The Executive Secretary, Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Dr. Aisha Garba, has announced the formal transfer of the LUMINAH 2030 Initiative from the Federal Ministry of Education to UBEC, stating that it is a timely and necessary step to ensure sustainability and long-term impact.
Speaking at the opening of a five-day programme on LUMINAH 2030-UBEC Migration and Establishment Agenda in Abuja on Tuesday, Garba said the initiative represents a bold national drive to educate and economically empower one million underserved Nigerian girls by 2030.
“Lumina illuminates the path to education and empowerment. It integrates schooling, skills training, caregiver support, and community engagement to address the root causes that have kept our girls out of school,” she said.
Represented by UBEC’s Deputy Executive Secretary, Technical, Razak Akinyemi, the UBEC boss commended the contributions of AGILE, the global support programme that has nurtured LUMINAH since its inception, and noted, however, that AGILE’s international framework has a limited lifespan.
According to her, embedding LUMINAH within UBEC ensures institutionalisation, alignment with Nigeria’s education priorities, and a lasting legacy.
“By institutionalising Lumina within UBEC, we ensure that it will not fade away, but endure. It is fully aligned with UBEC’s seven pillars in the 10-year roadmap (2021–2030) and the national education transformation agenda. Our expectations are clear: to deliver an inclusive, scalable, and data-driven model that reaches the most marginalised girls,” she said.
Garba outlined UBEC’s commitment to strong partnerships with state governments, civil society, the private sector, and local communities, while emphasising accountability and measurable impact through rigorous monitoring and evaluation.
She urged participants to treat the migration process as more than a formality, but as a transformational moment that must yield concrete actions.
“Every educator trained, every caregiver empowered, and every community mobilised is a victory for Nigeria,” she added.
Launched in March 2025 and assisted by the World Bank, the project is to educate and economically empower over one million underserved girls and women across Nigeria by 2030.
Other objectives of the project include providing vocational skills and financial support to female caregivers, establishing flexible and safe learning centres for girls, promoting gender-equitable education policies, and developing a scalable, data-driven model for national adoption.
The initiative is currently implemented in 12 states of the Federation, including Yobe and Taraba in the Northeast, as well as Kano and Jigawa in the Northwest.
Others are Benue and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, in the North Central, Ebonyi and Anambra in the South East as well as Bayelsa and Akwa Ibom States in the South-south.
Speaking earlier, the National Coordinator of the LUMINAH initiative, Amina Buba, described the transfer of the programme’s implementation structure as a “strategic step towards sustainability and impact.”
Buba said the transition was not just an administrative shift, but a deliberate move to strengthen the institutional framework needed to deliver on the initiative’s ambitious goal of educating and economically empowering at least one million underserved adolescent girls by 2030.
She recalled that since its inception, the Ministry of Education, under the leadership of the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Ahmed, had established strong governance structures, including a National Steering Committee chaired by the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, as well as sub-committees co-chaired by ministry directors.
“With this migration to UBEC, we are embracing a more specialised and flexible system that will deepen stakeholder collaboration, enhance resource mobilisation, and ultimately deliver measurable impact,” Buba noted.
She urged all stakeholders to “innovate boldly and work together” to ensure that the promises of Lumina 2030 translate into tangible improvements in the lives of Nigerian adolescent girls.
On its part, the implementing partners of the LUMINAH 2030 initiative, Neem Foundation, said the project’s commitment to creating learning that integrates education with financial literacy and market-driven skills resonates deeply with the foundation’s approach to education.
Represented by its Senior Programme Officer on Education, Minoe Duamwan, the Foundation noted that true learning can only thrive when education is combined with healing, resilience and empowerment.
