The First Lady of Nigeria, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has launched the distribution of 370,000 sanitary pads worth over ₦2.5 billion to schoolgirls in rural communities across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
The programme, under her Renewed Hope Initiative’s “Flow with Confidence”, seeks to tackle menstrual health challenges and curb period poverty among young girls.
The launch at Lagos House, Alausa, Ikeja, was simultaneously replicated in Borno, Cross River, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, and Kebbi, while other states are expected to commence distribution as supplies arrive.
Represented by the wife of the Lagos State Governor, Dr. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, the First Lady said no girl should miss school due to lack of sanitary pads.
She lamented that the high cost of pads, worsened by economic hardship, forces many girls to adopt unsafe alternatives, exposing them to infections, absenteeism, and in some cases, school dropouts.
Written by Dolapo Sonuga