Some educationists have harped on the use of community intelligence and non-conventional approach to tackle the spate of insecurity being witnessed in Nigerian schools.
Prof Oyesoji Aremu, a security scholar at the Institute of Peace and Strategic Studies and Prof Adams Onuka, an education evaluation expert both from University of Ibadan, stated this in separate interviews in Ibadan on Thursday.
Aremu said that more than ever before, efforts should be directed to community intelligence and non-conventional approaches to school security. It is also instructive, to take a cue from best practice in other countries.
He said that at this point, governments both Federal and states as well as stakeholders should be more proactive in ensuring school safety.
According to him, it is no longer news that we have a more dangerous problem at hand, the signals of which are endangered to the future of education.
Aremu said that Nigerian schools never had it so bad given the spate of abductions in the last few months.
“While national security took a deep sunk as of 2009, nobody expects schools in Nigeria to witness the scourge of insecurity that is fast eclipsing teaching and learning in some parts of the country.
“Criminals under different appellations now see abductions of school students of different categories as soft targets.
“Given the continued spate of abductions especially in the last few months, Nigeria currently has the world’s highest record of school students abduction-for-ransom cases globally.
“About 2.099 million dollars (N800 million) is reported to have been paid to criminals as ransom between December, 2020 and May, 2021,” he said.
According to him, this shows how school insecurity in the country has become a very ‘lucrative’ business. This obviously portends some grievous implications for the future of school and education in Nigeria.
Aremu noted that there are emerging concerns bothering on the festering internal security challenge, the end of which seems not in sight as a result of the unfortunate dimension of school insecurity.
“Another concern bothers on how the spate of abductions in many schools (including higher institutions) would rub off on out-of-school statistics especially in the North, where there are over 13.2 million out-of-school children (the highest in the world).
“Abductions and kidnappings as being witnessed unabated could lead to some morbid fears among students and pupils, parents and school personnel. This could therefore, bring about a poor attitude to school and schooling activities,” he said.
Onuka, however, stated that the problem now was beyond what the government can handle alone “and if that is the case there is the need for some ‘self help.”
“In the sense that schools, parents and communities should also come together and probably get some funds for vigilante groups to secure the school, apart from putting some other security measures in place.”
He noted that with the spate of insecurity the government was overwhelmed with its financial resources and so, well meaning Nigerians need to collaborate with the government to tackle the present menace.
“People in various communities have to find ways to secure their communities, particularly children who are the future of tomorrow.
“Besides, actually securing we should have a research and intelligence group that will always gather information to know when the kidnappers or bandits would strike.
“Most often these people would not strike without any plan and sometimes their plan leaked to some people who may or may not speak out about it for fear.
”Everybody should be an intelligent person and gather information that could lead to securing our schools. Our ears should be on the ground to know when unusual things are happening or about to happen around us,” Onuka said. (NAN)
