Anambra CP restates importance of security, peace for education in Nigeria

Stakeholders in the security and education sectors, including Anambra State Commissioner of Police Ikioye Orutugu, have emphasised that for education to thrive in Nigeria, peace and security remain critical.

They stated this at a Leadership and Education Summit Award organised by the Youth Coalition for Education in Nigeria (YOCEN), on Thursday in Abuja.

Noting efforts by security agencies such as the Nigeria Police Force, Orutugu said that the police have stepped up their efforts to ensure the security and safety of schools across Nigeria through various platforms, including the Safe Schools Initiative and the campaign against cultism in higher institutions of learning.

Represented by the state command’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), SP Tochukwu Ikenga, he said, “Education remains important to the citizens and development of this great country, and for the police as a security agency, what we are doing on the part of education is to secure learning environments.

“The current Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, has an agenda for it, and he has stepped up security in this regard through the safe schools initiative and has directed all the assistant commissioners of police in charge of commands to man this position.”

CP Orutugu, who was inducted into the YOCEN Nigeria Hall of Fame and received an award for his dedication to implementing proactive and community policing strategies during the event, alongside his spokesman who was honoured with a Nobel Prize Award of Credence, explained that the police campaign against cultism and other vices is a police advocacy programme aimed at enlightening young people about the risks and dangers of such vices.

YOCEN’s Secretary General, Engineer Yakubu Yahaya, said that YOCEN, as a Foundation, aims to identify, connect, and empower young leaders and youth organisations by equipping them with the necessary tools and resources to conceive, plan, and execute educational development projects within their local communities.

According to him, the foundation’s vision, which “Envisions an Africa where every child regardless of their background or circumstances, has unfettered access to quality education that empowers them to become leaders, innovators, and changemakers,” remains a driving force for its various activities.

Member of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG), Khadijat Akewushola, explained that the current challenges facing Nigeria’s education sector require full commitment from all levels of government to reverse the trend.

She lamented that the neglect of the sector is largely responsible for it being overtaken by private entrepreneurs, who are capitalists, and therefore made access to good education expensive and unattainable for most Nigerians.

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