TETFund and NSCDC Forge Alliance to Fortify Campus Security Amid Ongoing Threats

TETFund and NSCDC Forge Alliance to Fortify Campus Security Amid Ongoing Threats

By Adagher Tersoo 

In a significant move to address the persistent insecurity plaguing Nigeria’s educational institutions, the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) have initiated a strategic partnership to enhance security on university and college campuses nationwide. This collaboration comes in response to continued attacks on schools and the abduction of students, which have disrupted education and instilled fear across the country.

The NSCDC Commandant General, Prof. Ahmed Abubakar Audi, led a high-level delegation to TETFund’s headquarters in Abuja on Thursday, where they met with the Fund’s Executive Secretary, Arc. Sonny Echono, and his management team. The discussions centered on creating a robust framework for inter-agency cooperation, focusing on three key areas: training for private security guards on campuses, support for the NSCDC’s training institutions and research initiatives, and overall strengthening of security within educational environments.

According to Audi the persistent Threat Demands Collective Action Despite noting a recent reduction in attacks, Prof. Audi emphasized that the threat remains serious and requires a unified response. “The attacks have not remained unabated,” he stated, tracing the crisis from the peak incidents in the early 2000s to the infamous Chibok girls abduction and the subsequent launch of the Safe School Initiative.

Audi dismissed any notion that the NSCDC alone could single-handedly secure the nation’s vast educational landscape. Revealing staggering statistics from a corps survey, he highlighted the scale of the challenge: “We got data of over 81,000 schools… over 60,000 are porous, with no fencing and no security personnel.” With the NSCDC’s total strength at 63,000 officers, he argued that securing every school with even one officer was logistically impossible.

“That’s why we said it should be a whole-of-society approach,” Audi explained. This philosophy involves collaboration between all security agencies, school authorities, community leaders, traditional rulers, and critical stakeholders like TETFund and the National Universities Commission (NUC).

Core Areas of Collaboration

The proposed partnership will focus on tangible interventions:

1. Training and Capacity Building: A major initiative will be the standardized training of private security guards employed by tertiary institutions. This aims to professionalize campus security details and ensure they can effectively respond to threats.

2. Institutional Support for NSCDC: The Corps seeks TETFund’s assistance in upgrading its six training institutions, particularly the College of Security Management in Abeokuta. This upgrade is intended to ensure world-class career development for officers and enhance their operational effectiveness.

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3. Strengthening the Security-Education Nexus: Both agencies agree that security is a fundamental prerequisite for successful education. The collaboration will work to create a secure and congenial atmosphere where academic activities can thrive without the fear of banditry or abduction.

In his response, TETFund’s Executive Secretary, Arc. Sonny Echono, commended the NSCDC for its vital role in national security and affirmed the Fund’s readiness to support the Corps. “Security is a fundamental pillar for the success of any educational intervention,” Echono stated, underscoring the direct link between safety and academic achievement.

He confirmed that deliberations would quickly advance to a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) stage. The goal is to specify actionable areas of cooperation to “ensure that Nigerians and youth, particularly in various tertiary institutions, could feel safe and be assured to pursue their legitimate academic activities.”

Echono stressed  that the partnership between TETFund and the NSCDC marks a proactive step towards institutionalizing security within Nigeria’s tertiary education sector. By moving beyond reactive measures and establishing a structured framework for training, resource sharing, and community-inclusive strategy, the initiative seeks to build a more resilient defense for students and educators. As pockets of attacks continue to emerge, the success of this “whole-of-society” model could prove crucial in finally turning the tide against the targeting of Nigeria’s schools.