The National Safe School Response Coordination Centre Commander, Hameed Abodunrin, has spoken about the steady rise of deadly attacks on schools in Nigeria and how far the centre has gone on the N145bn safe school project, adding that the journey has been tough, we have had our challenges. When the centre was established, the resources to start were not provided immediately. The centre was established in February, but the resources started coming to the centre late last year. During the establishment of the centre, the Civil Defence was drafted in to give initial support to it with the hope that as time went on, the needed resources for the centre would come in and accelerate work at the centre.

“So, the building and equipment for the Command and Control Centre were provided by the Civil Defence. But towards the end of last year, the Federal Government mobilised resources, not only for the centre and the Civil Defence, but for all stakeholders, including the military, the Department of State Service, and the Ministry of Education, among others. This is because, in the safe school project, all these stakeholders have their roles to play. But so far, so good, I can say that we have been facing our challenges, and they haven’t been beyond coping capacity.

Speaking on whether government made provisions for the take-off of the project, he added that “Yes, there was no provision to take off. But you know when we are talking about safety and security; it is not as if it is a new thing. Different agencies have been playing their roles as security agencies. All over the world, Civil Defence is known for providing security education for members of the public, coordinating emergencies, and others. If you look at the issues of safety in schools, they fall under this purview.

“Recall that in 2019, there was a national security strategy that placed the mandate of being a lead agency in the protection of physical national assets and infrastructure on Civil Defence. But because of the problems that the schools started having, the public schools were again designated as one of the critical national assets of the country.

“So, there was nothing like a take-off grant or anything, but just an advancement of what will be done. So far, one of the duties the centre has been carrying out is to also register all schools. Those are the things that they were doing before the resources started coming in. There was also the need for the centre to start training personnel on specific issues about safe schools.

“But for 2023, generally, N15bn was budgeted. But all agencies have been talking about a funding gap. You know, what I told you is the budgetary allocations for 2023, and it is meant for advocacy and training of personnel. So, each of the agencies has what it should get. Don’t forget that I came here in January 2024 and the funds have been allocated before I came into office. So, I had to go into records and start looking for what was allocated and others.”

He added that “I only said N15bn was budgeted for safe school in 2023. It was not for the centre alone; it was for the safe school project, and the budgeted N15bn was meant for all stakeholders, including the military, Army, Navy, VIA, DSS, NPF, and others. So, it is not for the centre alone. The centre is just a coordinating point to receive actionable information and disseminate it to the appropriate agencies to act. Parts of the N15bn also went to the Ministry of Education for their training as well. So, it is not for the centre, but for a safe school.

“Don’t forget that education is on a Concurrent List, which means the three tiers of government have their roles. Unfortunately, most of the schools don’t belong to the Federal Government. But the Ministry of Education has written to all the state governors for the cooperation. On the issue, the ministry has also held a stakeholders’ meeting, which was attended by both the Minister of Education and the Minister of State for Education. At the meeting, the stakeholders all agreed that it is a joint problem that we have to solve together. So, by the time our desk officers start going to schools now, I know that there will be no problem. The schools are just resuming.

Asked why he mentioned about five states out of a possible 36 states of the federation, including the FCT who had donated to the project, he said, “yes, only five states: those are the states that have said, look this is the centre we are giving you for the project. Other states said they had just included it in their budget and plans for this year. Don’t forget that these activities just started about two months ago. That is where the problem is. Ordinarily, it should have started at the beginning of last year. But it is just starting this year. So, those who have made provisions are those who have shown commitment before the end of last year. (Story adapted from The PUNCH)