The Federal Ministry of Education has established a full-fledged Safe Schools Department to provide strategic leadership, coordination and oversight of school safety programmes nationwide.

The Minister of Education, Maruf Tunji Alausa, disclosed this when he appeared before the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on the Safe Schools Initiative.

Alausa said that the new department would provide stronger institutional leadership and coordination for school safety programmes nationwide.

According to him, the department replaces the former Safe Schools Unit and would be responsible for strategic leadership, coordination and oversight of school safety initiatives across Nigeria.

He explained that the ministry would coordinate the Safe Schools Initiative through a unified national framework designed to improve implementation, accountability and monitoring across the country’s 774 local government areas.

He disclosed that the ministry is collaborating with the Office of the National Security Adviser, Department of State Services, Armed Forces, Nigeria Police Force, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and other relevant agencies to strengthen protection around schools.

The Education Minister, Tunji Alausa, has ordered the dismissal of any student found culpable of kidnapping in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.

Tunji Alausa, gave the directive during a meeting with the Governing Council of the Federal University of Lafia in Abuja.

He directed Vice Chancellors, Rectors and Provosts to strengthen internal intelligence and work closely with the DSS and other security agencies to safeguard campuses.

He said that the move is part of efforts to strengthen the Safe Schools Initiative, following recent isolated cases involving students outside campuses.

The Presidential Working Group on the proposed National Policing Bill has invited Nigerians to submit memoranda and policy proposals as part of efforts to establish a comprehensive legal and operational framework for state policing.

Chief of Staff to the President and Chairman of the Working Group, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, announced this on Monday after the Working Group’s meeting at the State House, Abuja.

The Working Group is reviewing the Police Act 2020, the Police Service Commission framework, police regulations, and other relevant laws to support the development of an effective, modern policing system.

The proposed framework will set national minimum standards, define state readiness and grant certification, clarify jurisdictional responsibilities, ensure independent oversight, uphold human rights, and guarantee sustainable funding. It would also spell out an orderly transition to a dual-policing structure.

The call for memoranda will run for two weeks, allowing citizens, professionals, civil society, security agencies, state and local governments, academics, and other stakeholders to contribute. Submissions will be reviewed and integrated into the draft bill, which will then be subject to further national consultation before being finalised and sent to the National Assembly.

The Working Group has adopted a seven-week work programme running from July 27 to September 14, 2026. The draft Executive Bill is scheduled for presentation to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on September 3, 2026, with national consultations to follow before the final approval.

The new National Policing Bill will set out requirements for recruitment, training, oversight, funding, and transition arrangements to ensure credible, effective, and accountable policing nationwide.

“A proposed State Police Service must demonstrate that it has credible arrangements for recruitment, vetting, training, pay, pensions, equipment, custody, complaints, discipline, data, firearms control, independent oversight and financial sustainability before it begins policing,” Gbajabiamila said.

The representative of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and Governor of Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun, who described State Police as a landmark reform, described the initiative as one of the defining reforms of President Tinubu’s administration.

Responding to concerns about federal overreach, he clarified that there is no Federal attempt to control State Police. He added that the proposed legislation is intended to provide an operational framework rather than centralise control.

Prince Lateef Fagbemi, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice,  said the proposed National Policing Bill is designed to guarantee the security of lives and property while ensuring that the establishment of state police does not become a tool for political persecution.

The Attorney-General added that states not immediately ready to establish their own police services would continue to benefit from the presence of the Federal Police until they meet the required standards.

Other participants at the meeting included the Inspector General of Police, Tunji Disu; President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Afam Osigwe; Chairman, Policy Advisory Committee, Justice Abdullahi Liman (rtd); Professor Olu Ogunsakin, Head, Nigeria Police Reform Secretariat; Senior Special Assistant to the President on Planning and Research, Nnadubem Moghalu; and Brigadier General Olutayo Muyiwa Adesuyi, representing the National Security Adviser.