According to a recent survey by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps( NSCDC), more than 60,000 schools across the country are “porous,” lacking fences and security staff, while the corps itself has just 63,000 personnel.
The Commandant‑General of NSCDC, Prof. Ahmed Abubakar Audi, warned that this manpower gap means the NSCDC alone cannot secure every campus, and that protecting students must become a whole‑of‑society effort involving government, community leaders, private schools, and other security agencies.
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Audi, who led a high powered delegation of his principal officers on a courtesy visit to the headquarters of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).
He noted that while attacks on schools have declined since their peak in the early 2000s, isolated incidents still surface and the existing security architecture remains stretched thin.
“If you have been following the trend, including its trajectory, you would have seen that the attacks have not remained unabated. If you have the history, the attacks were very high in 2001, 2002, 2003. It was after then that the country launched what we call the Safe School Initiative, after the visit of Gordon Brown, and then of course, the safe school financing.
“Now, it started during the attack of Chibok Girls and then afterwards. But recently, the thing got stopped, although we have some pockets, which is also under control. Fundamentally, the corps has viewed the whole concept of providing security and safety for schools to be a whole-of-society approach, where you have all the stakeholders, security agencies, including stakeholders like the TETFund, the NUC, all the schools, to really come together, to work together.
“That’s why you will see the police are involved, the military are involved, the school communities. In fact, even the communities where we have the traditional rulers and whatever are involved in the whole gamut of the provision of security for the schools.
“But there are fundamental challenges that we need to really tell ourselves. For example, in the survey we conducted, we got a data of over 81,000 schools, and we said, out of these 81,000 schools, over 60,000 are porous, no fencing of the schools and security man. Then the whole of Civil Defense Corps is 63,000.
“Now, if you deploy one per school, including the Commandant General to provide security and safety for schools, I want to ask you whether it’s going to be enough. So that’s why we said it should be the whole-of-society approach. That’s the concept where we collaborate with all security agencies to provide security.
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“But going forward, you would have seen that the attacks have reduced now, although we observed pockets of attacks, but we are on top of it. We are collaborating very closely with all security agencies and other stakeholders to make sure that we nip the crisis or the conflict in the bud,” he said.
The visit focused on a proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between NSCDC and TETFund to create a framework for interagency training, especially for the corps’ six training institutions, and to bolster the safety of Nigeria’s educational environment.
Audi expressed his desire to work with TETFund to upgrade those facilities, notably the College of Security Management in Abeokuta, to ensure career progression and world‑class development for officers.
TETFund’s Executive Secretary, Arc. Sonny Echono, welcomed the initiative, stressing that security is a fundamental pillar for any educational intervention.
“Security is a fundamental pillar for the success of any educational intervention. We recognise the silent, tireless work the NSCDC does to keep this nation safe,” he said.
Echono also highlighted President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s support, noting that TETFund’s funding has grown by more than 100 percent under the current administration, allowing the agency to expand its interventions and deepen collaborations with security agencies.
He added that the government’s commitment to education remains strong, with increased resources earmarked for both new institutions and existing security partnerships.
‘What we got last year was huge. And what we expect to get this year, also very encouraging. We are not awash with money. Our problems are also increasing exponentially.
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“As you are aware, we are setting up new institutions, and we are also expanding our collaboration, including security agents. So you can see that as to whom more is given, more is also expected, and we are doing a lot of that. I’d like to use this opportunity not only to appreciate Mr. President, but the Nigerian public,” he said.
The Whistler