No Girl Should Miss School Because She Can’t Afford Sanitary Pads — First Lady

First Lady Oluremi Tinubu has 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.

She stated this on Monday in Abuja while flagging off the distribution of two million packs of sanitary towels and back-to-school learning materials to girls in public basic education schools across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The initiative, known as Flow with Confidence 2.0, is being implemented by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) to commemorate the 2026 International Day of the Girl Child.

According to a statement from her media aide, Busola Kukoyi, Mrs Tinubu said the intervention was designed to remove barriers preventing girls, particularly those in rural communities, from attending school during menstruation.

“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 First Lady also announced a N2 billion Learners Retention Support Programme targeting 100,000 learners in its first phase.

Under the programme, each beneficiary is expected to receive ₦20,000 to help address financial barriers to school attendance and retention.

She explained that the initiative builds on the first Flow with Confidence programme launched by her Renewed Hope Initiative on 2 October 2025, which provided a one-year supply of disposable sanitary pads to 370,000 schoolgirls in rural communities nationwide.

Mrs Tinubu welcomed the Federal Ministry of Education’s decision, through UBEC, to take over and expand the programme, saying the distribution of sanitary towels alongside learning materials would help girls return to school with confidence and dignity.

She charged state first ladies, commissioners for education and chairmen of State Universal Basic Education Boards to ensure that the materials reach the intended beneficiaries transparently and accountably.

The First Lady also urged traditional rulers, religious leaders and community stakeholders to challenge the stigma surrounding menstruation and encourage families to support girls’ education.

Addressing the girls, she urged them to remain focused on their aspirations despite the challenges they might face.

“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,” 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 component of its 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 a year ago.

He disclosed that UBEC would make provisions for sanitary towels in its annual budgets, while AGILE would sustain menstrual hygiene support throughout the project’s life.

“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 under the first phase had been achieved, while the latest distribution would extend support to more girls across the country.

The Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Sa’id Ahmad, said the initiative demonstrated the government’s commitment to protecting the dignity of the girl child and ensuring that menstruation did not interrupt education.

She urged girls not to allow challenges to diminish their aspirations, assuring them that the government was committed to providing the support and opportunities they needed to succeed.

In her address, UBEC Executive Secretary, Aisha Garba, said a girl’s ambitions should not be limited by circumstances that could be addressed through practical interventions.

She illustrated the challenge with the example of a rural schoolgirl who dreams of becoming a teacher, doctor, engineer or lawyer but cannot attend school because her family cannot afford sanitary towels.

“Sometimes, the key that unlocks that remarkable future is something as simple as a sanitary towel,” she said.

Garba disclosed that the two million packs of sanitary towels 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 FCT.

She also said 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.

He noted that girls from poor households were often the first to lose access to education when families faced 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,” he said.

The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, represented by the Emir of Argungu, said menstruation must never become a barrier to education.

He urged traditional rulers, religious leaders, parents, teachers and community stakeholders to challenge misconceptions and harmful practices that deny children educational opportunities.

In a goodwill message, Ian Attfield, Education Lead at the British High Commission, said investment in girls’ education had economic and social benefits.

He noted that each additional year of schooling increased women’s earnings by an average of 12 per cent.

Attfield disclosed that UK-supported programmes had helped more than 1.5 million additional girls access schooling in northern Nigeria since 2012.

He also called for sustained action against child marriage, improved access to education and health services, and stronger safeguards against gender-based violence and abuse.

The ceremony featured a stage play titled Daughters of the Nation, highlighting the nation’s history and the contributions of prominent Nigerian women to nation-building.