From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
Amid concerns over resurgent attacks on schools in northern parts of the country, the House of Representatives has resolved to probe the utilisation of the $20 billion Safe School Initiatives Fund, as well as its effectiveness.
The House, which mandated its Committee on Finance to undertake the probe and report back within four weeks for legislative actions, also charged the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), to optimise the National Counter Terrorism Centre and the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons Acts.
Similarly, the House charged the Federal Government to remove the military and other security agencies from the envelope budget system, so that they could develop robust budgets based on needs assessment.
Also, the Green chamber mandated the ONSA to coordinate and galvanise all security and intelligence networks to develop and execute a proactive master plan to restore security in the country.
According to the Green chamber, the plan “must include boots on ground land and aerial sweep of locations that include but not limited to Kuyambana Forest in Zamfara, Kamuka Forest in Kaduna, Falgore Forest in Kano, Borgu and Zugurma Forests in Niger State.”
This followed the adoption of a motion by Ahmed Munir, on the abduction of over 200 students in Kuriga Community, Chikun, Kaduna State.
Munir, in the motion, informed the House that in March, gunmen stormed the Local Education Authority (LEA) Primary School and Government Secondary School in Kuriga community, and forcibly abducted over 200 students and teachers.
The lawmaker recalled that two months back, this ugly menace occurred in the same community where a school principal, Mallam Abu Sufyan, was killed and his wife and baby abducted. The wife and baby were later rescued in a successful joint security operation on February 3, 2024.
“On Friday, March 8, 2024, gunmen attacked worshippers in a mosque at Angwar Makera, Kwasakwasa community in Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State, killing two persons.”
He said it was worrisome that despite the N3.25 trillion allocation to the defence and security sectors, “there has been no respite as bulk of the actions by security personnel are reactionary rather than proactive.”
Furthermore, Munir noted that “in May 2014, the Nigerian Government with an initial $10million, with another additional pledge of $10million from the coalition of Nigerian business leaders along with the United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education. Gordon Brown launched the Safe Schools Initiative, whereby the fund is to be managed by the Federal Ministry of Finance, for protection of students and teachers in areas prone to security threats.
“The ‘Safe School Initiative’ entails a combination of “school-based interventions; community interventions to protect schools; and special measures for at-risk populations. A decade has gone by, yet the utilisation and impact of this fund is at best questionable.”
He argued that “the factors fuelling insecurity, ranging from illicit drug trade to human trafficking and proliferation of small arms, is a serious threat to the development of Kaduna State and the nation,” therefore, a coordinated effort encompassing all security agencies in the country is needed to tackle it.
Munir added that since “Kaduna State borders the North-Western states of Zamfara, Katsina and Kano; the North-Eastern State of Bauchi and the North Central States of Plateau, Nasarawa, Abuja and Niger; an isolated plan for just Kaduna alone will be ineffective without taking cognisant of border communities and even neighboring countries of Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Benin Republic and the wider Sahel.”