Transcription
Was on TVC breakfast this morning. My name is Etoma Edu. Good morning, Nigeria and the rest of the world. Thank you for joining us. I'm Veronica Danny Boy. Good morning, Nigeria. Thanks for joining us. A lot has happened from yesterday till today. We've seen a lot of moves politically, and we're definitely going to speak about it right here on this table. I am Ri Abdul, and I'm Ibrahim Shittita. It's good to have you join us this morning.
We're always happy to be here with my colleagues because most definitely we're on this table to bring Nigerians the information that they deserve to hear, and there's a lot to hear today. Absolutely. And like we have rightly pointed out, we're talking security all through, talking about um what is happening in Edo state and also the rejiging of the police force. And then we're also going to look at stories that are trending now and then touch on every other thing. But I must let us know that some of the things we talk about here, a lot of Nigerians are, you know, hearing us, feeling the impact. We talked about the governor of Niger state yesterday, and we saw the the how he came out to say, you know what, we welcome you all. And someone actually called me saying that you see, he's actually denying a lot of persons um the talking about investment into the state because artisans and a majority of these people who bring about development in the construction industry have their heads um have dreads on their heads and all of that. Power to the people. We are making changes right here on this day of my life.
That's right. I got to bring that feedback to you guys. So let's keep up the good job. But let's begin with this story where the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps has issued a warning revealing that over 80% of schools in Nigeria are currently at high risk of attack and calling for immediate coordinated action to safeguard learning environments nationwide. The commandance general, Abu Bakr Audi, described the situation as alarming, stressing that the safety of students and teachers must now be treated as a national emergency. As part of its intervention, the federal government has invested over 400 million naira into school security, funding patrol vehicles, surveillance equipment, and weapons for use by the newly established safe school center in Jagawa State. Now, during the launch of the center, the governor of Jagawa state reaffirmed his administration's commitment to education and urged other states to follow suit in protecting Nigeria's uh children.
Well, a worrisome development uh coming out with that report from the NSCDC. Recall that in 2014, the matter of safe schools initiative was brought to the fore after the Chibok girls were abducted, and the country, you know, and other partners from outside Nigeria decided, you know what, we need to put together resources and a structure that ensures that students, children, parents, and even the community are safe. And uh that suddenly died a natural death afterwards, even though in 2023 there was a plan put together where about over 40 billion naira was put in place uh for a plan that will span between 2023 and 2026 uh in terms of securing schools, but uh we do not know where that is right now. And then we also have on the other hand the matter of out-of-school children where we have over 10 million children out of school, and here we are with this kind of report. I wonder where we are headed education-wise.
When I look at it, I see it from two angles. Number one, why should uh a responsible country and not face education from all corners uh face the quality of education, face the security of the of of the students and uh and the workers and and so on. Looking at 400 million uh for that kind of stuff right now, it's I think it's too low. It's too low. And the other angle, why would anybody want to attack a school? It is the softest of targets you can ever think of. So it takes a a coward, you know, to want to attack schools. Yes, you want to do that because of the impact it will have for whatever reason, but why schools, children, and all that? They are soft targets.
That's right. And you know it's so sad cuz even after the Chibok girls, um students were adopted as well in Kaduna, but thank God they were brought back and they were fun. I remember also um Er was speaking about it where he said that a lot of families are fueling these kidnappers because they are paying ransom. And at some point, you know, parents should stop paying ransom. But now this is not a conversation cuz when your child is taken as a parent, your child is taken, you don't even want to have a conversation, am I to pay ransom or not to pay ransom? But like what a said, I feel like when it comes to education, we are not just planning on giving children quality education, also safety as well as their learning. Because if you give them quality education and they in school people attack them, you know? These are things that I feel like we need to take heads on cuz education is very pivotal in the sector. Why are also children out of school? Why are children even in school and then they are not safe in school? That is a big question because as it is we say education is the bedrock of our society, and where these kinds of things are happening and we're getting this kinds of report, Ibrahim, where does that leave us?
Well, it's um it's very sad. I love the fact that you took us back in you know history, 2014 where the safe school initiative was actually introduced, and then we have uh lots and lots of problems, you know, because of the people, student that were being attacked and all of that, and so much money have actually gone into this. If you if you remember that same 2014, the presidential committee on northeast intervention raised 80 billion naira, and then there was another one that he got from Norway which was 1 million NRA, 1.5 million NRA from others and a whole lot of money. So the planned project stalled, and the question arose in 2021 when the Senate President Medlawan said they were going to um they were going to do investigations into how this money, you know, went down. So I think this administration should probe that you know era, that time. Where are these monies? How do they go down? Our schools are not safe, even though the current administration is trying. The president had given the marching order to the security chiefs that enough is enough. We need to save our society. We need to save our students so that we we have a better society. So they have to probe them. Where are these monies? Whether they are in government or not, they should, you know, be called to account because it's critical that we have accountability, like you have rightly pointed out, and we give parents some level of hope because at the end of the day it will be seeming like a what's the essence of sending my children to school? Because I recall in Kaduna state at some point they had to shut down schools to ensure that they carry out some uh security um intelligence report and measures to ensure that children could go back to schools. But it's an unfortunate situation and position we have found ourselves, and government needs to take decisive action so parents can be encouraged to send their children to schools. We need to bring you the news update now.