The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Sunday faulted the decision of the Federal Government and some state governments to shut schools over rising cases of kidnappings, warning that the move could inadvertently help terrorists achieve their aim of crippling education.
Addressing journalists in Abuja, the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Ememobong, said closing schools amounts to conceding victory to criminal groups.
“If the schools are closed, the goal of the terrorists would have been inadvertently achieved,” he said.
Ememobong criticised what he described as the Tinubu administration’s “simplistic approach” of shutting down institutions to prevent further abductions.
He said the Federal Government should instead evolve a comprehensive, intelligence-driven plan anchored on community vigilance and rapid response systems.
According to him, the proper implementation of the National Policy on Safety, Security and Violence-Free Schools has become urgent as insecurity is fast becoming a major disincentive to education, particularly in the North.
The PDP spokesman said the shutdown of schools would worsen the already dire situation in Northern Nigeria, which accounts for a majority of the country’s 18.3 million out-of-school children.
“Northern Nigeria alone has 10.2 million out-of-school children at the primary level and 8.1 million at the secondary level. Closing schools will only deepen the crisis,” he said.
He described the recent spate of abductions in Kebbi, Niger, and other states as “indicative of the alarming insecurity that has become the contemporary lived experience of Nigerians under the APC-led Bola Tinubu government.”
Ememobong criticised the Federal Government’s handling of the recent school kidnappings.
“More troubling is the fact that when these unfortunate incidents happen, the administration’s response is usually lacklustre and unempathetic,” he said.
He faulted President Bola Tinubu for not visiting Kebbi and Niger states to empathise with families of victims, noting that the President only directed the Minister of State for Defence to relocate to Kebbi.
He said, “A juxtaposition of the contingents sent to the US Congress and the G-20 meeting with Matawalle’s lone envoy exposes the levity with which the Presidency treats this matter. This reaction is most insensitive and dismissive of the gravity of the problem by the APC-led Federal Government.”
The opposition party reminded the Tinubu administration that safeguarding lives and property is its primary duty.
Ememobong said, “We again remind the President, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and the entire APC-led administration that the security of lives and property is the primary function of any government. At any time a government is unwilling, unable, or incapable of executing this primary role, such a government must either ask for help locally or internationally, or honourably resign, if it is sincere and responsible.”
