Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has launched the “Flow with Confidence” menstrual health initiative in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to tackle period poverty and its impact on female education.
The programme, under the education framework of the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI), aims to distribute a one-year supply of disposable sanitary pads to 370,000 schoolgirls in rural communities across the nation.
Represented by the Mandate Secretary for the FCT Women Affairs Secretariat, Dr Adedayo Benjamins-Laniyi, Senator Tinubu declared that “no girl should have to miss school because of her inability to afford sanitary products.”
She emphasised the grim reality faced by many young Nigerians, maintaining that it is unacceptable for Nigerian girls to continue facing significant challenges during their menstrual cycle.
Senator Tinubu said some schoolgirls resort to using unsafe and unhygienic alternatives, while others stay at home altogether, “falling behind in their studies and, in some cases, eventually drop out of school. This trend must end, and this intervention is aimed at doing just that.”
The First Lady while detailing the scale of the project, announced that all 36 states and the FCT would receive 10,000 packs of sanitary pads each for distribution through State First Ladies and RHI Coordinators.
“For us at the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI), we believe that no girl should ever have to choose between her dignity and her education,” she said.
Senator Tinubu further revealed that the RHI spent a total of N2,550,297,150 to procure the customised pads from a local manufacturer, Uniglory Nigeria Limited in Ikorodu, Lagos State.
She strongly appealed to local government chairpersons to take ownership of the intervention and ensure that the pads get directly to deserving girls, warning that they are not to be sold under any circumstance.
The First Lady also urged the beneficiaries to stay in school, study hard, and never allow shame or stigma to take away their confidence, reminding them that they are the future of the nation.
The Etsu of Kwali, His Royal Highness Ayedo Luka Nizassan III, who presented the packs to some beneficiaries, praised the First Lady for taking concrete action.
He expanded the conversation on period poverty beyond students, sharing insights from his previous work with the Nigerian Correctional Service.
“The poverty is beyond the students. It also goes to adults. I am one of those persons who midwifed the development of the gender policy. You don’t take a female police officer out there. What if in the process she needs pads?” he said.
The Etsu said the initiative “should be incorporated into education policy. That girls should have access to sanitary pads. Is that it? Then action. We want action.”
Adding a security dimension to the discourse, the FCT Commandant of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Olushola Odumosu, stated that the initiative aligns with the broader renewal agenda.
“There are different layers of security apart from the provision of physical security, there is food security, there is education, there is health and that is what Her Excellency is doing today to ensure that your health, your well-being is guaranteed,” Odumosu said.
