News
Stakeholders urge speedy drafting of legal framework for implementation of Safe School Declaration
 
																								
												
												
											Stakeholders urge speedy drafting of legal framework for implementation of Safe School Declaration
By: Michael Mike
The call for the speedy drafting of a legal framework for the effective implementation of the Safe Schools Declaration (SSD) initiatives in Nigeria that will serve as a security blueprint for the safety of students and staff of educational institutions in the country have been emphasised.
Participants at a one day interactive session on the need to draft a legal document for the policy posited that 9 year after the SSD policy was developed in 2015 in Norway, and the establishment of a national policy, the National Policy on Safety, Security and Violence Free Schools to help implement the SSD, Nigeria is yet to witness any meaningful implementation of the agreement partly due to the absence of a legal framework.
They spoke at a one day ‘Roundtable Meeting with Stakeholders on the imperative for a legal framework on Safe School Declaration (SSD)’ organised by the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) and the Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARD C) in Lagos.
Speaking, National Network Coordinator for Wanep Nigeria, Dr. Bridget Osakwe urged the federal and state governments to increase funding for education and ensure that children and teachers are in good environment of leaning that is free from violence, molestation, from abuses, harassments of any kind.
She said “the SSD is to prepare the children, prepare the environment in order to prevent any form of violence in the school environment and to respond immediately in case of any breaches in the school and it is important that all stakeholders come together to make the whole environment conducive because education a right to the child irrespective of the sex, and for children to optimally enjoy that education.”
“They have to have a conducive environment and that environment is not just for the children alone, even for the teachers that will deliver. Everyone that will guide the children within the precinct of the school needs that conducive environment to be in their optimal skills.”
National Programme Coordinator of WARD C, Jennifer Nwokedike bemoaned the downward trend in the safety of school children affirming that government must halt the adduction of student in schools across the country.
Nwokedike said “Is Nigeria government implementing SSD, I will say yes and no. for some states implementation has started, but considering the trend in education we expect government to do more. It is ten years after the adduction of girls in Chibok, the trend indicates that we are going down the slop.”
A project consultant, Dr Ola Akintayo, explained that there are several policies in place that are geared toward effective implementation of the policy but the absence of a legal frame so far has been the Achill hill of that policy initiative.
“Since the policy has been put in place, you can see that there have been no impacts. Most people in the country are not even aware that such things are even in place in Nigeria.” He said.
Also speaking, Dr Obadina Ibrahim of the University of Lagos declared that “We must realise how imperative it is to have a legal framework. After Chibok, it’s been a lot of challenges trying to secure schools in the country.”
The UNILAG Don said “We must itemise the basic requirement any school must have to ensure that they protect the student and staff, trainings and critical engagement within communities so that they can speak up when we see suspicious activities and individuals coming to the school.
We talk issues of perimeter fencing, surveillances, panic alarms across schools and including sanctions for those complicit in attacks in schools as well as recovery processes when schools are attack. Issues of funding and infrastructures should also get attention.”
Participants at the interactive forum included traditional leaders, Civil Society Organisations the network of Civil Society on Education, the police, civil defence, members of the Lagos state house of assembly, officials of ministry of education, the school base management boards, head teachers association and the Parent Teachers Association among other.
The Safe Schools Declaration outlines a set of commitments to strengthen the protection of education from attack and restrict use of schools and universities for military purposes and seeks to ensure the continuity of safe education during armed conflict.
It was opened for countries to endorse at the First International Conference on Safe Schools in Oslo, Norway, in May 2015 while in October 2021; Nigeria hosted the Fourth International Conference on the Safe Schools Declaration in Abuja.
Stakeholders urge speedy drafting of legal framework for implementation of Safe School Declaration
Crime
JNIM claims first attack in Kwara, four months after announcing new brigade
 
														JNIM claims first attack in Kwara, four months after announcing new brigade
By: Zagazola Makama
Al-Qaeda–linked militant group, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), has claimed responsibility for an attack in Kwara State, its first in Nigeria, four months after announcing the establishment of a new brigade in the country.
According to intelligence sources, the attack reportedly occurred in the northern part of Kwara, along the border corridor linking Niger and Kogi States.

JNIM, which operates mainly in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, announced in June the creation of a new brigade for Nigeria, raising concerns about a possible southward expansion of jihadist influence.
Zagazola said that the claim aligns with earlier intelligence warnings of cross-border infiltration through smuggling routes connecting Benin Republic and Niger.
“JNIM’s latest statement describes the attack as the debut operation of its Nigerian brigade. If verified, this would indicate a dangerous evolution of the regional threat landscape,” the source said.
Security operatives in Kwara, Niger, and Kogi States should intensify patrols and surveillance in response to the development, with reinforcements deployed to border communities.

