Senate Summons Ministers Over Collapse of $30m Safe School Initiative

The Senate on Wednesday escalated its investigation into the collapse of the Safe School Initiative, summoning top government officials to account for how the $30m programme failed to shield Nigerian schoolchildren from persistent attacks.

Those invited to appear include the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Wale Edun; Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa; and Minister of Defence, Gen. Christopher Musa.

The summons was issued by the Senate ad hoc committee on the Safe School Initiative, chaired by Senator Orji Uzor Kalu (Abia North), after the panel adopted its work plan at its inaugural meeting. The ministers are expected to face the committee next Tuesday.

Launched in 2014 at the height of Boko Haram’s assault on educational institutions, the Safe School Initiative was conceived to strengthen security across schools nationwide. Yet, more than a decade later—and despite tens of millions of dollars and billions of naira invested—students remain exposed, with kidnapping incidents surging.

Speaking after the committee’s inauguration, Kalu said the Senate intends to uncover why the initiative collapsed despite the scale of domestic and international support it received.

“It is unacceptable that our schools remain soft targets for terrorists and kidnappers,” he said, noting that more than 1,680 students have been abducted and over 180 schools attacked since 2014.

He vowed that the panel would pursue a rigorous, uncompromising audit.

“We will track every naira and every dollar allocated to the Safe School Initiative, including the $30m mobilised between 2014 and 2021, in addition to the recent N144bn released by the Federal Government. Nigerians deserve to know why, despite enormous investment and globalbacking, our schools remain unsafe,” he said.

Kalu explained that the probe would involve a comprehensive review of financial records and operational processes, with engagement from federal ministries, state governments, security agencies, and civil societypartners. The goal, he added, is to restore accountability and rebuild trust.

“This is not a witch-hunt,” he said. “We owe Nigerian parents the responsibility of ensuring that their children can go to school without fear.”

The Senate plans to scrutinise how funds were utilised from 2014 to date, evaluate the deployment of security personnel, assess early-warning and emergency-response mechanisms, review infrastructure improvements in vulnerable schools, and examine collaborations with development partners and private-sector donors.

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Beyond the ministers and security chiefs, school proprietors and other stakeholders are also expected to testify before the panel.

The renewed scrutiny comes amid widespread outrage following the recent abduction of 25 female students from Government Girls’ Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, in Kebbi State, and the kidnapping of more than 200 pupils from St Mary Catholic School in Niger State.

The attacks have reignited public questions over why, a decade after its launch, the Safe School Initiative has yet to deliver on its central mission: ensuring Nigerian children can learn without fear of abduction or violence.