For central coordination’ — Alausa seeks transfer of save schools funds to education ministry
Tunji Alausa, minister of education, says the federal government is seeking the transfer of the safe schools initiative funds from the ministry of finance to the ministry of education as part of efforts to strengthen the programme through a centrally coordinated framework involving security agencies.
Alausa spoke on Friday while briefing journalists after appearing before the senate ad hoc committee on the safe schools initiative chaired by Orji Kalu.
The committee is investigating the administration of donor funds, foreign grants and federal government appropriations released for the initiative.
Alausa said the ministry is working with the office of the national security adviser (ONSA), the Department of State Services (DSS), the armed forces, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and other security agencies to develop a comprehensive national framework for school safety.
Safe schools is much broader than physical security. It includes perimeter fencing, solar-powered lighting, water and sanitation facilities, recruitment of school security personnel, deployment of technology and the establishment of effective monitoring systems,” the minister said.
According to him, the education ministry would provide policy direction and coordinate implementation nationwide to ensure that every school benefits from the initiative.
“There are many components of the safe schools initiative, and they require a central command-and-control structure,” he stated.
While the security agencies will continue to perform their constitutional duties, the federal ministry of education will provide policy direction, coordinate implementation with states and ensure that every school benefits from the programme.”
Alausa said the request for the safe schools funds to be transferred to the ministry of education followed the establishment of a full-fledged safe schools department within the ministry.
“Since I assumed office, the only significant disbursements have been targeted interventions to security agencies, including the Nigeria Police Force and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps. Those payments were administered through the federal ministry of finance,” he said.
“We have now established a full-fledged safe schools department within the federal ministry of education.
Previously, there was only a small unit, but we felt that was inadequate considering the importance of school safety, which made us seek the domiciling of management of the fund in the education ministry.”
‘TIMELY FUNDING MORE IMPORTANT THAN WHO CONTROLS THE BUDGET’
Speaking separately after appearing before the committee, Taiwo Oyedele, minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, said the issue of which ministry manages the funds is secondary to ensuring adequate and timely financing of the initiative.
“For us, it’s not so much of who is controlling the budget; that’s not even very important,” he said.
Government policies have statutory arrangements. For example, if you have service-wide votes or intervention funds, by law it is the ministry of finance that will manage them because the Minister of Finance acts as the accountant for the country.
“Under that we also have the office of the accountant-general. So, between us we’ll sort out those issues.
What is even the priority for us is how do we ensure that the funding is adequate and the monies are released on time so that some of these crimes can be prevented rather than us trying to do damage control.”
Earlier during the hearing, Kalu said the committee’s investigation is aimed at ensuring accountability in the administration of the safe schools initiative.
This investigation is not a witch-hunt. It is a constitutional responsibility entrusted to the national assembly under sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 constitution,” he said.
“Our objective is to ensure financial accountability, value for money and the protection of Nigerian schoolchildren.