajape
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has challenged the Federal Government to account for the deployment of the ₦144.86bn allocated to the National Plan on Financing Safe Schools, following reports that insecurity has forced schools to shut down across about 40 local government areas.
Atiku said the continued disruption of academic activities by terrorists, bandits and other armed groups highlighted what he described as shortcomings in the government’s approach to securing schools, particularly amid Nigeria’s worsening out-of-school crisis.
In a statement issued on Tuesday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the African Democratic Congress presidential candidate said the success of the Safe Schools programme should be measured by whether pupils and teachers can attend school without fear of attack.
“At a time when Nigeria is already battling a severe out-of-school crisis, insecurity is driving even more children from the classroom.
“If schools across about 40 local government areas cannot operate because government cannot guarantee the safety of pupils and teachers, Nigerians are entitled to ask a simple question: where is the ₦144.86bn Safe Schools programme in all of this?” the statement partly read.
Atiku called for a comprehensive account of the programme, including funds mobilised and released so far, the agencies and contractors that received the money, schools covered, security infrastructure delivered and measurable outcomes achieved.
He, however, maintained that financial accountability alone would not resolve the underlying security challenges.
“Budgeting money is not the same thing as securing schools. Announcing programmes is not the same thing as protecting children. The true measure of a Safe Schools programme is whether our children can actually go to school safely. By that elementary test, the present approach is failing,” he said.
The Safe Schools programme was introduced as part of the Federal Government’s response to persistent attacks on educational institutions, particularly in conflict-affected parts of the country.
The issue has gained renewed attention following a series of abductions and attacks on schools in northern Nigeria, which have repeatedly disrupted academic activities and left parents weighing education against the safety of their children.
Atiku called for a shift from what he described as a centralised, Abuja-driven approach to school protection to a security system that leverages intelligence from communities where vulnerable schools are located.
“What Nigeria requires is a completely different security philosophy. Under my administration, school security will not be treated as another Abuja contract-awarding programme. It will be integrated into a decentralised, intelligence-led security architecture built around the communities where these schools actually exist,” he added.
He proposed functional early-warning and rapid-response systems around vulnerable schools, improved intelligence sharing among schools, local communities and security agencies, as well as clearly defined security and emergency-response arrangements for institutions considered high-risk.
According to him, residents often have information about unusual movements and emerging threats before such intelligence reaches federal security agencies.
“Local communities know their terrain. They know when unfamiliar people enter their communities and often see the warning signs before Abuja does. Our security architecture will make that local intelligence part of the national response rather than leaving communities helpless until an attack has already occurred,” the statement further read.
The ADC candidate also advocated a system in which every naira spent on school security could be traced to a specific outcome.
“Safe Schools will be measured by children in classrooms, not billions in government documents,” he said.
Atiku’s criticism comes amid renewed concerns over the safety of students in Borno State, one of the areas worst affected by the Boko Haram insurgency and subsequent attacks by other armed groups.
The statement cited reports that 36 students and a staff member of Government Day Secondary School, Lassa, in Askira/Uba Local Government Area, were abducted by gunmen during examinations in late June. It also referred to reports that 42 pupils remained missing following an attack in Mussa on May 15.
Atiku said the continued captivity of schoolchildren demonstrated the direct link between insecurity and Nigeria’s education crisis.
“Every school that closes creates another opening for poverty, child labour, early marriage, exploitation and radicalisation. Every child driven from the classroom becomes more vulnerable to the same criminal and extremist networks the government claims to be fighting. Protecting education is therefore itself a national security strategy,” he said.
The Wazirin Adamawa also challenged President Bola Tinubu over reports that government forces know the locations of forests where kidnappers and terrorists operate.
“When terrorists can decide whether Nigerian children go to school, they are exercising authority that belongs to the Nigerian state. That is not merely an education crisis. It is a surrender of state authority. And since Mr President says his government knows the forests where these kidnappers and terrorists operate, Nigerians are entitled to ask: what exactly are they still doing there?” he asked.
He urged the President to deploy security forces to those locations, rescue the abducted children and ensure that their captors face justice.
“Intelligence that tells the government where terrorists are hiding but does not result in their capture or the rescue of their victims is of little comfort to parents whose children remain in captivity,” he said.
The former vice president said the issue should not be reduced to statistics, arguing that every child in captivity represents a failure by the state to provide the basic security required for education and human development.
“These are not statistics. They are Nigerian children who should be sitting in classrooms, writing examinations, and planning their futures—not names on an endless list of the missing,” he said.
Atiku also linked the school-security debate to his broader argument for restructuring Nigeria’s security architecture, with greater reliance on local intelligence, community participation and rapid response.
“Our alternative is straightforward: secure the communities, empower local intelligence, protect vulnerable schools, respond rapidly to threats, measure results, and account for every naira.
“A government cannot announce billions for Safe Schools and expect Nigerians to applaud their failure while terrorists are shutting the schools. Budgetary allocations are not achievements. Press conferences do not protect children. The only result that matters is that a Nigerian child can leave home for school and return safely,” he noted.
He concluded that protecting schools should be treated not merely as an education policy but as a core component of national security, insisting that under an ADC administration, criminal groups would not be allowed to determine when schools open or close.
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