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Executive Chairman of the Benue State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Dr. Grace Adagba, has joined First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, and other education stakeholders at the national flag-off of the distribution of two million packs of sanitary towels and back-to-school materials to girls in public basic education schools across the country.
The initiative, tagged ‘Flow with Confidence 2.0: Keeping Every Girl in School,’ was launched at the State House Banquet Hall, Presidential Villa, Abuja, as part of activities marking the 2026 International Day of the Girl Child.
The programme, organised by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Education, is aimed at tackling menstrual hygiene challenges and other barriers that keep girls, particularly those from poor and disadvantaged backgrounds, away from school.
Tinubu, who performed the flag-off, said no girl should be forced to miss school because she could not afford sanitary towels or other basic educational materials.
Under the programme, girls in public basic education schools across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory will receive sanitary towels as well as school bags, shoes, exercise books, mathematics textbooks and other writing materials.
The First Lady also announced a N2 billion learners’ retention support programme expected to benefit 100,000 learners in its first phase, with each beneficiary receiving N20,000.
Speaking at the ceremony, UBEC Executive Secretary, Dr. Aisha Garba, said the intervention was designed to remove practical obstacles militating against the education of the girl child.
“Our message is clear: no girl child should have to choose between her dignity and her education,” she said.
Garba said UBEC would continue to work with the Federal Ministry of Education, state governments, SUBEBs and development partners to improve school infrastructure, provide learning resources and implement programmes capable of increasing enrolment, attendance and retention.
Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, described the intervention as an investment in the dignity, welfare and educational future of Nigerian girls, assuring that efforts were being made to institutionalise the programme through UBEC and the World Bank-supported Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment.
Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Sa’id Ahmad, also stressed the importance of removing menstrual health and other socio-economic barriers capable of disrupting girls’ education.
Other dignitaries at the ceremony included Chairman of the UBEC Governing Board, Senator Umaru Tanko Al-Makura; Education Lead at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Ian Attfield; representatives of education agencies and other stakeholders.
Adagba’s participation in the national programme reinforces Benue SUBEB’s continuing advocacy for menstrual hygiene and support for the girl child.
In May 2024, the board organised a menstrual hygiene advocacy campaign in Makurdi for 100 girls drawn from 10 basic education schools and distributed menstrual kits to the participants.
At the programme, Adagba had called on education stakeholders “to ensure that every girl child has the needed support to manage menstrual health hygiene,” stressing the collective responsibility to help girls overcome the stigma associated with menstruation.
