By Obinna Uballa
The Senate has escalated its investigation into the troubled Safe School Initiative, summoning three key ministers to explain why the $30m programme has failed to shield Nigerian students from escalating abductions and violent attacks.
Those ordered to appear before the Senate ad hoc committee probing the scheme include the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun; Minister of Education, Prof. Tunji Alausa; and Minister of Defence, Gen. Christopher Musa (retd.).
The committee, led by Senator Orji Uzor Kalu (Abia North), issued the summons on Wednesday after adopting its work plan at its inaugural sitting. The ministers are expected to testify on Tuesday.
Launched in 2014 during the height of Boko Haram’s school raids, the Safe School Initiative was designed to secure learning environments nationwide. Yet, more than a decade later, and despite tens of millions of dollars and billions of naira in funding, schools across the country remain dangerously exposed.
Kidnappings have surged, with Kalu noting that more than 1,680 schoolchildren have been abducted and at least 180 schools attacked since the programme began.
“It is unacceptable that, after all the investments and international support, our schools remain easy targets for terrorists and kidnappers,” Kalu told journalists, vowing that the panel would trace every dollar and naira allocated to the project.
Between 2014 and 2021, roughly $30m was mobilised for the initiative, in addition to the N144bn recently released by the Federal Government. The committee intends to conduct a full operational and financial audit, engaging federal ministries, state governments, security agencies, and civil society organisations.
Kalu stressed that the probe is not designed as a witch-hunt but as a necessary corrective measure.
“Nigerian parents deserve honest answers. We owe them the duty of ensuring their children can go to school without fear,” he said.
The Senate will examine fund utilisation over the last decade, the deployment and effectiveness of security personnel, early-warning and emergency-response structures, improvements in school infrastructure, and the role of international donors and private partners.
School owners, security officials, and other stakeholders will also testify.
The renewed push for accountability follows growing public outrage after two major attacks: the abduction of 25 female students from Government Girls’ Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi State, and the kidnapping of more than 200 pupils from St. Mary Catholic School in Niger State.
Both incidents have fueled fresh questions about why the Safe School Initiative, ten years after its launch, has failed so profoundly in its core mission, protecting Nigerian schoolchildren from harm.
