On 21 July 2026, the Nigerian Senate granted its Ad Hoc Committee investigating the Safe Schools Initiative another three weeks to conclude its work. The committee, chaired by Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, had asked for more time because important parts of the investigation remained unfinished.
The Senate also substantially expanded the investigation. It was no longer looking only at the Safe Schools Initiative. Its mandate was widened to examine TETFund, NELFUND, UBEC, the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation and the National Social Investment Programme Agency.
The stated objective was ambitious and important: examine funding, implementation and accountability across programmes connected with the safety, welfare and education of Nigerian students.
Three weeks were granted. Those three weeks expired in August. It is now 5 October 2026.
I have searched again this week.
SENATE FINAL REPORT: ❓ STILL NOT PUBLICLY LOCATED
So I am asking again:
SENATOR ORJI UZOR KALU, WHERE IS THE SAFE SCHOOLS REPORT?
If the investigation has been completed, publish the report. If it has not been completed, tell Nigerians what remains outstanding and give us a new timeline. There may be perfectly reasonable reasons why an investigation of this scope has taken longer than anticipated.
But the public should not have to guess.
WE HAVE MOVED THE QUESTION BEYOND THE WATCH
For several editions of Safe Schools Nigeria Watch, I have asked where the Senate report is. Last week, I decided to take the question beyond this platform. I submitted an opinion article to THISDAY Opinion: “Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, Where Is the Safe Schools Report?”
Status: awaiting editorial consideration
Why press this particular question? Because the Senate investigation potentially contains exactly the information this Watch has been trying to establish.
- How much Safe Schools money was actually released?
- Which agencies received it?
- What was procured?
- Who received the contracts?
- What was delivered?
- Where was it deployed?
- Did it work?
- And can expenditure be connected to safer schools?
At the investigative hearings, the Senate was already examining financial flows, donor funding, operational problems and accountability.
The Federal Minister of Education also told the committee in July that significant disbursements had gone principally to the Nigeria Police Force and NSCDC through the Federal Ministry of Finance.
This is precisely why the final report matters.
Safe Schools Nigeria Watch has repeatedly followed the same chain:
POLICY → MONEY → DELIVERY → FUNCTIONALITY → SAFETY
The Senate has powers and access to records that an independent public-interest Watch does not. It asked the questions. It called the institutions. It examined documents. Now:
SHOW US WHAT IT FOUND.
IMO: THE 90-DAY CLOCK HAS STARTED
While we wait for the Senate’s retrospective account of what has happened to Safe Schools implementation and financing, something worth watching has begun in Imo State.
On 30 September, the Imo State Police Command flagged off a 90-day Safe School orientation and security inspection exercise across primary and secondary schools in the state. This is potentially important. The exercise reportedly includes:
- security inspections of schools;
- sensitisation of students and staff on security awareness;
- intelligence gathering and early reporting;
- crime-prevention education;
- distribution of security-awareness materials;
- completion of inspection forms; and
- encouragement of schools to install CCTV surveillance linked to the state security command.
The programme is being implemented under the Federal Government’s Safe School Initiative. There was also an earlier launch involving the Police, NSCDC, state education authorities, school proprietors and other stakeholders, with commitments to undertake regular inspection of school security facilities.
IMO 90-DAY INSPECTION EXERCISE: 🟢 COMMENCED
But commencement is the beginning of the evidence chain. It is not the end. And this time we do not have to arrive months later and ask what was supposed to happen. Government has given us a timetable. So let us start the clock.
WHAT WE WILL LOOK FOR AT DAY 90
If the exercise runs for the announced 90 days from 30 September, it should reach its endpoint around 29 December 2026. Safe Schools Nigeria Watch will return to it. And because we are setting the questions before the programme ends, we know exactly what we will be looking for.
1. HOW MANY SCHOOLS WERE ACTUALLY INSPECTED?
“Schools across Imo State” is not a number.
- How many primary schools?
- How many secondary schools?
- How many public schools?
- How many private schools?
- How many LGAs were covered?
- What percentage of the intended schools did the inspection team actually reach?
