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Safe School Initiative: Security agencies collaborate to prevent attacks
Safe School Initiative: Security agencies collaborate to prevent attacks
The Nigerian security agencies have been commended for their role in the implementation of safe school initiatives and in reducing attacks on schools in the country.
Coordinating Consultant, Safe School Empowerment Project, Rtd. Maj.-Gen. Matthias Efeovbokhan gave the commendation in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja on Thursday.
Efeovbokhan said the Nigeria Army, Nigeria Police Force, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Federal Fire Service, Federal Road Safety Corps, and National Emergency Management Agency have been working together to ensure safety in schools.
He maintained that they have been working together in the best tradition of multi-stakeholder collaboration to provide updates on safe school preventive, precautionary and protective best practices.
He said the security agencies have been assisting to enhance the capacity of educational stakeholders toward the development and implementation of safe school best practices, protocols and measures.
According to him, stakeholders across the country are convinced that without the sustained collaborative effort of security agencies, attacks on schools and consequential casualties would have been worse.
“The focus of security agencies in this year’s consultative conference, scheduled to hold in Abuja from Sept. 10 to 12, is on lessons learned from recent attacks on educational institutions around the world.
“The annual confab is organized by Safe School Academy International as a component of the Safe School Empowerment Project launched in 2014.
“The confab is of strategic importance for educational institutions for good reasons.
“Various reports confirm that schools have become targets of choice for terrorists, insurgents, militants, kidnappers, cultists, robbers and other criminals and that the attacks are on the increase,” he said.
Efeovbokhan said a report released by UNICEF on Aug.21 verified that 396 schools were under attack in African and Middle East countries.
He added that in Nigeria, terrorists, kidnappers, bandits, and robbers continued to target schools.
Efeovbokhan said this year’s edition of the conference would feature the commencement of the nationwide distribution of Safe School Compliance Guide produced to assist parents, regulators, proprietors, and administrators of educational institutions.
He added that it would also help to objectively assess the level of protective, preventive, precautionary and mitigation best practices, protocol and measures against security risks, threats and vulnerabilities in their institutions.
Featured
Tax Reform Bill Passage: New Tax Laws, Better Nigeria
By Arabinrin Aderonke
Nigeria must work; this is the vision we have held onto for so long. When the news came that the Senate had passed all four tax reform bills, it was one of those moments you stop and ask yourself, is this really happening? For years, Nigeria’s tax system has been a source of frustration, something we all got used to criticizing. Truthfully, it was not just tax. From electricity to education to healthcare, we have long complained about the failure of government systems.
On top of that, Nigeria remained tied to the unstable global oil market, leaving us with unpredictable revenue and a shrinking ability to fund our future. That is exactly why we must keep believing in the idea of a new Nigeria. And this time, it is not just another round of promises, this is action.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu understood that to truly rebuild Nigeria, we needed a tax system that would create sustainable revenue, spread the burden fairly, and give every Nigerian, rich or poor, north or south, a reason to trust government again. That is what led to the introduction of the tax reform bills in 2024. It has taken months of serious policy work, consultation, and courage. Now, with the National Assembly passing all four bills, the Nigeria Tax Bill 2024, the Nigeria Tax Administration (Procedure) Bill 2024, the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Bill 2024, and the Joint Tax Board (Establishment) Bill 2024, we are seeing decisions that could finally loosen Nigeria’s dependence on oil and give states the resources they need to grow.
One of the features is the new VAT sharing formula. Under the proposed structure, 50 percent of Value Added Tax revenue will be shared equally among all states, 20 percent will be distributed based on population, and 30 percent will be distributed according to actual consumption. It is a formula designed to balance fairness with performance, giving each state a stake while also encouraging economic activity and good governance.
The Senate also made it known that the VAT rate will remain at 7.5 percent, resisting pressure to increase it. For Nigerians, that means no new burden added to goods and services. But more importantly, the bills approved also provided for the continued funding of development agencies such as the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA). These are the institutions that support learning, research, and innovation across the country, and their survival is necessary for the future of the Nigeria we all want.
Another part of the bill is the plan to turn the Federal Inland Revenue Service into the Nigeria Revenue Service (Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Bill). But this is not just a name change. It is a coordinated effort to build a system that supports states, strengthens local government revenue, and makes tax collection more transparent.
Dr. Zacch Adedeji, Executive Chairman of FIRS, has led the redesign of the agency and introduced many measures aimed at improving tax collection across the country, and even these Tax Reform Bills are one. If anyone has earned respect in this space, it is him. His work shows that reforms are possible when people in charge are ready to do better.
As it stands, all four tax reform bills have been passed, and these laws are now in place. This means Nigeria has completed what many consider the most needed tax reform in years.
The process now moves to the harmonization stage, where both the Senate and House of Representatives will come together to resolve any differences in their versions of the bills. Once they reach an agreement, the bills will be sent to the President for his final approval. After the President signs them into law, they will be published in the official gazette, making them official. From there, the Federal Inland Revenue Service, which will be renamed the Nigeria Revenue Service, will take the lead in implementation. With the capable Tax Boss, Dr. Zacch, we can be sure that the results will exceed expectations.
This is the Renewed Hope Nigerians have been waiting for. The changes are here, these reforms give us the chance to do things right!
Arabinrin Aderonke Atoyebi is the technical assistant on broadcast media to the executive chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service
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