Safe School Initiative Receives Boost In Nigeria

The United States of America (USA) has donated $2 million to support the Safe School Initiative in Nigeria.

The USA donated the money Thursday into the Multi Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) set up by the United Nations (UN) to support the Safe Schools Initiative (SSI).

The project is aimed at meeting the education needs of thousands of children affected by the on-going conflict in Northeast states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa.

With this donation, proceeds into the MDTF has risen to $4 million, this is aside from the $10 million (about N1.6 bilion) Safe Schools Initiative Trust Fund residing in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to help rehabilitate and provide security for schools in Northern part of the country following the abduction of female students at Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok Borno state.

Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and United States (US) Ambassador to Nigeria James F. Entwistle jointly signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the transfer of the $2million donated by US government to support Nigeria’s safe school initiative yesterday in Abuja.

Speaking yesterday when she received US Ambassador, USAID officials and UNDP country Representative in Nigeria, Dauda Toure for the MOU agreement, Okonjo-Iweala noted that “since the lunch, we have built strong partnerships with governments, donor agencies, and the private sector on the SSI. We set up a trust fund domiciled at the CBN in to which the contribution of $10 million (about N1.6 billion) was paid. We have also received donations of 2 million Euro from Germany, and will shortly receive a grant of $1 million from the African Development Bank in to the fund. Other donors include, Norway $1.5 million (given through UNICEF), UK 1m pounds in technical assistance, and $10 million pledged by a collation of Nigerian Business leaders."

To complement the funds, the minister stated that a separate fund- "the Multi Donor Trust Fund was set up within the UN system through Gordon Brown’s effort to support the intuitive, this MDTF which recently became operational is being managed by UNDP, UNICEF, and UNOPS and will harness donations from other governments, donor agencies, international NGOs and global corporates and will co-finance projects and programs of the SSI alongside the Nigerian fund”.

Okonjo-Iweala while giving an update on the SSI, disclosed that government was planning to provide full scholarships for 2,400 school children from Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states to be transferred to 43 Federal Unity Colleges across the country to continue their education.

According to Okonjo-Iweala, “that process is now in full swing. After receiving counseling, the first batch of about 1,007 students are now in schools, and others are on their way. The parents will receive a grant that will enable them visit their children in school, while the pupils will also receive grants to ensure that they can go home when school closes. About 44 school children from Chibok will be among those in the second batch, which we are currently processing."

In his remark, the US Ambassador to Nigeria James F. Entwistle said US was proud to support SSI scheme, adding that "the US government is proud to support this initiative of Nigeria’s children who have been affected by the insurgency so that they do not see their hopes for education sacrificed."

The Safe School Initiative was conceived after the abduction of over 200 female students of Government Girls Secondary School Chibok Borno state by the Islamic fundamentalists group, Boko-Harram. The attacks affected enrolment of children particularly female children into schools in northern Nigeria.