• Says his govt will replace Abuja bureaucracy with intelligence-led, community-based security
Chuks Okocha in Abuja
Former Vice President of Nigeria and the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has described reports that schools across about 40 local government areas have been shut because of insecurity as a damning indictment of the Bola Tinubu administration’s failure to protect Nigerian children and guarantee their right to education.
In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the development raises serious questions about the N144.86 billion National Plan on Financing Safe Schools for 2023–2026, particularly when the schools the programme was designed to protect are still being forced to close because of terrorists, bandits and other armed groups.
“At a time when Nigeria is already battling a severe out-of-school crisis, insecurity is driving even more children from the classroom. If schools across about 40 local government areas cannot operate because government cannot guarantee the safety of pupils and teachers, Nigerians are entitled to ask a simple question: Where is the N144.86 billion Safe Schools programme in all of this?
