18 Million + Out of School, thousands living in fear, the question is, has education become Nigeria's most dangerous dream?

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." — Nelson Mandela

"When schools are attacked, children lose far more than classrooms; they lose hope, stability and the future they deserve." — UNICEF

A nation that cannot guarantee the safety of its classrooms gradually loses the authority to speak confidently about its future. Unfortunately, Nigeria is approaching that uncomfortable reality.

Barely days ago, suspected terrorists stormed Government Day Secondary School, Lassa, in Borno State while students were writing the National Examination Council (NECO) examinations. Gunshots fired, silence turned chaos. Candidates who had prepared for months suddenly found themselves running for survival instead of answering questions.

Although joint security forces later rescued some of the victims through coordinated air and ground operations, several others remained unaccounted for as authorities continued rescue efforts.

It is another chapter in a story Nigerians know too well.

And perhaps that is the tragedy.

When Did Schools Become Battlefields?

Education was once regarded as neutral ground.

Today, schools have become strategic targets.

From the abduction of the Chibok girls in 2014 to the Kankara schoolboys in 2020, from Jangebe in Zamfara to Greenfield University in Kaduna, from Bethel Baptist High School to the recent attacks in Borno and the unresolved abduction in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, the pattern has become disturbingly familiar.

Gunmen no longer attack schools accidentally. Increasingly, they appear to target them deliberately. The question is no longer whether another school attack will happen.

It is where.

Eighteen Million + Children Already Outside the Classroom

Nigeria already carries one of the world's heaviest education burdens.

According to official estimates, about 18.3 million Nigerian children are out of school, roughly 10.2 million at the primary level and 8.1 million at the junior secondary level. The crisis is most severe across conflict-affected communities in the North-East and North-West, where poverty, displacement and insecurity reinforce one another.

Now imagine adding fear to poverty.

A child at home may lose an education, while a child in school may lose a life. When families begin choosing between literacy and survival, education has already entered a state of emergency.

Why Are Terrorists Targeting Schools?

Schools offer insurgents something no military base can; visibility.

Kidnapping students guarantees national headlines, attracts international attention and creates enormous psychological pressure on governments.

It also generates ransom opportunities, weakens public confidence in the state and disrupts communities without requiring sustained military confrontation.

Beyond economics lies ideology.

Extremist groups have historically viewed formal education as a threat to their worldview. The very name Boko Haram reflects hostility toward Western-style education, even though the movement's ideology extends beyond the literal translation.

Destroying schools is not only an attack on buildings, but an attack on ideas.

Why Are Schools Still So Vulnerable?

Nigeria has introduced several initiatives, including the Safe Schools Initiative after the Chibok abductions. Yet attacks continue with many schools remaining unfenced.

Security personnel are scarce.

Emergency communication systems are either weak or non-existent.

Rural schools often sit kilometres away from the nearest security formation.

Teachers receive little or no security training.

Communities are frequently left to organise their own protection through vigilante groups.

What Does This Mean for National Development?

The damage extends far beyond the children who are abducted.

Schools close.

Examinations are disrupted.

Teachers seek transfers.

Parents withdraw younger siblings.

Investors become reluctant to establish educational institutions in volatile areas.

Communities lose confidence.

A generation begins to associate learning with danger rather than opportunity.

The long-term economic implications are equally severe.

Research by global development institutions consistently links years of schooling with productivity, income growth and national development. Every child forced out of school represents not just a personal tragedy but a reduction in Nigeria's future human capital.

Security and education are therefore inseparable.

The Forgotten Victims

Much of the national conversation focuses rightly on rescue operations.

Less attention is given to what happens afterwards.

Children rescued from captivity often return carrying invisible wounds.

Many experience trauma, anxiety, interrupted learning and social isolation.

Teachers who witness attacks rarely receive structured psychological support.

Parents continue living with fear long after the headlines disappear.

Recovery is not completed when victims return home.

Recovery begins there.

What Must Change?

Protecting schools requires more than deploying soldiers after an attack.

It demands intelligence-led policing, stronger community surveillance, modern technology, rapid-response capabilities, secure school infrastructure and sustained investment in education.

Every school should have a realistic emergency response plan.

Every community should understand how to report suspicious activity.

Every state should treat school security as an educational priority, not merely a security responsibility.

Most importantly, governments must recognise that protecting schools is protecting national development itself.

The Future Is Sitting in the Classroom

A country does not lose its future in a single day.

It loses it gradually, one closed classroom, one frightened teacher and one abducted child at a time. The tragedy confronting Nigeria is not only that millions of children are already out of school.

It is that millions more now attend school wondering whether they will make it home.

Until the classroom becomes safer than the street, the promise of quality education will remain exactly that, a promise.

And no nation has ever developed by asking its children to risk their lives simply to learn.

Anuoluwapo Idowu