• Groups urge investment as 7.6m Nigerian girls drop out of school

No fewer than 29 million children, 500,000 teachers in 65,000 public schools and 10,000 non-formal learning centres across Nigeria are targeted in the $552.18 million World Bank-funded Human Capital Opportunities for Prosperity and Equity (HOPE-EDU) programme, the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) said.

UBEC Executive Secretary, Dr Aisha Garba, disclosed this in Abuja during a two-day meeting with the chairmen of State Universal Basic Education Boards (SUBEBs) on the programme’s implementation readiness.

She said the programme also targets the construction of 13,000 new classrooms as part of efforts to improve learning outcomes, expand access to quality basic education and strengthen service delivery across the country.

Meanwhile, a group, the Ibironke Adeagbo Foundation (IA-Foundation), has called for urgent investment in girl child education, warning that poverty, child marriage and inadequate funding are undermining Nigeria’s economic potential.

The foundation said that about 7.6 million girls are among the 18.3 million out-of-school children at the basic education level, stressing that keeping girls out of school deprives the country of future skilled workers, economic opportunities and social progress.

Garba appealed to state governments for the political will and financial commitment required to achieve the programme’s objectives, saying that HOPE-EDU became effective on February 27, 2026, and has entered its implementation phase.

She explained that the federal government initiative, supported by the World Bank, adopts a results-based financing approach under which disbursements are linked to agreed targets and performance indicators.

According to her, $262.2 million has been allocated to improving education quality, $123.9 million to expanding access, and $133.6 million to strengthening key systems, with the first result area open to 33 states.

However, she warned that achieving the programme’s targets would depend largely on the commitment of state governors and other relevant authorities to providing the necessary policy direction and budgetary support.

Nevertheless, the founder of IA-Foundation, Ibironke Adeagbo, speaking at a webinar to commemorate the 2026 International Day of the Girl Child, urged stakeholders to make girls’ education a present priority rather than a future promise.

Adeagbo stressed that educating a girl benefits not only the individual but also her family and community, and called on Nigerians to examine how much they invest in such projects.

In her address during the webinar, an international education strategist and consultant, Bolaji Osime, argued that educating girls could delay child marriage, expand economic opportunities and strengthen Nigeria’s long-term development prospects.

Among other speakers, the founder of Stop the Abuse Against Women and Children Foundation, Toyin Taiwo-Ojo Ndidi, also called for stronger enforcement of the laws protecting girls against child marriage and other forms of abuse.

She attributed child marriage to poverty, inadequate education, social pressure and cultural attitudes that treat women as second-class citizens.