Children Not Safe Until Every School Is Safe: IGP, Ogundipe, EWAN Demand Shift From Reactive To Preventive School Protection

Nigeria’s safety structure for its faculties should transfer from response to prevention.

NOP NIGERIA stories that that was the robust consensus on the seventh annual summit of the Education Writers’ Association of Nigeria, EWAN, held in Lagos yesterday.

The Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Rilwan Disu, referred to as for stronger intelligence gathering, early-warning techniques and improved collaboration between faculties and safety businesses to stop assaults on academic establishments.

Represented by Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Tijani Fatai, the IGP delivered a keynote on the theme, ‘Schools Under Threat: From Reactive Responses to Sustainable Protection.’

Disu stated sustainable college safety requires a shift from reactive responses to preventive measures, stressing that safeguarding faculties have to be handled as a nationwide safety precedence.

“School safety must therefore be understood not merely as the responsibility of school administrators or security agencies, but as a national security priority and a collective obligation,” he declared.

He warned that the implications of insecurity in faculties lengthen past victims to incorporate heightened anxiousness amongst households, lack of public confidence, disruption of educational actions and denial of academic alternatives.

According to him, a society can’t obtain its full potential when insecurity prevents youngsters from accessing training or discourages academics from working in secure environments.

The police chief stated whereas rapid responses like rescuing victims and apprehending offenders stay important, higher consideration should go to figuring out vulnerabilities and stopping recurrence by means of intelligence-led operations and risk evaluation.

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He urged college directors, academics, mother and father, college students and group members to promptly report suspicious developments, and referred to as for stronger police-community partnerships constructed on skilled conduct, accountability and belief.

Speaking as Chairman of the event, former Vice-Chancellor of University of Lagos and Chairman, Governing Board of National Universities Commission, NUC, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, demanded a unified nationwide framework for college security.

Represented by the Dean, Faculty of Education, Prof. Joseph Awoyinfa, Ogundipe stated Nigeria should transfer past mobilising safety after an incident and issuing condemnations.

“For too long, our responses have been largely reactive, mobilising security after an incident, issuing statements of condemnation, and providing temporary relief to affected communities. While these actions are necessary, they are not sufficient,” he stated.

He stated recurring assaults – from Chibok in 2014 to Dapchi and up to date incidents – will not be remoted however a sample threatening nationwide growth, and advocated sustained funding in surveillance, secure transportation and safe boarding amenities particularly for rural faculties in conflict-prone areas.

Earlier, EWAN Chairman, Mojeed Alabi, charged journalists to transcend reporting assaults after they occur, to investigating vulnerabilities, scrutinising funds allotted for college safety and monitoring implementation of insurance policies.

Recalling abductions in Oriire, Oyo State, incidents involving corps members in Imo State, sit-at-home orders within the South-East and farmer-herder clashes that closed faculties in Benue and Ogun, Alabi warned no group ought to assume immunity.

“Children are not safe until every school is safe,” Alabi stated, including that no mum or dad ought to have to decide on between a baby’s training and security. “The future of our nation depends, in no small measure, on the opportunities we create for our children today. Protecting those opportunities is a responsibility we must all take seriously.”

NOP NIGERIA