Senate summons three ministers as Safe School Initiative faces fresh scrutiny

The Senate on Wednesday intensified its scrutiny of the failed Safe School Initiative, summoning key government officials to explain why the $30 million programme collapsed despite massive funding and a decade of promises.

Those summoned include the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun; Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa; and Minister of Defence, Lt-Gen Christopher Musa (retd.), who are expected to appear before the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on the Safe School Initiative next Tuesday.

The committee, chaired by Senator Orji Uzor Kalu of Abia North, issued the summons after adopting its work plan during its maiden sitting.

The lawmakers said Nigerians deserve clear answers on why schools remain vulnerable to terrorists and kidnappers, even after billions of naira and several international contributions were invested into the initiative since its launch in 2014.

The Safe School Initiative was introduced at the height of Boko Haram’s brutal attacks on educational institutions, and it was expected to strengthen security around schools nationwide.

But more than ten years later, and despite huge financial inflows, including the $30 million raised between 2014 and 2021, and a fresh N144 billion released recently, schools across the country continue to witness relentless attacks, with kidnapping cases surging at an alarming rate.

Speaking after the committee’s inauguration, Senator Kalu said the Senate was determined to trace every naira and dollar allocated to the initiative.

He described the situation as unacceptable, noting that over 1,680 schoolchildren had been kidnapped and at least 180 schools attacked since the scheme began.

Kalu stressed that the committee would conduct a thorough financial and operational audit by engaging federal ministries, state governments, security agencies, civil society organisations, and international partners involved in the programme.

He emphasised that the probe was not intended as a witch-hunt but as a necessary step to restore accountability and rebuild public confidence in the nation’s educational safety framework.

He said the Senate owed Nigerian parents a duty to ensure that children can pursue education without fear of abduction or violence.

To achieve this, the committee will examine security personnel deployment to schools, review early-warning and rapid-response systems, assess infrastructure upgrades in vulnerable locations, and evaluate how funds from both domestic and international donors were utilised.

The renewed investigation comes amid public anger following the recent abduction of 25 female students from Government Girls’ Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, in Kebbi State, and the kidnapping of more than 200 pupils from St Mary Catholic School in Niger State.

These incidents have revived widespread concerns about the glaring failures of the Safe School Initiative, and why a programme designed to shield schoolchildren from harm has failed so spectacularly.

Beyond government officials, school proprietors and other critical stakeholders are also expected to testify before the panel as lawmakers seek to unravel the institutional and financial lapses that crippled a programme once praised globally.

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