100,000 Pupils Get N20,000 Each Under N2bn Fund

The First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, on Monday announced a N2 billion Learners Retention Support Programme targeting 100,000 learners in its first phase, with each beneficiary expected to receive N20,000 to help overcome financial barriers to school attendance and retention. She made the declaration at the National Flag-off of the Distribution of Two Million Packs of Sanitary Towels and Back-to-school Learning Materials to Girls in Public Basic Education Schools, held at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja, to commemorate the International Day of the Girl Child 2026.

Tinubu said no Nigerian girl should be denied the chance to learn and fulfil her potential because of menstrual hygiene challenges or her family's inability to provide basic educational materials. "Keeping our girls in school requires us to recognise and address the challenges that affect their education, especially those in rural communities, who often miss school because they do not have access to sanitary products," she said. The initiative, Flow with Confidence 2.0, is being implemented by the Universal Basic Education Commission and builds on the first Flow with Confidence programme launched by the Renewed Hope Initiative on October 2, 2025, which supplied a year's worth of disposable sanitary pads to 370,000 schoolgirls in rural communities nationwide.

Tinubu welcomed UBEC's decision to take over and expand the programme, stating that distributing sanitary towels alongside learning materials would help girls return to school with confidence and dignity. She charged governors' wives, commissioners for education and chairmen of State Universal Basic Education Boards to ensure the materials reach the intended beneficiaries transparently and accountably, while urging traditional rulers, religious leaders and community stakeholders to challenge the stigma around menstruation and encourage families to support girls' education. "To our beloved girls across Nigeria, I encourage you to believe in your dreams, stay in school, work hard, and speak up when you need help," she said. "I want you to grow into confident and courageous women ready to contribute meaningfully to our nation. Nigeria is counting on you, and I believe in you."

The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, said the Federal Government was taking steps to make menstrual hygiene support a sustained part of its basic education interventions. He disclosed that UBEC would make provision for sanitary towels in its annual budgets, while the World Bank-supported Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment would sustain menstrual hygiene support throughout the life of the project. Alausa noted that the initial target of reaching 370,000 adolescent girls had been achieved, adding that the latest distribution would extend support to more girls across the country.

The Minister of State for Education, Prof Suwaiba Ahmad, said the initiative was a commitment to protecting the dignity of the girl child and creating a learning environment where menstruation would not interrupt education. UBEC Executive Secretary Aisha Garba said two million packs would be distributed alongside school bags, school shoes, exercise books, mathematical sets and writing materials to girls in public basic education schools across the states and the Federal Capital Territory. She disclosed that UBEC had built more than 4,000 classrooms in less than three years, distributed learning materials to over three million pupils and returned more than 700,000 out-of-school children to school.

The Chairman of the UBEC Governing Board, Tanko Al-Makura, said the intervention was also important in preventing girls from dropping out of school and becoming vulnerable to early marriage. "Child marriage and dropping out of school are two sides of the same coin," he said. "A girl rarely leaves school on the day she is married. She leaves weeks and months before, one missed day at a time, until there is nothing left to hold her." The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa'ad Abubakar, represented by the Emir of Argungu, Samaila Mera, said menstruation must never become a barrier to education, urging traditional rulers and community stakeholders to challenge misconceptions and harmful practices that deny children educational opportunities.

In a goodwill message, Education Lead at the British High Commission, Ian Attfield, said each additional year of schooling raised women's earnings by an average of 12 per cent, noting that UK-supported programmes had helped more than 1.5 million additional girls access schooling in northern Nigeria since 2012. He highlighted the $1.2 billion AGILE programme, which is expanding secondary school access for girls in 21 states and promoting empowerment and science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The ceremony also featured a stage play, Daughters of the Nation, which highlighted the challenges facing girls and the need to protect their rights, dignity and educational opportunities.