Tinubu launches N2.5bn sanitary pad intervention for 370,000 girls
Oluremi Tinubu, Nigeria’s First Lady, on Thursday launched a menstrual health programme under the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI), pledging one-year sanitary pad support for 370,000 schoolgirls across rural communities.
The initiative, themed “Flow with Confidence,” was unveiled in Owerri, Imo State. The pads, valued at N2.5 billion, were locally produced by Uniglory Nigeria Ltd. to encourage domestic manufacturing.
Represented by Imo State First Lady, Mrs. Chioma Uzodinma, Mrs. Tinubu said it was unacceptable for girls to miss school because they could not afford sanitary products.
“The programme is critical because girls in rural areas miss school days every month because they cannot afford sanitary pads, leading to them falling behind or dropping out,” she said.
Each state and the FCT will receive 10,000 packs for distribution, with the First Lady stressing that the pads “are not to be sold under any circumstances.”
She called on local government chairmen to take ownership of the project and urged traditional and religious leaders to monitor distribution.
Tinubu linked menstrual health to academic success, adding that “the initiative believes that no girl should ever have to choose between her dignity and her education.”
The programme was launched simultaneously in eight states — Borno, Cross River, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Kebbi and Lagos — with other states set to follow.
Addressing beneficiaries, Tinubu urged them to stay in school, work hard and “never allow shame or stigma to take away their confidence.”
Earlier, Emily Akuabia-Nzeribe, a Consultant Obstetrician/Gynaecologist, lectured on “menstruation confidence,” noting that period poverty placed physical, social, psychological and economic burdens on young girls.
“The economic burden of period poverty occurs among many young girls, who cannot go to school because they do not have the appropriate menstrual product to use,” she said.
“This is the problem the Renewed Hope Initiative is trying to solve, and we must be grateful for that.”
