FROM ABUJA LAUNCHES TO VULNERABLE CLASSROOMS: WHEN WILL NIGERIA TRULY MAKE SCHOOLS SAFE?

As Nigeria marks Children’s Day, the country is once again confronted with painful reports of schoolchildren abducted from their places of learning — this time in Borno and Oyo States. In Oyo State, reports indicate that dozens of pupils and teachers were abducted during attacks on schools in Oriire Local Government Area. In Borno State, Boko Haram insurgents reportedly attacked Mussa Primary and Junior Secondary School in Askira/Uba Local Government Area, abducting about 42 schoolchildren.

Another troubling pattern also emerges after many school abductions in Nigeria: it often takes hours — sometimes even days — before authorities can confidently state how many children were actually abducted. The fact that some Nigerian media outlets reported 42 abducted children in the Borno incident while international agencies such as the Associated Press noted that figures were still being verified highlights a deeper institutional problem. In truly prepared school systems, accurate student accountability mechanisms, attendance registers, emergency reporting protocols and rapid verification systems should allow authorities to quickly determine who is missing, who is safe and who requires urgent rescue efforts. The delay in arriving at even the basic number of abducted children itself exposes gaps in preparedness and emergency response systems.

Sadly, the national response pattern remains painfully familiar: outrage after the fact, emergency meetings, deployments, statements of condemnation, promises of rescue, and renewed assurances that “something will be done.”

But after Chibok, Dapchi, Kankara, Jangebe, Tegina, Greenfield University, Kuriga and many lesser-known attacks, one difficult question remains unavoidable: what exactly has Nigeria physically done to make schools truly safe?

The 2014 Chibok abduction attracted global attention and helped trigger the Gordon Brown-supported Safe Schools Initiative. Nigeria later endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration in 2015. There have been high-profile launches in Abuja. Committees have been established. Police Safe School structures, including special safe school squads, have been announced. The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps has introduced specialised initiatives, women squads and operations centres linked to school protection. Conferences have been held. Speeches have been delivered.

Yet across large parts of Nigeria today, many schools still do not visibly operate as safe schools.

A school does not become safe merely because a programme was launched in Abuja, or because a banner bearing the words “Safe School Initiative” hangs at the entrance, or because we see Police and Civil Defence vehicles with “Safe Schools Special Squad” emblazoned on them.

The real question is simple: what should one see to believe that a school is safe?

A genuinely safe school should visibly demonstrate layered protection, preparedness, child safeguarding and emergency response capability. One should see perimeter fencing and controlled access. The gate should ideally be set back from the main road to create standoff distance and safer screening space. There should be lighting, communication systems, emergency contacts, evacuation procedures, lockdown procedures, safe assembly areas, visitor control procedures and trained personnel.

A safe school should not allow unknown persons or motorcycles to simply move in and out unchecked. It should have emergency drills, at least quarterly or at the beginning of each term. It should have incident reporting systems and communication links with nearby security agencies and communities. It should have community ownership and local early warning mechanisms, because in many parts of Nigeria, communities often detect danger long before formal institutions do.

A safe school should also have child protection systems, because safety is not only about armed attacks. It is also about protection from abuse, trauma, exploitation, bullying and psychological harm.

Most importantly, a safe school should show visible preparedness before an attack happens — and capacity to respond during an emergency — not merely reaction after disaster strikes.

This is where many Nigerians are asking difficult questions. Where are all these special safe school squads when schools are attacked and children are abducted? How many vulnerable rural schools today have visible security assessment frameworks, communication systems, emergency preparedness plans, trained guards or functional protective infrastructure? How many schools can rapidly contact responders during an emergency? How many schools have ever conducted one realistic evacuation or lockdown drill?

To be fair, important efforts have been made by organisations such as UNICEF, Save the Children and members of the Education in Emergencies Working Group in Nigeria. Model safe schools have been supported in some locations. Training programmes, technical guidance and normative materials have been developed. Risk awareness initiatives and school safety frameworks have been introduced.

But these efforts cannot succeed at national scale without sustained ownership and investment by the Federal Government and state governments. School safety cannot remain donor-driven indefinitely. It must become a national governance priority backed by budgetary commitment, infrastructure investment, training, local implementation, monitoring and sustained political attention.

Safe Schools must move from Abuja conference halls to actual vulnerable classrooms. They must move from speeches to fencing. From launches to drills. From banners to communication systems. From policy documents to visible preparedness.

Until then, Nigeria risks remaining trapped in a tragic cycle: attack, outrage, promises, temporary attention and repetition. And each repetition further weakens public confidence that schools are truly places of safety and learning.

Group Captain Sadeeq Garba Shehu (Rtd) is a security and child protection consultant, member of the Safe Schools Declaration Implementation Network in Nigeria, Partner Alliance for Safer Schools (PASS), and an expert on school safety and security. UNICEF Save the Children UNESCO @Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack