Education Ministry restates commitment to adolescent Girls empowerment project

The Nigerian Government has pledged to intensify advocacy to remove community resistance to the Adolescent Girls Initiative and Learning Empowerment (AGILE) project, which aims to enhance girls’ socio-economic potential and overcome cultural changes.

The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Dr Nasiru Sani-Gwarzo stated this at the Implementation Mission of the AGILE project in Abuja, Nigeria

AGILE Project is a World Bank-assisted project of the Federal Ministry of Education targeting over 25 million beneficiaries and 15.2 million students, out of which are 8.6 million adolescent girls including out-of-school girls and those with disabilities.

Gwarzo said he would personally take the advocacy to communities in the implementing 18 states across the country to remove the resistance and backlash associated with the rejection of the projects.

”There are so many controversies surrounding the understanding of agile projects and I am willing to personally and officially support this project.

“The fight will be taken like the way I and others fought the rejection of Police vaccine in Nigeria, especially in the Kano state, nortwestern part of the country.”

According to him, the AGILE project focused on implementing a range of programmes that not only enhance educational opportunities but also address key socio-economic and cultural challenges, stressing to that these challenges have historically confronted girls’ access to quality education.

”Our approach includes infrastructure development, provision of WASH facilities and instructional materials, community engagement and awareness campaigns to foster a supportive environment for young girls. 

”We have also strived to strengthen the capacity of Schools Based Management Committees (SBMCs) equipping them with the resources required to sustain these initiatives and foster community ownership and sustainability

”This support mission presents a veritable opportunity for us to see the effectiveness of our efforts and to gain insights that will further refine and strengthen the AGILE project’s impact,” he said .

The 18 AGILE project implementing states includes Borno, Ekiti, Kebbi, Kaduna, Plateau, Katsina, Kano, Adamawa, Kogi, Nasarawa, Niger, Bauchi, Jigawa, Yobe, Kwara, Gombe, Sokoto and Zamfara.

The World Bank Country Director, Dr Ndiame Diop, commended Nigeria for investing in one of her greatest assets, which is the adolescent girls as it brings about economic benefits and transformation.

”It’s not just the right thing to do but it’s also the smart thing to do because it brings economic benefits. 

”One of the best ways to empower adolescent girls is through education and economic opportunities and that is exactly what AGILE is doing,” he said .

The National Coordinator of AGILE, Mrs Amina Buba-Haruna said the project which targets adolescent girls between ages 15-20 years through improved secondary education opportunities aims to create safe and accessible learning spaces, improve existing infrastructure in secondary schools and empower girls with critical life skills, among others.

She said that though the project was basically for girls but had never excluded boys as they had also benefitted from the project.

Representatives from the 18 implementing states attended the implementation support mission meeting.