The Northern Christian Youth Professionals (NCYP) has criticised the Safe Schools Initiative (SSI) over what it described as “weak visibility and poor impact” despite more than $20 million reportedly raised to secure schools.
The group expressed its concerns in a statement issued on Friday and signed by its Chairman, Isaac Abrak.
The NCYP said recent attacks on schools in northern Nigeria had reignited doubts about the SSI’s ability to protect vulnerable communities.
“The Northern Christian Youth Professionals (NCYP) expresses concern over the renewed wave of attacks on schools across northern Nigeria, resulting in tragic killings and mass abductions of innocent students.
“$20m raised, schools still under attack. These heartbreaking incidents call into question the effectiveness and visibility of the Safe Schools Initiative (SSI) and its partnership with the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC),” the statement partly read.
The group recalled that after the 2024 abduction of more than 200 students from Government Primary and Secondary School, Kuriga, Kaduna State, it urged President Bola Tinubu to recruit forest-side community members into the Forest Guard to protect schools.
It noted that the SSI later announced a partnership with the NSCDC, a move the NCYP accepted but considered different from its initial proposal.
However, the group said the continued attacks raised urgent questions.
“What role did the Safe Schools Initiative–NSCDC partnership play in protecting the schools that were attacked?” the association asked.
Gunmen, on Monday, abducted 26 schoolgirls during an attack in Maga, Kebbi State. Similarly, gunmen stormed St. Mary’s Primary and Secondary School in Niger State on Friday, abducting 315 students and staff in one of the largest school kidnappings in recent years in the country.
Consequently, NCYP also inquired about the preventive or responsive measures implemented during the recent tragic kidnap incidents at the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, Kebbi State, and St. Mary’s School, Agwara Local Government Area, Niger State.
NCYP highlighted concerns over the management of funds donated to the SSI since its creation after the 2014 Chibok abduction.
The statement listed the following publicly reported contributions: Private sector/business leaders: $10m pledged as seed funding, Federal Government of Nigeria: About $10m pledged, Additional FEC-approved support: $4.2m, United States Government (USAID/Embassy): $2m, Qatar Government: $2m.
The group said these contributions exceeded $20 million yet had “not translated into visible protection for schools.”
It demanded that the SSI publish a comprehensive report detailing its activities, spending, implementing partners, emergency response plans, and impact assessments.
“Transparency will reassure potential donors, encourage further investment in school safety, and enable interventions that protect children, especially girls, in Northern regions where cultural and security barriers make education fragile.
“The Safe Schools Initiative must provide answers, demonstrate transparency on fund usage and program effectiveness, and recalibrate its strategy to meet its founding mandate,” the group said.
The group renewed its appeal to President Tinubu to fully implement the Forest Guard programme and ensure it operates as a grassroots security model driven by residents.
It said community members were the most reliable defenders of their schools and that “there is no substitute for the vigilance, courage, and determination of parents protecting their children.”
The group urged the President to “avoid creating a bureaucratic institution” detached from the communities it should protect.
NCYP also appealed to the United States to support Nigeria’s community-driven security efforts.
The NCYP said Nigeria could not continue losing schoolchildren to terrorist attacks.
It insisted that donors, citizens, and affected communities deserved full transparency on the SSI’s operations (Channels)
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