In a passionate and critical intervention, Nobel Laureate Professor Wole Soyinka has sounded a powerful alarm over the nation’s escalating insecurity, focusing specifically on the continuous and deadly attacks targeting educational institutions across Nigeria. He has called on the Federal Government to take immediate, drastic steps to strengthen security around schools nationwide and, crucially, to integrate security awareness into the national curriculum.
Soyinka’s demands, made during a weekend visit to his alma mater, Government College, Ibadan, were a direct response to the recent wave of mass abductions, including the kidnapping of hundreds of students and teachers in Niger and Kebbi States.
The Nobel Laureate stressed that the frequency of attacks, which now plague schools, communities, and religious centers, has transformed learning environments into “zones of fear,” posing a direct threat to the nation’s long-term development.
“Nigeria is facing a crisis where insecurity threatens every aspect of our social life,” Soyinka said. “The situation has now reached a point where urgent and drastic measures are necessary to protect the lives of students and the larger society.”
He warned of the profound psychological impact of constant fear on young learners:
“Constant fear disrupts learning, weakens creativity, and undermines national development. Every child has the right to learn without fear, and safeguarding that right is fundamental to Nigeria’s development.”
Moving beyond physical protection, Professor Soyinka introduced a radical policy demand: the incorporation of security awareness and training into the educational curriculum from basic to tertiary levels. “We need policies that instill security consciousness in our citizens. Security should be treated with such seriousness that it becomes a discipline taught in schools,” he insisted.
He argued that this shift is necessary to prepare young people to identify threats, respond effectively to emergencies, and understand that security is a collaborative effort, not the sole responsibility of uniformed agencies. He proposed a framework that combines, theory and awareness, practical safety drills and Emergency Response Training (ERT).
Professor Soyinka’s critique is sharp and timely, but his suggestions underscore a painful gap: the failure of implementation.
Nigeria is a signatory to the Safe Schools Declaration (SSD) and, following the 2014 Chibok tragedy, the Federal Ministry of Education developed the National Policy on Safety, Security, and Violence-Free Schools. These policies already exist on paper, outlining steps for early warning systems, staff training, and community engagement.
TheLink News analysis suggests that the true failure lies not in the lack of good policies, but in three critical areas that must be addressed immediately, one is the “Safe Schools Initiative” has consistently suffered from inadequate funding at the state and local government levels, making physical security upgrades (fencing, communication equipment) impossible, especially in remote, vulnerable schools.
Secondly, Soyinka correctly argues that a centralized security approach is failing. Protecting schools requires community-level intelligence gathering and rapid-response units that know the terrain and have the trust of the local populace, particularly in states like Niger and Kaduna where threats emerge from forests and ungoverned spaces.
Thirdly, the constant, reactive closure of schools, a measure Amnesty International warns is collapsing education in the North, is a sign of government surrender. The government must move beyond issuing statements and demonstrate the political will to dedicate resources to proactive, on-site security measures.
Soyinka’s call to treat security as a subject taught in schools is visionary, recognizing that vigilance is now a fundamental life skill. However, for a student to absorb that lesson, the government must first guarantee they are safe enough to be in the classroom.
