By Bishop Aturu.
The Kogi State House of Assembly has pledged full support for the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) Project, committing to legislative backing, policy formulation, and resource allocation to ensure the project’s success in the state.
The commitment was made during an advocacy visit led by the Project Coordinator, Dr. Abdulhakeem Bello, alongside AGILE officials, to the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Aliyu Umar Yusuf, and other lawmakers at the Assembly Complex in Lokoja. The visit aimed to strengthen collaboration and seek legislative interventions that will promote and sustain adolescent girls’ education in the state.
Speaking during the visit, Dr. Bello emphasized the significance of AGILE, a World Bank-supported initiative implemented by the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Education, which seeks to improve secondary education opportunities for adolescent girls in 18 participating states, including Kogi State.
“Our goal is to eliminate the barriers preventing girls from completing secondary education by addressing critical challenges such as inadequate infrastructure, economic hardships, and socio-cultural constraints,” he stated.
Dr. Bello outlined key components of the project, including the construction and rehabilitation of classrooms to create safe and inclusive learning spaces, scholarship programs and financial incentives for girls from low-income households, life skills, digital literacy, and vocational training to empower adolescent girls, and community engagement and advocacy programs to change negative societal perceptions about girls’ education.
Responding to the advocacy call, the Speaker of the Kogi State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Aliyu Umar Yusuf, commended AGILE’s mission, emphasizing that investing in girls’ education is key to the state’s socio-economic development.
“We recognize the transformative impact of educating the girl child. This Assembly is fully committed to providing legislative backing to policies that will ensure the success of AGILE in Kogi State,” the Speaker stated.
Several members of the House expressed their willingness to champion bills and policies that will strengthen girls’ education, including a Safe Schools Bill to ensure security and a conducive learning environment for girls, scholarship and financial aid programs to support girls from disadvantaged backgrounds, legislation against gender-based violence to protect adolescent girls, and increased budgetary allocation for girls’ education and skill development.
The lawmakers also called for stronger multi-sectoral collaboration involving the government, private sector, civil society organizations, and community leaders to sustain AGILE’s objectives beyond the project’s timeline.
“We are not just pledging support; we will work closely with AGILE to ensure the institutionalization of policies that will keep girls in school, empower them, and break the cycle of poverty,” said one of the lawmakers.
Following the successful engagement, the AGILE Project team will work closely with the Assembly to develop an implementation framework for proposed policies, while also intensifying community sensitization efforts.
The advocacy visit marks a major milestone in ensuring long-term policy reforms that will secure the future of adolescent girls in Kogi State, positioning them as key drivers of sustainable development.
