By Yekini Lukmon, YKL
07065313924
Nigeria's changing security landscape and environmental realities demand a fundamental rethink of what children learn in school. Beyond academic excellence, education should prepare young people for life, equipping them with practical skills that can protect them in times of danger. Integrating combat and survival sports into the national curriculum is one bold reform that deserves urgent attention.
Nigeria is blessed with diverse geographical features, but it is also confronted by recurring environmental disasters such as flooding and a worsening security crisis marked by armed banditry, terrorism, kidnapping, rape, and other forms of gender-based violence. These realities underscore the need to equip children and adolescents with practical survival skills, physical fitness, and a culture of personal safety from an early age.
For years, experts have advocated the inclusion of martial arts and survival training in schools. Disciplines such as Karate, Taekwondo, and Judo, alongside survival skills like swimming, basic driving, first aid, navigation, and emergency response, can significantly improve students' confidence, situational awareness, discipline, and ability to protect themselves during emergencies. While these skills cannot eliminate the country's security challenges, they can give young Nigerians a fighting chance when confronted with danger.
Many Asian countries have long integrated martial arts into their educational systems. Studies have consistently linked martial arts training with improved academic performance, stronger self-discipline, greater self-confidence, enhanced emotional control, and better respect for others. Nigeria should learn from these successful models instead of paying lip service to youth development and school sports.
Introducing combat and survival sports into schools requires deliberate government commitment. Qualified instructors must be recruited and trained, while modern facilities and equipment should be provided through partnerships between government, the private sector, and corporate organisations. Such an investment would not only improve safety but also contribute to national development by producing healthier, more disciplined, and more resilient citizens.
Physical Education should no longer be treated merely as a recreational subject. It should evolve into a comprehensive life-skills programme that prepares students to respond effectively to emergencies and unexpected situations. Children exposed to these activities from primary school will develop resilience, mental toughness, crisis-management skills, teamwork, leadership, and environmental adaptability that will serve them throughout adulthood.
The experience of other countries provides useful lessons. In England, swimming is a compulsory component of the primary school curriculum. By the end of Key Stage 2, pupils are expected to swim at least 25 metres unaided and demonstrate basic self-rescue skills. Although swimming ceases to be compulsory in secondary school, every child leaves primary education with a life-saving skill.
Nigeria, despite recognising Physical Education in the National Policy on Education, has failed to give school sports the attention they deserve. Years of neglect and underfunding have left many public schools without functional sports facilities, while playgrounds have been converted into classrooms. This decline has weakened grassroots sports development and denied millions of children opportunities to acquire essential physical and survival skills.
In this regard, the Lagos State Sports Trust Fund (LSSTF) deserves commendation for its unwavering commitment to the development of grassroots sports and the expansion of sporting infrastructure across the state's public schools.
Through the consistent provision and distribution of sports equipment to public primary and secondary schools, the agency has continued to strengthen school sports and create opportunities for young athletes to discover and develop their talents. In one of its most significant interventions, the LSSTF supplied sporting equipment and kits to more than 1,000 public primary and secondary schools across Lagos State, reaffirming its commitment to nurturing future champions.
The distributed equipment covers a wide range of sporting activities. For athletics and ball games, schools received footballs, basketballs, volleyballs, running vests, athletic trousers, and spike shoes. Indoor and board games were equally supported with table tennis boards, chess sets with clocks, Scrabble boards with dictionaries, Ludo, and the indigenous Ayo Olopon game. To enhance safety during sporting activities, the agency also provided fully equipped first-aid boxes containing essential medical supplies.
Beyond equipment distribution, the LSSTF has continued to invest in modern sporting infrastructure. A notable example is the reconstruction of the Olympic-size swimming pool and the warm-up pool at the Rowe Park Sports Centre, Yaba.
Such initiatives should be replicated across the federation.
Considering the increasing incidents of flooding in many parts of Nigeria, swimming should become a compulsory life skill. Water safety education can save countless lives. Likewise, basic self-defence, emergency response, and survival training will help young people remain calm under pressure, make sound decisions in crises, and respond effectively when confronted with danger.
The purpose of education is not merely to prepare students for examinations but to prepare them for life. As Nigeria grapples with evolving security threats and environmental challenges, the time has come to redefine Physical Education. Combat and survival sports should become an integral part of our school curriculum, not as a luxury, but as a necessity. The lives, safety, and resilience of future generations may well depend on it.
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