The Federal Government, through the coordinating unit of the Safe School Initiative, has engaged more than 3,000 Man O’ War Nigeria personnel to strengthen safer school resilience across the country.
The partnership brought together participants from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, as part of efforts to strengthen community-based approaches to school safety and security.
The participants are currently taking part in the fourth National Camping Exercise of Man O’ War Nigeria, holding from August 9 to 15, 2026, at the Citizenship and Leadership Training Centre, Shere Hills, Jos, Plateau State.
The exercise is themed, “Strengthening Community-Based Safe School Framework: For a Secured and Resilient Nigeria.”
Speaking during the official opening of the exercise, the National Coordinator of the Safe School Initiative, Hajiya Halima Iliya, said the National Safe School Plan was launched by the Federal Government in 2022, while funding and full implementation commenced in 2023.
Iliya said the financing model was designed to address threats to school safety in a more holistic and sustainable manner, with a key objective of taking the initiative down to the state and community levels.
She said strengthening the resilience of host communities was a collective responsibility requiring collaboration among multiple government agencies and community-based organisations.
“One of the objectives is to cascade it down to the state and the community level to strengthen resilience of the entire host community because it is our collective responsibility. And it is a multi-agency collaboration where you see we have a lot of multiple agencies that are working to ensure the orientation of safe school across the country,” she said.
The national coordinator said Man O’ War Nigeria was an important partner in strengthening the community framework and taking the Safe School Initiative to the grassroots.
She said communities and schools were being mapped, particularly across the three senatorial zones, as part of efforts to identify vulnerable locations and build resilience.
“We’re mapping out schools to cascade down, to build resilience of the entire host community, not just host school but the entire host community,” she said.
According to her, community-based actors are often the first to face the consequences of attacks, while some threats originate from outside the communities.
Iliya said the government would also strengthen border communities as part of its transition plan, while vulnerable areas and riverine communities would be given attention.
She added that security agencies and the armed forces were already involved in the strategy, with coordination involving her office and the Office of the National Security Adviser.
The national coordinator stressed that the approach was designed to address school safety as part of a broader security strategy rather than focusing solely on individual schools.
She said the Federal Government had made provision for Safe School interventions in the 2026 budget.
“I am representing the Ministry of Finance as the National Coordinator for the Safe School Programme because this programme is an intervention of government to scale up what other agencies are doing,” Iliya said.
She added that the Ministry of Finance remained the coordinating authority for the programme to ensure financial prudence, accountability and transparency.
The National Commander of Man O’ War Nigeria, Adedamola Gbenga, described the national camp as a strategic platform for strengthening volunteers, renewing their commitment to national service, building leadership capacity and preparing the organisation for greater responsibilities.
He said a major component of this year’s national camp was a capacity-building programme for Safe School Awareness and Preparedness Training coordinators of Man O’ War Nigeria drawn from across the country.
Gbenga said the coordinators would receive training in safeguarding and child protection, early warning and early response, emergency preparedness, security awareness, school risk management, community mobilisation and resilience building.
He added that the training would also equip participants to speak out strongly against the recruitment and use of children in armed violence.
The initiative is expected to strengthen community participation in school safety and improve preparedness and resilience in communities hosting schools across Nigeria.
