Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has announced a ₦2 billion Learners Retention Support Programme aimed at helping 100,000 learners overcome financial challenges that could prevent them from attending or remaining in school.
Under the programme’s first phase, each beneficiary is expected to receive ₦20,000 to ease financial barriers to education and encourage school attendance.
Mrs Tinubu announced the initiative on Monday, October 12, 2026, during 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.
The event, held in Abuja, was organised to commemorate the 2026 International Day of the Girl Child.
The First Lady stressed that no Nigerian girl should lose the opportunity to acquire an education or fulfil her potential because of menstrual hygiene challenges or her family’s inability to afford essential school materials.
According to her, the intervention is designed to address obstacles that frequently disrupt girls’ education, particularly in rural communities where access to sanitary products remains a challenge.
The sanitary towel distribution is being implemented under the Flow with Confidence 2.0 initiative by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Education.
The programme builds on an earlier intervention launched by Mrs Tinubu’s 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.
Beyond sanitary towels, the latest intervention includes school bags, shoes, exercise books and other essential learning materials to support girls in public basic education schools across the country’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
The Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, said the government was working to make menstrual hygiene support a sustained part of its basic education interventions. He disclosed that UBEC would make annual budgetary provisions for sanitary towels, while the World Bank-supported Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) project would continue supporting menstrual hygiene interventions throughout its implementation.
Mrs Tinubu urged state first ladies, education commissioners, State Universal Basic Education Boards and community leaders to ensure that the materials reach the intended beneficiaries transparently.
She also called on parents, traditional rulers and religious leaders to challenge the stigma surrounding menstruation and encourage girls to remain in school.
The initiative forms part of broader efforts to improve school attendance, reduce the risk of school dropout and ensure that financial hardship and menstrual hygiene challenges do not prevent Nigerian girls from pursuing their educational ambitions.
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