The Senate on Wednesday intensified its investigation into the collapse of the Safe School Initiative, summoning top government officials to explain why the $30 million project has failed to protect Nigerian schoolchildren from persistent attacks.
Those summoned include the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Wale Edun; the Minister of Education, Dr. Yusuf Tanko Sununu (or Tunji Alausa if he is MoS); and the Minister of Defence, Gen. Christopher Musa.
The Senate ad hoc committee on the Safe School Initiative, chaired by Senator Orji Uzor Kalu (Abia North), issued the summons after adopting its work plan at its maiden meeting. The ministers are expected to appear before the committee next Tuesday.
A PROMISE MADE, A DECADE OF FEAR
Launched in 2014 at the height of Boko Haram’s assaults on schools, the Safe School Initiative was created to make classrooms secure and keep children in school. But ten years later—after millions of dollars and billions of naira—many Nigerian children still walk into classrooms filled with fear, not hope.
Across several states, classrooms remain easy targets for bandits and terrorists. Over the years, parents have watched their children kidnapped, schools invaded, and communities thrown into mourning.
Senator Kalu, addressing journalists after the committee’s inauguration, said the Senate is determined to find out why the project collapsed despite massive local and global support.
“It is unacceptable that our schools remain soft targets for terrorists and kidnappers,” Kalu said. He noted that more than 1,680 schoolchildren have been kidnapped and 180 schools attacked since 2014.
TRACKING EVERY KOBO, EVERY DOLLAR
Kalu assured Nigerians that the committee would “follow the money trail without compromise.”
“We will track every naira and every dollar allocated to the Safe School Initiative — including the $30m mobilised between 2014 and 2021, and the recent N144bn released by the federal government,” he said.
He added that the exercise was not to witch-hunt anyone but to restore public trust.
FOCUS AREAS OF THE PROBE
The Senate will examine:
How Safe School Initiative funds have been spent since 2014
The deployment of security personnel to schools
Early-warning and emergency-response systems
Infrastructure upgrades in high-risk schools
Partnerships with donors and private organisations
School proprietors, security agencies, state officials, and donor partners are also expected to testify.
FRESH OUTRAGE FUELS THE PROBE
The renewed scrutiny comes amid fresh nationwide anger following the recent abductions of:
25 female students from Government Girls’ Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, Kebbi State
Over 200 pupils from St. Mary Catholic School, Niger State
These incidents have once again raised the painful question: Why, after ten years, are Nigerian children still unsafe in their classrooms?
Many parents say the project promised protection but delivered little more than paperwork and broken hopes. For thousands of families, the fear has never gone away.
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