Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has announced a ₦2bn Learners Retention Support Programme targeting 100,000 pupils in its first phase, with each beneficiary expected to receive ₦20,000 to help address financial barriers to school attendance and retention.
She made the announcement on Monday 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 across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
The event, held at the State House Conference Centre in Abuja, was organised to commemorate the 2026 International Day of the Girl Child.
Tinubu said no Nigerian girl should be denied the opportunity to learn and fulfil her potential because of menstrual hygiene challenges or her family’s inability to afford 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, known as Flow with Confidence 2.0, is being implemented by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) to improve school attendance and retention among girls.
Programme Builds on Earlier Intervention
The First Lady said the initiative builds on the original Flow with Confidence programme launched by her Renewed Hope Initiative on October 2, 2025, which provided a year’s supply of disposable sanitary pads to 370,000 schoolgirls in rural communities nationwide.
She welcomed UBEC’s decision to take over and expand the programme, noting that the distribution of sanitary towels alongside learning materials would help girls attend school with greater confidence and dignity.
Tinubu urged state First Ladies, commissioners for education and chairmen of State Universal Basic Education Boards to ensure the materials reach their intended beneficiaries transparently and accountably.
She also called on traditional rulers, religious leaders and community stakeholders to challenge the stigma surrounding menstruation and encourage families to prioritise girls’ education.
Addressing the beneficiaries, she urged them to remain committed to their education and ambitions.
“To our beloved girls across Nigeria, I encourage you to believe in your dreams, stay in school, work hard, speak up when you need help. 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,” she said.
FG Moves to Institutionalise Menstrual Hygiene Support
The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, said the Federal Government was working to make menstrual hygiene support a sustained component of basic education interventions.
Alausa recalled pledging to institutionalise the programme through UBEC and the World Bank-supported Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) when the First Lady launched the first phase in 2025.
He said UBEC would make provisions for sanitary towels in its annual budgets, while AGILE would sustain menstrual hygiene support throughout the project’s lifespan.
“Today, we are translating that pledge into practical action. UBEC will make provision within its annual budgets to support the supply of sanitary towels to girls in public basic education schools,” he said.
The minister added that the initial target of reaching 370,000 adolescent girls had been achieved and that the latest distribution would extend support to more beneficiaries nationwide.
The Minister of State for Education, Professor Suwaiba Ahmad, described the initiative as a commitment to protecting the dignity of the girl child and ensuring that menstruation does not interrupt education. She urged girls to remain focused on their aspirations and assured them of the government’s commitment to supporting their progress.
UBEC Lists Additional Learning Materials
UBEC Executive Secretary Aisha Garba said the two million packs of sanitary towels would be distributed alongside school bags, shoes, exercise books, mathematical sets and writing materials to girls in public basic education schools across the country.
Garba said practical interventions could help prevent circumstances that force girls to abandon their education, particularly in rural communities where families struggle to afford basic necessities.
“Sometimes, the key that unlocks that remarkable future is something as simple as a sanitary towel,” she said, describing the challenges facing a rural schoolgirl who aspires to become a teacher, doctor, engineer or lawyer but cannot attend school because her family cannot afford sanitary products.
She also reported 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.
Stakeholders Warn Against School Dropouts and Child Marriage
The Chairman of the UBEC Governing Board, Tanko Al-Makura, said the intervention could help prevent girls from dropping out of school and becoming more vulnerable to early marriage.
He noted that girls from low-income households are often the first to lose access to education when families face financial difficulties.
“Child marriage and dropping out of school are two sides of the same coin. 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,” Al-Makura said.
He pledged the board’s support for monitoring the distribution to ensure the materials reach the intended beneficiaries.
The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, represented by the Emir of Argungu, Samaila Mera, also stressed that menstruation must never become a barrier to education.
He urged traditional and religious leaders, parents, teachers and community stakeholders to challenge misconceptions and harmful practices that deny children educational opportunities. He further called for transparent and equitable distribution of the materials to deliver lasting improvements in girls’ school attendance and retention.
UK Highlights Economic Benefits of Girls’ Education
In a goodwill message, Education Lead at the British High Commission, Ian Attfield, said investment in girls’ education produces significant economic and social benefits.
He noted that each additional year of schooling increases women’s earnings by an average of 12 per cent.
Attfield said UK-supported programmes had helped more than 1.5 million additional girls access education in northern Nigeria since 2012. He called for sustained efforts to combat child marriage, improve access to education and health services, and strengthen safeguards against gender-based violence and abuse.
He also highlighted the $1.2bn AGILE programme, which is expanding access to secondary education for girls in 21 states while promoting empowerment and science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
The ceremony concluded with a stage play titled Daughters of the Nation, which highlighted the challenges facing girls and the need to protect their rights, dignity and access to education.
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