Military and intelligence agencies should work to identify possible linkages between JNIM operatives and local extremist networks.
The incident comes amid heightened regional insecurity and the continued fragmentation of terror groups across the Sahel and Lake Chad Basin.
JNIM claims first attack in Kwara, four months after announcing new brigade
News
FG Inches Closer To Implementation Of Single Window Policy For Efficiency At Nigerian Ports
 
														FG Inches Closer To Implementation Of Single Window Policy For Efficiency At Nigerian Ports
*As VP Shettima demands roadmap for weight and measures framework
*Tasks NPA, Customs, SON, NIS, others on inter-agency synergy
By: Our Reporter
The Federal Government has intensified efforts to actualize the implementation of the National Single Window at the nation’s ports by 2026.
The Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, said the policy aimed at creating a single platform to harmonise documentation, minimise human contact, and bring full transparency to the cargo clearance process would be a game changer at the ports

Senator Shettima, who stated this on Thursday during the second meeting of the Ports and Customs Efficiency Committee at the Presidential Villa, noted that the target is to reduce average cargo clearance time from 21 days to less than seven days by the end of 2026, and to position Nigerian ports among the top three most potent trade corridors in Africa.
He stated: “By the end of 2026, we aim to reduce average cargo clearance time in Nigeria to under seven days and to position our ports among the top three most efficient trade gateways on the continent.

“The forthcoming implementation of the National Single Window in the first quarter of next year will be a game changer, a single platform that harmonises documentation, minimises human contact, and brings full transparency to the cargo clearance process.”
VP Shettima also directed the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), and other relevant agencies to come up with a roadmap on how to make Nigeria’s weights and measures framework effective.
The weights and measures framework conducts regular surveillance and inspections across Nigeria to ensure that weighing and measuring equipment used in trade is accurate and that consumers receive the correct value for their money in line with standard global practice.
The main objective is to ensure consumer protection, which is achieved by preventing fraud and misrepresentation in commercial transactions involving weights and measures.
Demanding a roadmap for an effective weights and measures framework, the Vice President said the target is to improve port operations, make cargo clearance faster and more efficient by reducing average cargo clearance time from 21 days to less than seven days by the end of 2026, as well as position Nigerian ports among the top three most potent trade corridors in Africa.
Senator Shettima expressed dismay over cargo dwell time at Nigeria’s major ports, which he said “currently averages between 18 to 21 days,” compared to Ghana and Cotonou, Benin Republic, where it takes five to seven days and just four days respectively.
“The cost of clearing goods in Nigeria is estimated to be 30 percent higher than in many of our regional peers. Our ports record cargo dwell times 475 percent above the global average benchmark.
“These inefficiencies are not just statistics; they are symptoms of an economic ailment that costs us investments, drives up consumer prices, and weakens our export competitiveness. We simply cannot afford to continue down this path,” he noted.
The VP however expressed optimism that the Executive Order on Joint Physical Inspection, which is currently before President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, “stands as one of the boldest and most decisive steps toward reversing these trends.
“It marks the dawn of a new era, an era where agencies work together, where systems speak a common language, and where traders and investors can depend on predictability, transparency, and speed,” he added.
The VP demanded synergy among the NPA, Nigerian Customs Service NAFDAC, SON, NIS and other relevant agencies, saying the era of working in silo was over.
His words: But no reform succeeds without ownership. Every agency represented here, the Nigerian Ports Authority, the Customs Service, NAFDAC, NDLEA, Standards Organisation of Nigeria, Immigration, the Quarantine Service, and all our partners, must see ourselves not as isolated operators, but as links in a single, integrated value chain.
“The era of siloed operations must end. Inter-agency rivalry must give way to inter-agency synergy. We are only as efficient as our collaboration allows, and our success will depend not only on what we do individually, but on what we achieve together.”
Earlier, the Director General of PEBEC, Princess Zahrah Audu, drew attention to the impact of inefficient port operations on the Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria, underscoring the imperative for a collective resolve among stakeholders to improve port operations, making cargo clearance faster and more efficient.
She decried the losses incurred as a result of the inefficiency at the nation’s ports while acknowledging the efforts of the Customs and Ports Efficiency Committee, describing the committee as a platform that represents not only interagency collaboration but also a shared commitment to making Nigeria’s ports globally competitive, transparent, and efficient.
For his part, the Managing Director of the Nigeria Ports Authority, Dr Abubakar Dantsoho, emphasized the import of synergy in revamping the nation’s ports, noting that “until there is collaboration and partnership you cannot achieve efficiency at the ports”.
Highlighting steps taken by the ports authority to address bottlenecks faced by importers and exporters at the nation’s ports, the MD said the Customs and Ports Efficiency Committee established by the NPA is recording huge successes through the joint inspection and boarding by relevant agencies operating in the area.
He identified adoption of technology, improvement in infrastructure, human capacity building, and equipment and tools, as areas that can be improved to enhance port efficiency and ensure that Nigeria remains competitive and relevant in the sub-region, continent and beyond.
FG Inches Closer To Implementation Of Single Window Policy For Efficiency At Nigerian Ports
News
PHOTO NEWS: In commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the establishment of the Public Complaints Commission
 
														PHOTO NEWS: In commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the establishment of the Public Complaints Commission (PCC), the Borno State Office, under Hon. Yusuf Adamu was not left behind in joining the national celebration. The activities marking the golden jubilee commenced on Wednesday, 29th October, 2025, with a health and fitness walk around the city of Maiduguri. The symbolic walk was aimed at promoting staff wellness and public visibility of the Commission’s milestone achievement and also to create awareness to the general population.























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