The Federal Government on Friday
promised to contribute $10m to the Safe School Initiative Fund
initiated by the United Nation’s Special Envoy for Global Education,
Gordon Brown.
Brown initiated the fund following the abduction of schoolgirls from Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State.
The former British Prime Minister told journalists on the sidelines of the just-concluded World Economic Forum for Africa in Abuja that President Goodluck Jonathan announced the contribution during a meeting between the two of them.
He had recently teamed up with a coalition of Nigerian business leaders to inaugurate the initiative with an initial $10m as part of the ‘Bring Back Our Girls’ campaign and to further promote schools as safe spaces.
Brown said he was discussing with many global donor agencies and multinational organisations to also contribute to the Fund.
He said he came to assure Jonathan and Nigerians of the much needed support from the international business community in the efforts to find and rescue the kidnapped girls and to generally end insurgency in the country.
He said, “I was able to say that the international business community wishes to support an initiative of the Nigerian business community that there be safe schools, to help parents and teachers and girls who are going to school know and be reassured that their schools are safe.
“A Fund of $10m has been created immediately. The President has just told me that the government will support that Fund with another $10m.
“At the same time there is a request for international aid agencies that I have made to add to that Fund.
“We want to assure every girl that goes to school and every teacher that teaches that their school will be safer as a result of this action. And we want to support the Nigerian government in all their efforts.
“We also talked about the future of education and what we can do to help the Nigerian government achieve its great aim of getting every girl and boy to go to school.”
Brown initiated the fund following the abduction of schoolgirls from Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State.
The former British Prime Minister told journalists on the sidelines of the just-concluded World Economic Forum for Africa in Abuja that President Goodluck Jonathan announced the contribution during a meeting between the two of them.
He had recently teamed up with a coalition of Nigerian business leaders to inaugurate the initiative with an initial $10m as part of the ‘Bring Back Our Girls’ campaign and to further promote schools as safe spaces.
Brown said he was discussing with many global donor agencies and multinational organisations to also contribute to the Fund.
He said he came to assure Jonathan and Nigerians of the much needed support from the international business community in the efforts to find and rescue the kidnapped girls and to generally end insurgency in the country.
He said, “I was able to say that the international business community wishes to support an initiative of the Nigerian business community that there be safe schools, to help parents and teachers and girls who are going to school know and be reassured that their schools are safe.
“A Fund of $10m has been created immediately. The President has just told me that the government will support that Fund with another $10m.
“At the same time there is a request for international aid agencies that I have made to add to that Fund.
“We want to assure every girl that goes to school and every teacher that teaches that their school will be safer as a result of this action. And we want to support the Nigerian government in all their efforts.
“We also talked about the future of education and what we can do to help the Nigerian government achieve its great aim of getting every girl and boy to go to school.”
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