Askira presenting his opening remarks at the meeting on Friday in Maiduguri
The governors of North East states have been urged to emulate the Borno Government in the domestication of the National Policy on Safety, Security and Violence-free Schools (NPSSVFS).
The call was made in Maiduguri at a stakeholders meeting with the private sector in Borno on their role in ensuring safe education, organized by an NGO, the Innovative Childcare and Women Empowerment Initiative with support from USAID.
The NGO was part of five other NGOs known as “Safe School Cluster’ working for the implementation of safe school policy in Borno, Yobe and Bauchi states.
Speaking at the meeting, the Executive Director of the NGO, Nasir Kadiri Askira, said that even the Borno government that had domesticated the policy needs to do more on its implementation for maximum results.
Askira said that the private sector also needs to step in as partners in progress, and inline with their corporate social responsibility by investing in supporting safety in education.
In his presentation, Nicholas Oshojah Afeso, the Executive Director of LEADTOTS Development Initiative, who spoke on the impact of the private sector on enhancing safety in education, also urged states to make budgetary allocation and ensure release of funds for the effective implementation of the policy.
According to Afeso, the adoption and implementation of policy particularly in the frontline states that experienced the insurgency would significantly reduce the rate of dropouts, improve enrolment and enhance school safety and security in the northeast.
In his remarks, the Programme Manager of ICCWFI, Abubakar Mohammed Suleiman, who spoke on how the private sector can support the policy, said they could even use their support to advertise their products and services, thereby hitting two birds with one stone.
Highlights of the meeting were presentations by some private sector organizations that attended the meeting, particularly banks, on how they have been supporting education in Borno and the commitment to do more.
The Safe Schools Initiative was introduced on May 7, 2014, by the UN special envoy for global education in the country following the Chibok girls’ abduction by Boko Haram terrorists.
