As primary and secondary schools in the country resume for the third term, Commander of the National Safe Schools Response Coordination Centre, Hammed Abodunrin, says the centre aims to register 50,000 schools for the Safe Schools Initiative.

Abodunrin, who spoke to newsmen, said the centre would be deploying desk officers to 50,000 schools to conduct physical registration.

The move, he said, became necessary as many schools have failed to embrace electronic registration.

The National Safe Schools Response Coordination Centre is an arm of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC established to address the abduction of schoolchildren in the country.

The Federal Government, in March, said schools in 14 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, were at risk of attacks by bandits and insurgents.

It listed the states as Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Benue, Yobe, Katsina, FCT, Kebbi, Sokoto, Plateau, Zamfara and three others.

Abodunrin said as of March 19, only 2,814 primary and secondary schools in the country had registered for the Safe Schools Initiative via its electronic platform: www.nssrcc.gov.ng.

He said, “There will be increased patrols and visits to more schools to create awareness and register them. Leaving the registration in the hands of individual schools appears too slow, even though there is an improvement on the website to make it user-friendly.

“Safe School Desk Officers at various levels will be moving to schools to educate and possibly register them. Besides, stakeholders are meeting for community engagements nationwide. These will involve civil society organisations to give it wider coverage.

“Registering on the school premises is better for the platform for easy coordination. The desk officers will visit 50,000 schools between now and the end of the 2023/24 session.”

Abodunrin said the NSCDC Commandant General, Ahmed Audi, had directed that Safe School Focal/Desk Officers be deployed in all the local governments, NSCDC divisions, and other civil defense formations nationwide.

Abodunrin added that some state governments were responding to safer schools by ensuring appropriate budgeting.

“Improvement in reducing vulnerability is not a shelf-placed item that can suddenly be picked or purchased. Doing so may create more problems. Schools and communities, for instance, cannot hire anyone to provide security for them without proper profiling. That could be counterproductive. Again, fencing is capital-intensive and cannot be done overnight.

“It gladdens my heart to know some states are responding by ensuring appropriate budgeting for safer schools. It is hoped others will prioritise it too as the schools resume.

“In some rural schools, we advocate bio-fencing where fast-growing trees can be used temporarily to demarcate the premises,” he said.