The Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke, has reaffirmed the Nigerian Air Force’s commitment to enhancing national education security through a strategic partnership with the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC). He gave the assurance on 1 December 2025 during a courtesy visit to the Executive Secretary of UBEC, Dr. Aisha Garba, in Abuja, where he described education as “the foundation upon which a safer and more secure Nigeria is built.”

Air Marshal Aneke noted that collaboration between security agencies and education stakeholders has become increasingly vital due to evolving threats targeting learning environments. He highlighted the Nigerian Air Force’s role in fostering secure, inclusive, and technology-driven education across its 33 schools—20 primary and 13 secondary—serving both military and civilian communities. “Our responsibility extends beyond protecting communities to nurturing the future of the Nigerian child,” he stated.

The CAS added that the NAF is already implementing initiatives to strengthen teacher development, improve digital literacy, and upgrade school facilities. However, deeper collaboration with UBEC, he said, would amplify these efforts, particularly in deploying modern safe-school technologies and learning systems. “A well-educated child today becomes a productive citizen tomorrow,” he emphasized, underscoring the long-term security benefits of safe and functional learning environments.

He outlined key priority areas for partnership, including interventions to expand NAF schools, collaborative teacher training programmes, integration into UBEC’s digital education platforms, and joint quality assurance measures. The CAS also welcomed enhanced cooperation under UBEC’s Safe School Programme to improve monitoring, accountability, and nationwide protection of basic education institutions, especially in conflict-prone regions.

Responding, Dr. Aisha Garba praised the Nigerian Air Force for its contributions to national development beyond its defence mandate. She expressed UBEC’s readiness to deepen strategic collaboration, noting that “no education system can thrive without safety, and no security framework is complete without education.” She endorsed the proposed partnership areas and reaffirmed UBEC’s commitment to sustained technical cooperation that enhances school safety, strengthens learning delivery, and builds resilience across Nigeria’s basic education system.

Through this engagement, the Nigerian Air Force reinforces its dedication to the national Safe School agenda and the broader Renewed Hope vision of ensuring every Nigerian child—whether in military or civilian communities—has access to quality education in a secure and supportive environment. Air Marshal Aneke stressed that partnerships of this nature are essential to building a safer, smarter, and more prosperous Nigeria, where security and education work together to shape the nation’s future.

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