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From Jude Owuamanam, Jos
The Federal Government is expanding its Safe Schools intervention beyond school premises to vulnerable host communities, borderlands and riverine areas, the National Coordinator of the Safe School Initiative Nigeria, Hajiya Halima Iliya Ibrahim, has said.
Ibrahim said members of Man O’ War Nigeria were being trained to support the initiative by helping to strengthen community resilience and improve the capacity of local communities to identify and respond to security threats.
She spoke on Tuesday at the 4th National Camp of Man O’ War Nigeria at the Citizenship and Leadership Training Centre (CLTC), Mountain School, Shere Hills, Jos.
According to her, the new strategy was designed to address school security holistically by securing the wider environment in which schools operate.
“One of the objectives of the new arrangement is to cascade it down to the schools, state and community levels to strengthen the resilience of the entire host community because it is our collective responsibility,” she said.
Ibrahim said Man O’ War was being engaged as a partner to take the Safe Schools framework to the grassroots and build the capacity of communities to respond to security threats.
“It is a multi-agency collaboration where you see a lot of agencies working together to drive and ensure the implementation of Safe Schools across the country,” she said.
She said Plateau State had been selected for the initial mapping exercise, covering schools and communities across the three senatorial zones of Plateau North, Plateau Central and Plateau South.
The coordinator said the exercise would not be restricted to schools but would extend to the wider host communities.
“We are mapping out schools across the three senatorial zones to build the resilience of the entire host community, not just the school community,” she said.
She explained that security threats affecting schools often originated from the communities surrounding them, making community resilience a critical component of the Safe Schools strategy. “These actors stay within the community. These actors pass through the community before they attack schools, and some of these actors are external by nature.
“So, we are also trying to see how we can strengthen the borderland communities,” she said.
Ibrahim said children in some riverine communities were exposed to additional risks because they had to travel through waterways to access education.
She said such communities would therefore form part of the intervention, adding that the government would work with the Nigeria Immigration Service and other relevant agencies to strengthen security in vulnerable areas.
The National Coordinator said the Federal Government was also identifying and supporting vulnerable borderland and riverine communities as part of its transition plan for the Safe Schools programme.
She said the involvement of security agencies and the Armed Forces demonstrated that the initiative was being implemented as a national security strategy rather than merely an education-sector programme.
According to Ibrahim, the programme is being coordinated through relevant government structures, including the Office of the National Security Adviser, while provision has been made for Safe Schools interventions in the 2026 national budget.
She stressed the need for financial prudence, accountability and transparency in implementing the programme, adding that the Ministry of Finance remained the coordinating authority for its financing component.
National Commander of Man O’ War Nigeria, NC Adedamola Gbenga, said the organisation was strengthening the capacity of its volunteers to support safer schools and more resilient communities across the country.
Gbenga said the theme of the camp, “Strengthening Community-Based Safe School Framework for a Secure and Resilient Nigeria,” with the sub-theme, “Building Safer Schools through Partnership, Preparedness and Collective Responsibility,” was timely.
The Federal Government launched the Safe Schools Plan in 2022, while full implementation of the National Plan on Financing Safe Schools commenced in 2023 as a framework for addressing school security challenges on a holistic and sustainable basis.