2. WHAT DID THE INSPECTION FORM MEASURE?
Reports from the launch specifically mention inspection forms. Good. That means there should be a record. What criteria are on the form? Are schools being assessed against Nigeria’s 2021 National Policy on Safety, Security and Violence-Free Schools and its Minimum Standards? Does the assessment cover such things as access control, emergency procedures, communications, perimeter security, safeguarding, evacuation, early warning and links with security responders?
3. WHAT DID THE INSPECTIONS FIND?
- How many schools met the required standards?
- What were the most common deficiencies?
- How many schools were considered particularly vulnerable?
- There may be good security reasons not to identify vulnerable schools publicly.
- That does not prevent publication of anonymised or aggregate findings.
4. WHAT HAPPENS AFTER A DEFICIENCY IS IDENTIFIED?
This is where inspection becomes implementation. If a school needs fencing, CCTV, communications equipment, an emergency plan, staff training or a functioning link to security responders:
Who is responsible for fixing it?
- The school?
- Parents?
- State Government?
- Federal Government?
- Police?
- NSCDC? And:
- Who pays?
5. WHERE IS THE INSPECTION REPORT?
This is the question we are putting down now. Not in January. Not six months from now. Now. When the 90 days end, there should be enough information to tell the public:
Schools targeted → Schools inspected → Deficiencies identified → Corrective action required → Action completed → Action outstanding.
So sometime around 29 December:
SHOW US THE INSPECTION REPORT.
ONE VERIFIED SCHOOL: INTERESTING, BUT TOO EARLY TO INTERPRET
There is one other development on the national Safe Schools dashboard worth recording. The National Safe Schools Integrated Command and Intelligence System currently reports:
169,481 schools registered; one shown as verified on the public dashboard.
Last week, the dashboard showed zero verified schools. Interesting. We are watching it. No conclusions yet.
At this stage, I do not know enough about how the “verified” field operates to draw conclusions from the number.
THE MONEY TRAIL — NO MATERIAL CHANGE THIS WEEK
- I searched again this week for new publicly accessible Safe Schools:
- cash releases;
- procurements;
- contract awards;
- expenditure records;
- Audits; and
- implementation accounts.
No new publicly verifiable national release, procurement, contract award or expenditure reconciliation located this week. That does not mean no money was released or spent. It means I cannot presently verify new expenditure from the public record. The distinction matters. The Watch will continue looking for the complete chain:
APPROPRIATION → RELEASE → RECIPIENT → PROCUREMENT → CONTRACTOR → SCHOOL → DELIVERY → FUNCTIONALITY → OUTCOME
And this takes us straight back to why the Senate report remains important. The Senate investigation may already have established parts of that chain. If so: please publish it.
PROMISE-TO-PROOF TRACKER
5 OCTOBER 2026
2021 National Policy on Safety, Security and Violence-Free Schools: 🟢 VERIFIED
Minimum Standards for Safe Schools: 🟢 VERIFIED
National Safe Schools platform: 🟢 LIVE
Schools registered on public dashboard: 🟢 169,481
Schools shown as verified: 🟡 1
Meaning/completeness of verification counter: ❓ WATCHING / NO CONCLUSION YET
Imo 90-day Safe School inspection exercise: 🟢 COMMENCED 30 SEPTEMBER
Imo inspection forms: 🟢 USE REPORTED
Imo number of schools targeted: ❓ NOT YET ESTABLISHED
Imo number of schools inspected: ⏳ IN PROGRESS
Imo inspection findings: ⏳ PENDING
Imo remediation plan: ⏳ PENDING
Imo final inspection report: ⏳ EXPECTED / WATCHING FOR IT
10,000 PCRC Safe School volunteers: 🟡 ANNOUNCED
Volunteer deployment denominator: ❓ NOT YET PUBLICLY DEMONSTRATED
2026 Safe Schools cash releases: ❓ NOT PUBLICLY RECONCILED
2026 procurement and contract trail: ❓ NOT PUBLICLY RECONCILED
Senate Safe Schools final report: ❓ STILL NOT PUBLICLY LOCATED
Safe Schools Nigeria Watch is an independent public-interest initiative tracking the implementation, financing and accountability of Nigeria’s Safe Schools commitments.
Missed the last Watch? Read Safe Schools Nigeria Watch No. 7: “10,000 Volunteers. For How Many Schools?
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