President Goodluck Jonathan has directed the Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to start a trust fund with N1.6bn for the Safe Schools Initiative.

The SSI came into being after the abduction of over 200 schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno State by   Boko Haram on April 14.

Okonjo-Iweala made this known to   State House correspondents after President Goodluck Jonathan met with a former United Kingdom Prime Minister, Gordon Brown; Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno and Governor Ibrahim Geidam of Yobe State on Tuesday.

The meeting which held behind closed doors discussed the efforts being made to make schools, especially in troubled parts of the country, safer for students.

The minister added that while the private sector would add N1.6 bn to the fund, Brown would raise some resources. The governors will also make commitments.

She said government’s intention was to ensure that school environments were safe for learning.

Okonjo-Iweala said, “We met with the President who has kicked off the Safe Schools initiative and Brown, a former UK Prime minister is here, the envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations bringing the wishes and support of the intentional community to back Mr. President’s initiative.

“We have got their excellencies the governors of Borno and Yobe states and we will be joined by the governor of Adamawa State tomorrow(today), who are going to be working with us to make the communities and the schools safe so that our children who are in these areas can come back to school.

“And Mr. President has kicked off this initiative by   instructing that I open a trust fund which we have already put N1.6bn. The private sector is also putting N1.6bn.

“His Excellency, Gordon Brown, is going to be raising some resources and the governors are also putting in commitments. We are intent on trying to make sure that our children in the states have environments which they can come back to school and not have their education truncated.”

Brown said the international community would support Jonathan in his   efforts aimed at rescuing the kidnapped Chibok girls.

He added that the initiative was meant to make schools safer so that parents would easily release their children to learn.

Part of the efforts, he explained, was to rebuild the Chibok school where the girls were abducted.

Brown added, “Every child is special, precious and unique. I have come here with the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon giving me his support to do so;to send our sympathies and our solidarity and our support to the children of Chibok who have been crudely kidnapped and abducted and to give our support to the families of these girls and to the whole communities in Borno State.

“And I am here to say that we wish as an international community to do everything we can to back up the efforts of President Jonathan and the governors of the states to make sure these girls are returned to their families and at the same time to make sure that every parent feels that they can send their children to school knowing they will be safe in future.

“That is why we are launching the Safe Schools Initiative and that is why the President has decided to set up this fund that will allow the international community as well as local donors to contribute to making our schools in this country safer.

“This is a programme for the whole country, but it is starting in the states which have the greatest problem with terrorism over recent months. It is our determination as an international community to help the families feel secure about their boys and girls going to school with the hope that they will be safe.

“That is why we are looking at security for the schools and how we can help the governors and how we can help the Nigerian people with fortifications, telecommunications, guards, safety equipment that will enable people to feel more secured about the schools.

“We also want to help in the rebuilding of Chibok schools because we want parents of that area to be sure that when their girls are released, they can come home to a school that is rebuilt and safe.

“And we want to help in rebuilding the schools in other areas where schools have either been demolished or burnt down or vandalised. And we want over the long run to help Nigeria which is a great country with a great future and wonderful potential to enable it so that the 10.5 million boys and girls who don’t go to school today are able to go to school.

“And I can assure you that round Europe, Asia, America and Latin America, there is massive support for Nigeria in this hour of difficulty facing terrorism and also in its ambition to be such a great country with great educational standards.”

Geidam promised that the governors in the three states where the initiative will start from would give the necessary cooperation to ensure that the programme succeeded.

Shettima welcomed the development, saying terrorism boiled down to education, poverty and empowerment.

He said, “By the grace of God, we want to give you our commitment that we are going to pursue this thing with vigour, with all the resources human and materials in our disposal and please it will be completely devoid of politics.

“Times like this call for sobriety, maturity, for unity of purpose. At the appropriate time, we are going to play politics but this is not time for playing politics with the lives of people.”

Meanwhile, the Abia State Police Command has embarked on the deployment of its men and officers in churches, mosques, markets and other public places as part of proactive measures to forestall any security breach by insurgents.

The Public Relations Officer of the command, Mr. Geoffrey Ogbonna, told our correspondent in Umuahia, that   vulnerable points in the state had also been put under surveillance.

Ogbonna said police had commenced intensive sensitisation of members of the public to security consciousness .

He warned members of the sect to stay away from the state “ because any attempt by anybody to disturb public peace in   God’s Own State will be vigorously resisted.’’

Also on Tuesday, the state chapter of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria   declared emergency prayer and fasting by it members in the state to seek divine intervention against any attack by Boko Haram.

A statement signed by its Chairman, Rev. Theophilus Anyimpson, called on Christians to redouble efforts in prayers for an end to insurgency in the country.

In Owerri, the General Overseer, Living Faith Church Worldwide(a.k.a. Winners Chapel), Bishop David Oyedopo,   said that   Boko Haram activities were   beyond politics.

Oyedopo, who     visited Governor   Rochas Okorocha   in Owerri, therefore stressed the need for government at all levels to join in the fight against terrorism in the country.

Oyedepo’s visit to Okorocha came   on the heels of the discovery of two explosives at a branch of the Winners Chapel in Owerri on Sunday.