Friday, September 26, 2025 - The wife of the Sokoto state Governor, Hajiya Fatima Aliyu, on Thursday launched the disbursement of cash support to 41,821 female students under the ‘Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment’ project.
According to News Agency of Nigeria the disbursement was a
Conditional Cash Transfer programme aimed at advancing girl-child education in
Sokoto state through the support.
Aliyu said the initiative aimed to support the girls
financially, helping them overcome economic challenges and continue their
education without interruption.
“I am pleased to learn that the AGILE project is
significantly contributing to reducing the burden of out-of-school children in
our communities by increasing secondary school enrolment among adolescent girls
in Nigeria.
“It is on the strength of the impact of the project that
more states are benefiting from education support.”
“By educating girls, AGILE is helping to build a more just
and prosperous society,” Aliyu said.
She urged the beneficiaries and their families to ensure
judicious use of the funds through school attendance and concentration on
studies for the future.
In her remark, the National Coordinator of AGILE, Ms Fatima
Buba-Haruna, said the CCT programme was a vital AGILE strategy to boost
enrolment, retention, and transition of girls in public secondary schools.
Buba-Haruna expressed hope that the CCT initiative would
deliver long-term benefits and transform the lives of many girls.
“The success of AGILE also reaffirms the commitment of the
administration of President Bola Tinubu, under the Renewed Hope Agenda, to
focus on education as an essential pillar of development by providing
unhindered access to quality education for every Nigerian child.
” AGILE showcased empowerment of girls through education and
celebration of talents, creativity, and excellence of Nigerian children.
“The additional financing to other states is a testament to
the project’s impact and a bold step toward deepening its reach and
sustainability, ” she said.
Buba-Haruna highlighted that the expansion would enable the
project to reach more states, empower more girls, and expand the innovative
interventions that have already begun to reshape learning outcomes and social
inclusion for adolescent girls across the country.
Speaking also, the Programme Coordinator, Dr Mansur
Isa-Buhari, said under it, no fewer than 749 classes were renovated, 11,221
students’ desks provided, and 214 solar-power boreholes were also provided
across different schools.
Isa-Buhari said 1,652 toilet facilities were constructed,
4,480 trees planted in schools’ environments, and 11,325 adolescent girls
enrolled in the safe space activities.
According to him, no fewer than 97,446 teaching and learning
materials had been provided, while 2,240 School-Based Management Committee
members were trained on the roles and responsibilities under the project.
“Our mission is not just to get children into school, but to
ensure they learn, grow, and thrive in safe, inclusive, and stimulating
environments, ” he said.
Isa-Buhari commended Gov. Ahmad Aliyu for his support that
ensured the maximum success of the project and urged the parents to ensure
strict school attendance for their daughters.
He stressed that before the end of the project, about
200,000 girls were expected to be empowered across the state.
A cross-section of the parents praised the AGILE project,
describing it as a beacon of hope for the girls and encouraged full community
support for the programme.
On September 19, PUNCH Online reports that AGILE in Kogi
State distributed N40,000 Conditional Cash Transfer grants to schoolgirls.
This follows the earlier flag-off of the scheme by Governor
Usman Ododo on July 28, 2025.
The initiative is designed to enhance school enrolment,
retention, and transition for adolescent girls, thereby strengthening their
role in the state’s social and economic development.
At the exercise, the AGILE team issued preloaded ATM cards
to parents and guardians of beneficiaries.
He stressed that the disbursement was not a one-off, but a
follow-up activity towards the governor’s pledge that the AGILE-CCT initiative
would be sustained as a continuous intervention under the AGILE project.
Speaking at the event, the Kogi State Project Coordinator,
Mr Ahmed Oricha, commended the governor for fulfilling his promise to ensure
that ATM cards were distributed to all beneficiaries across the state.
“The project would provide a cash grant of N40,000 each to
13,359 adolescent girls in transition classes across the state, to dismantle
financial and socio-cultural barriers preventing girls from attending school,”
he said.
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