The Nigerian government has allocated N144.8 billion in the 2023 budget to help pay for increased security at the country’s schools.
Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, budget, and national planning, made the announcement yesterday in Abuja at the unveiling of the National Plan on Financing Safe Schools-2023-2026. Total investment in the Plan is estimated to be N144.8 billion, to be made between 2023 and 2026.
The Plan suggests spending the following amounts over the next few years: N32.58 billion in 2023, N36.98 billion in 2024, N37.15 billion in 2025, and N38.03 billion in 2026.
According to the minister, only N15 billion of the overall project budget has been allocated, leaving a financing gap of N13.6 billion in 2023. This gap is intended to be covered by state governments, agencies, the private sector, and development partners interested in aiding Nigeria.
The minister of finance also revealed that the federal government plans to increase Nigeria’s GDP from its current $4 trillion to $12 trillion by 2050, with real GDP growth of 7 per cent on average and a final period per capita income of $33,000.
The forecast is included in the government’s development agenda (Agenda 2050), which is being finalised by the Ministry of Finance, Budget, and National Planning.
By implementing a plan for long-term economic transformation, the national Plan hopes to reduce the effects of pressing development problems and help the country rise to the ranks of upper-middle-income nations.
She emphasised the importance of validating and costing out plans of action before implementing them, saying, “These lofty targets can only be actualised if all critical stakeholders collaboratively create safer teaching and learning environments across Nigeria via critical intervention investments.”
Yusuf Magaji Bichi, director-general of the Department of State Service, has pledged the service’s full tactical and human resources to protect schools from vandals and terrorists, working in tandem with other security agencies. The DSS has committed to making all risk-free schools environments for education.
The long-term goals of the data-driven national Plan on financing safe schools include decreasing the number of children who are not in school and raising Nigeria’s ranking on the human capital index.
To “ensure we safeguard our teaching and learning environments,” the finance minister urged all relevant parties to prioritise funding the specified costed plans of action.
In a cross-cutting priority area that Ahmed described as getting a massive lift from the success of the National Plan on Financing Safe Schools, the present administration has placed a heavy emphasis on improving the health, education, and productivity of Nigerians.
The Inspector-General of Police, Alkali Baba Usman, also sent a goodwill message. He mentioned that the Chibok Girls incident had made people more aware of the lack of safety in schools.
“We need to keep schools safe to produce future leaders. The structure, standard, discipline, curriculum, teachers, and extracurricular activities must be protected.”
Schools cannot be protected just by administration and parents. Thus he urged cooperation and coordination among all parties involved.
Mr Goodluck Nana Opia, the Minister of State for Education, made a public statement in which he called for the creation of a state strategy to ensure that students’ education would continue even if schools were closed due to violence or other unsafe conditions.