SAN FRANCISCO, September 09, (THEWILL) – On the occasion of the first International Day for the Protection of Education from Attack, the Honourable Minister of Education of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Adamu Adamu, called for the protection of schools, release of students and teachers in captivity and promised more government commitment to providing a safe learning environment across the country.
September 9 was declared as the International Day for the Protection of Education from Attack by a unanimous decision of the United National General Assembly to raise awareness on the plight of millions of children living in countries affected by conflict. The General Assembly resolution affirms that governments have the primary responsibility to provide protection and ensure inclusive and equitable quality education at all levels to all learners, especially those in vulnerable situations.
In marking this commemoration, the Minister stated that the government was committed and involved in the protection of schools and learning centres from violence and all forms of attacks.
While taking cognisance of the fact that schools and other learning facilities have been targets of attacks by parties in conflict and factions involved in communal clashes especially the dreaded Boko Haram terrorists but also including bandits, thugs and unknown individuals and groups, he highlighted the need for all stakeholders to appreciate and observe the sanctity of learning centres and do their utmost to protect them and those who use them for learning. This is, as he averred, because the protection of learners, teaching and non-teaching personnel, schools and learning centres from all manners of attacks was an obligation of government and relevant stakeholders.
Using examples like the case of the Chibok girls, Leah Sharibu and other learners and teachers who were attacked at their places of learning, he hammered on how that was a grave infringement on their rights to quality education. The Minister therefore called for their immediate release of all those still held by their abductors.
The Honourable Minister again gave voice to Nigeria’s commitment to all existing International protocols on education and freedom of learning as well as each child’s rights to qualify education in a safe environment. As a signatory to most of the existing global and continental instruments on education and child rights, Nigeria, the Minister pointed out, had domesticated most of these provisions at the national level and even integrated some others into the country’s national laws and policies.
“As a nation,” the Minister noted, “we are committed to observing all relevant international conventions for the protection of schools and learning centres and facilities from attack. We recognise the interdependencies of several conventions, treaties and other instruments that would make this possible.”
He mentioned a few. “Nigeria is a signatory to many of these instruments such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC); Convention against Discrimination in Education (CADE); International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), among others.”
Apart from the CRC’s complementing Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, the Minister made sure to clarify that there are other instruments such as the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child to which Nigeria is a signatory and which Nigeria is beholden to observe as the respectable country that it is.
As an example the Minister recalled that Nigeria was one of the first countries to endorse the Safe School Declaration in 2015, an endorsement that typified the nation’s commitment to all efforts at developing clear and enforceable guidelines that guarantee the protection of schools and learning centres from violence.
“One of the areas we have taken steps at ensuring the protection of schools from attack is the proposed amendment to the Armed Forces Act. We are doing this through the Nigerian Education in Emergency (EIE) Working Group. When passed, the amended law, would end the use of schools by the armed forces and would help to prevent attacks on education by opposing armed groups, and limit disruptions to students’ learning,” the Honourable Minister assured.
He then called on different parties in conflicts around the nation to observe the preserved sanctity of learning centres and facilities and those who work and use them. In his appeal to these combatants, he urged all those holding abductees who are students and teachers to consider them innocent casualties of armed insurgency and release them all from captivity.
The Minister then tasked communities to assume ownership of the protection of schools in their locale because they are the first point of contact with the school and as first-line responders in the event of an attack they have a stake in the issue. He admonished security agencies to improve their commitments and efforts at ensuring safety of schools and learning centres while praising the sacrifices that students, teachers and non-teaching staff have so far made especially those who have been victims of violent attacks. He described those who have died in the process as fallen heroes.
*** News article by Jude Obafemi.
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