Teaching Safety and security in Schools Will Enhance National Security-Alliance Hospital MD

The Managing Director, MD, Alliance Hospital, Dr Christopher Otabor, has said that training a teacher in safety and security is one of the most effective ways of securing the society.

He made the statement in Abuja on Thursday while receiving an Ambassador’s Award on Safety and Security for his lifetime contribution to the course of humanity.

Represented by Dr Ugochi Odu at the train the trainer event, organized by the Young Communicators Initiative, Dr Otabor, pointed out that the importance of involving teachers in the training of school children in safety and security cannot be over emphasized.

According to him, involving the teachers is reflective of the importance paid to safety and security issues, adding that one way or the other, the teacher is part of the life of every child and since there is practically a child in every home, teaching them safety and security lessons will go a long way in securing not just the home but also the nation. 

“Every home is made aware of security and safety through them. Every teacher is a link to a child who is a part of a home. Every teacher and every child is part of the society. So if you are training them on safety and security, you are saying that everyone in the society can have access to safety and security.

"The fact that getting teachers involved, getting them involved means that you are securing every household. That’s absolutely amazing,” he observed. 

Dr Otabor suggested that the scope of the security programme be extended such that it is held very often and taken to other areas to ensure that every child is given the opportunity to have vital safety and security information. According to him, stepping it up will ensure that every school child is, every now and then, reminded of the essence of security and safety particularly because children often tend to forget very easily.

“They should step it up. They should do more of it. We don’t have to wait for when there are critical issues. That’s why we recommended that there should be safety and security awareness in our schools. For instance, when it comes to CPR, the programme can be done once every year.

"But for children, it would require a lot of repetition. So you need to be able to repeat this training as often as possible. You can even do drills every assembly morning, for example, by asking who remembers how to do CPR, Ok, can we do a demonstration. There really shouldn’t be any difficulty to it,” he noted.

While expatiating on why the project became imperative, Founder/Lead Coordinator of The Young Communicators Initiative, Priscilla Chinenye Anaemena, explained that indeed, the project is intended to be taken round the country given its importance.

According to her, Nasarawa will be the next host after which her group will head to Maiduguri, the Borno state capital, just so that teachers in the state will have the opportunity to gather first hand information on how to marshal children under their care in matters relating to safety and security.

“We are not just ending here because it is a national project. However, we started with FCT, and in the next phase, we will be moving to Nasarawa.

"WE are taking it round, we are even going to Maiduguri as well. We are taking it round because teachers need to be aware , they need to know, be informed about safety and security,” she said. 

She also explained that the project became imperative given the need to go beyond the narrow scope into which education has been confined, enough to consider and create a foray into other important education components, including safety and security.

“The programme was borne out of the desire to redefine the educational sector. When it comes to teaching and teachers’ empowerment, we usually hear something like teaching methodology, classroom management and all sorts. But then the education sector is beyond academic pursuit.

"For instance, we have to look at the other issues like safety and security because we feel that it is not just security and safety experts that should learn these things. That is why we are bringing this initiative to empower teachers.”

She pointed out that her organization decided to use teachers as the project’s driving force given the important position they occupy in the life of not just the average school kid but also on the families the kids came from.

Teachers, she further explained, became the right pick for the train the trainer project because they are the backbone of the education sector.

“We are looking at teachers because if you look at the school system, it is the weakest link of the nation as well as the strongest nation. Now why do we say they are the strongest link?

"It is because every other profession is borne from the education sector. However, it is the most vulnerable because children are involved and a larger population of teachers are females. And you know, women are the most vulnerable in society. That is why when you hear of insecurity, you don’t hear of bandits going into corporate offices but to schools where they take the children. That is why we are looking at the weak link of the society in order to equip and empower them to become stronger than they already are."

A participant, Maryam Edet, told FreshNews that the project should not only be taken beyond the FCT to other parts of the country, it should also be made a media issue given the important role the fourth estate of the realm plays in relaying security and safety messages to the Nigerian public, Mrs Edet, a Special Need Educator, Windslock School, Life Camp, Abuja, expressed happiness over the fact that the training exposed her to safety and security information in ways she has never been. Among others, she said she is now aware that some of the steps she previously considered relevant to helping children in difficult safety situations are, in fact, inimical to their well being.

“Proudly, I happen to teach unique and special children. This training actually helps me as a person to be more connected to their weaknesses. It helps me to connect to what I have to do for them to be careful of what they do. A lot of times we miss out on the little tiny details and look out for the big things, we miss out on the naked wires, miss the oil spills. If something happens the first time, we don’t know what to do.

"Like we said here, we could pour water on a fainting child or shake a fainting child, we are actually aggravating the situation.

" Personally, I have learnt, in this short period, that safety has its Dos and Don'ts. I learnt that if you don’t know what you are doing, you could actually be creating harm to the person you are trying to help.

"When it comes to my field, special needs, I am now more particular and more careful, more aware that, having noticed what creates danger, I should create security procedures to avoid those things happening to them because they are dependent on, not on their minds as children.

“So I think that more of this training should be done not just here, maybe in the media, TV," she opined.