NACEN: Our Classrooms Must Serve As Laboratories Of Unity — Defence Minister

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…Calls for Partnership, Says Security

Agencies Can’t Succeed In Isolation

By Frederick Peters, KADUNA

NEWSDAILYNIGERIA — The Minister of Defence, General Christopher Gwabin Musa (Rtd), has declared that Nigerian schools must serve as laboratories of unity and peace to facilitate the country’s security and development.

​He maintained the need for religious organizations, educators, and communities to consistently promote the right narratives against divisive tendencies, while identifying quality education and moral instruction as the nation’s ultimate first line of defence.

​He also called for collaboration among the government, religious organizations, educators, and communities to mitigate insecurity, noting that Nigeria’s security agencies cannot succeed in isolation.

​He disclosed this in Kaduna as the special guest at the National Association of Christian Educators of Nigeria (NACEN) conference on Monday.

​Represented by Rev. Dr. Enoch Joshua Bitiyong, Chairman of the ECWA Kaduna South District Church Council (DCC), General Musa stressed that classrooms are vital institutional bulwarks against ignorance, extremism, and violent radicalisation.

​Addressing a gathering of educators, clergy, and scholars under the theme “Emerging Challenges and Pathways for National Development,” the defence chief maintained that sustainable security requires a proactive whole-of-society approach.

​General Musa noted that while kinetic military operations remain essential to confront terrorists and bandits, true national stability depends heavily on human capital development.

​He cautioned that a nation that builds physical infrastructure without prioritizing the character and competence of its people builds on fragile ground.

​While charging Christian educators to combine academic excellence with deep moral formation, the minister urged them to instill values of tolerance, patriotism, and respect for diversity.

​He emphasized that classrooms must serve as “laboratories of unity” where young Nigerians learn to reject ethnic chauvinism and religious bigotry.

​”Our schools should become laboratories of unity where Nigerian children learn to appreciate one another across ethnic, religious, and cultural boundaries.”

​Highlighting contemporary threats such as cybercrime, misinformation, and youth radicalisation, the minister stressed that uneducated and economically vulnerable young people easily fall prey to criminal networks.

​”A young population is an asset when properly educated, skilled, and productively engaged. But youth unemployment and hopelessness can create vulnerabilities that criminals and extremists exploit.”

​He stated, “We must strengthen partnerships between the government, religious institutions, educators, and communities. Security agencies cannot succeed in isolation.”

​”Teachers often know when a child is withdrawing from society, becoming radicalised, associating with dangerous groups, or experiencing circumstances that may make him or her vulnerable. Early intervention can save lives.”

​He called for school curricula that empower students to critically evaluate digital content and harness the Fourth Industrial Revolution responsibly.

​General Musa further called for sustained investments in teacher welfare, strengthened civic education, expanded youth empowerment schemes, and closer collaboration between security agencies and educational institutions.

​Reaffirming the commitment of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration to securing the nation, General Musa concluded that national development is a collective undertaking where teachers act as intellectual and moral protectors of the republic’s future.