NIGERIA, Dec. 3 -- In the wake of renewed mass abductions of schoolchildren across Nigeria's northern precincts, the governors of states within these high-risk zones have responded, not really with decisive protection measures, but with buck-passing, blame games, or outright closure of all schools under their jurisdiction.

This response, far from being protective, sends alarming signals about the future of education for young people in the North. There is no rational justification for closing schools; it is synonymous with capitulation. Yet, there are best practices everywhere to draw inferences from. It is not only an admission of failure; it amounts to a surrender to terrorist propaganda and to the malevolent ambitions of criminal grou...