FG Flags off Emergency Response Centre for Schools
Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja
The federal government has flagged off the National Schools Security and Emergency Response Centre designed to respond to emergencies across all learning locations in the country.
Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, who spoke at the flag-off ceremony at the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) headquarters in Abuja, yesterday, stated that the response centre was geared towards responding to emergencies across all learning locations in the country.
A statement by Amadi Uloma Nneka on behalf of the ministry quoted Ahmed as saying the centre will provide a consistent approach to the planning, management and reporting of threats and attacks in schools in an organised manner.
Ahmed, who was represented at the event by the Minister of State, Budget and National Planning, Mr. Clem Agba, disclosed that the centre was designed to be a strategically planned, smart and sustainable intelligence information gathering and sharing location that will be managed by professional security personnel.
She stressed that it would enable emergency communications and provide monitoring tools through the Common Emergency Communication and Information System (CECIS), a web-based alert and notification application enabling real-time exchange of information that will change the analogue approach to quick-fix or negligence of minor responsibilities to smart steps.
According to the minister, the historical event attested to the commitment of the government of Nigeria to securing schools at risk by using whatever was at the disposal of the government to deliver the initiative.
Ahmed stated that this was in line with the priorities identified in the National Plan for Financing Safe Schools launched in December, 2022, which the National Schools Security and Emergency Response Centre was one of its components.
The flag-off, she added, marked the commencement of the implementation of the Safe Schools programme, which attested to the federal government’s commitment in providing safe and secured teaching and learning environment for the children.
While appreciating and acknowledging the generosity of the NSCDC for its close collaboration with the government through the Inter-Agency Technical working Group and Steering Committee on the Financing Safe Schools by making available the infrastructure for the Safe Schools National Response Centre, she also thanked other security agencies, including the Defence Headquarters, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), the Department of State Security Services (DSS), the Steering Committee on Financing Safe Schools and other critical stakeholders which have contributed to the realisation of the feat.
Earlier, the Commandant-General of the NSCDC, Ahmed Abubakar Audi, said in view of the importance of education and human capital development towards national development, it had become expedient for the federal government to deploy extraordinary measures to tackle the spate of attacks on school facilities in Nigeria.
