The Senate has deepened its inquiry into the failed Safe School Initiative, issuing summons to three senior ministers to explain why the $30m programme has crumbled despite massive funding and a decade of promises.
The Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Wale Edun; Education Minister, Prof. Tunji Alausa; and Defence Minister, Gen. Christopher Musa (retd.), are to appear before the Senate ad hoc committee investigating the initiative next Tuesday.
The summons followed the adoption of the committee’s work plan during its first sitting on Wednesday. The panel is chaired by Senator Orji Uzor Kalu (Abia North).
Launched in 2014 at the peak of Boko Haram’s attacks on schools, the Safe School Initiative was envisioned as a national shield for Nigeria’s education system. But more than 10 years later, the promise has fallen apart: schools remain soft targets, kidnappers operate with ease, and hundreds of children are abducted every year.
Speaking after the committee’s inauguration, Kalu said the Senate intends to “get to the root” of what went wrong.
“It is unacceptable that our schools remain vulnerable despite the enormous investments made by both government and international partners,” he said.
Kalu noted that no fewer than 1,680 students have been kidnapped and more than 180 schools attacked since the initiative began.
He vowed that the probe would be thorough and uncompromising.
“We will track every dollar and every naira released for the Safe School Initiative—more than $30m between 2014 and 2021, plus the recent N144bn released by the Federal Government,” he said.
The committee will examine fund utilisation across federal and state ministries, review security deployment and early-warning systems, assess emergency-response mechanisms, and evaluate infrastructure upgrades across vulnerable schools. It will also engage international donors, private-sector partners, and school proprietors.
Kalu insisted the investigation is aimed at restoring accountability and confidence—not targeting individuals.
“We owe Nigerian parents the assurance that their children can go to school without fear,” he said.
The renewed scrutiny follows public outrage triggered by recent attacks, including the abduction of 25 female students from Government Girls’ Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, in Kebbi State, and the kidnapping of over 200 pupils from St. Mary Catholic School in Niger State.
The two incidents have revived urgent questions about why, a decade on, the Safe School Initiative has failed to achieve its fundamental objective: making Nigerian schools safe.
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