A coalition of Nigerian business leaders working with the United Nations Special Envoy on Education and former British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, on Wednesday voted $10 million towards making schools in Nigeria, especially in the crisis-ridden North- East, safe for learning.
The initiative, tagged “Safe Schools Initiative”, was launched on the first day of the World Economic Forum (WEF) taking place in Abuja.
The coalition of the Nigerian business leaders is led by President, Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote; Chairman, Visafone, Jim Ovia and Chairman & Editor-in-Chief, ThisDay Media Group, Nduka Obaigbena.
The initiative is in response to the growing incidence of attacks on the right to education, including the abduction of over 200 girls on April 14 at Government Girls’ Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State.
“There is a desperate need to assure Nigerians that the school children are safe to go to school. As a result, the Nigerian business community has earmarked $10 million with a pilot of 500 schools.
The initiative wants parents and teachers to come up with what safety measures they need, but government too should be involved,” the former British PM said. Brown said most of the 500 schools would be from the North, adding that parents and teachers were free to ask for the kind of support they need like provision of guards.
The former British Prime Minister said that education for girls was too vital for the overall development of the nation, adding that no effort would be spared in locating the abducted girls.
He also disclosed that two teams from the United Kingdom and the United States of America are due in Nigeria in a few days to enrol in the team raised to find the Chibok girls abducted by Boko Harram. Brown said:
“The thoughts and prayers of the whole world are with Nigeria’s abducted girls and their parents as they face their fourth week in captivity.
“Three weeks ago, I asked for international support to rescue them. Thanks to John Kerry, the US Secretary of State, and William Hague, the UK Foreign Secretary, with whom I have talked in the last 24 hours. The US and UK governments have agreed to send specialist teams to support efforts in Borno State to locate the kidnapped girls.
“And today, the business community in Nigeria, supported by the Global Business Coalition for Education, has come together with the creation of a new fund to create safe schools and to prevent terrorists from forcing children out of school.
“We cannot stand by and see schools shut down, girls cut off from their education and parents in fear of their daughters’ lives. The education system that has the potential to transform Nigeria cannot be undermined. The Safe School Initiative will put Nigeria on track to help more and more girls and boys go to school and learn.
“Starting with a 500-school pilot programme in northern states, the Safe Schools Initiative will focus on school and community interventions, with special measures for the most atrisk and vulnerable children.
“The initiative will build community security groups to promote safe zones for education, consisting of teachers, parents, police, community leaders and young people themselves.
“This initiative is part of our work to give every girl and boy in Nigeria the opportunity to go to school. In the year 2014, every boy and girl should be at school and no one should be prevented from accessing education.”
The Head of Gender Parity and Skills Initiatives, World Economic Forum, Saadia Zahidi, noted that, “One of Africa’s greatest assets is its young people who will drive its future development.
The Safe Schools Initiative can help Africa unlock their potential and in this light, could be seen as a crucial intervention.”
Obaigbena, said the Nigerian business community was stunned by the abduction which he described as a reflection of the threat to education in Nigeria. The greater danger, he warned, “is in the fear of going to school, we could lose a generation of students who are afraid of going to school.”
Business leaders in Nigeria, he said “have met and want to step in. They may not be frontal but they are supportive by putting in place a response with an initial 500 schools. We cannot be defeated by terrorists in any manner or form and we need to assure school children that they are safe.”
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