Education Is Pillar of National Security, Say Education Minister, NCTC Boss

In a powerful affirmation of the critical link between education and national security, Nigeria’s Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, and the National Coordinator of the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), Major General Adamu Garba Laka, have jointly declared that education is a cornerstone of the country’s security architecture.

This consensus was reached during a high-level strategic meeting held at the Federal Ministry of Education in Abuja on Wednesday, where General Laka led a delegation of senior NCTC officials on a courtesy visit to the Minister.

Both leaders emphasized that Nigeria’s fight against terrorism and violent extremism must go beyond military operations to include robust collaboration with the education sector—one that empowers young people, instills national values, and builds resilience against extremist ideologies.

Dr Alausa commended the NCTC and other security agencies for their coordinated efforts in improving school safety, noting that under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, the country has recorded zero incidents of school kidnappings—a marked improvement from previous years of insecurity that plagued educational institutions.

“The safety of our schools is non-negotiable,” Dr Alausa said. “What we’ve seen in recent months is a strong commitment from our security agencies, especially the NCTC, to ensure that schools remain safe havens for learning. We must not relent. We must sustain this momentum.”

In his remarks, Major General Laka praised the Education Minister’s bold and reform-driven leadership, citing key initiatives such as the National Education Renewal Agenda, School-Based Management and Teacher Development Programmes, and the Anti-Bullying Policy as strategic enablers of national stability.

“These reforms are not just educational—they are strategic national security assets,” General Laka noted. “Education plays a vital role in countering the ideologies that fuel terrorism. It equips young minds with critical thinking, moral clarity, and national consciousness.”

He further expressed NCTC’s readiness to deepen its collaboration with the Ministry of Education through capacity building, specialized training, and joint initiatives, including seminars, teacher sensitization, and curriculum development aligned with counter-extremism goals.

General Laka also revealed that following President Tinubu’s recent designation of the NCTC as a Regional Centre of Excellence for Counter Terrorism in West Africa and the Sahel, education will feature prominently in the Centre’s non-kinetic strategies to prevent radicalisation and violence.

As a concrete step toward strengthening the partnership, the meeting concluded with the formation of a joint working group tasked with identifying and recommending strategic areas of collaboration aimed at securing schools and fostering national resilience through education.

Both leaders reaffirmed their shared commitment to advancing a holistic and preventive approach to national security—one that sees education not just as a right, but as a powerful tool for peace, unity, and long-term stability.

The meeting signals a renewed inter-agency cooperation and a growing recognition that the battle against insecurity cannot be won on the battlefield alone—it must be won in the classroom, in communities, and in the minds of the next generation.