N113.75bn ALLOCATED BY FG FOR FEMALE CHILDREN EDUCATION.

Dr Precious Gbeneol, the Senior Assistant to the President on
Millennium Development Goals, on Tuesday said the Federal
Government had released N113.75bn for girl child education
programmes.
Gbeneol announced this in Abuja at the launching of three million
free exercise books, distributed to pupils across the 36 states of
the federation and the FCT.
“The MDG has initiated programmes to help Nigeria achieve
Universal Basic Education with focus on the issues of quality,
capacity, access and relevance.
“The MDGs made available over N113.75bn of debt relief to the
Federal Ministry of Education from 2006 to date, to implement
various programmes.
“The programmes include the girl child education, National
Programme on Almajiri, support to the National Teachers Institute
and support to UBEC for the Federal Teachers Scheme.’’
She noted that N26.1bn was invested in 261 local government
areas, with the execution of more than 15,000 high impact
projects.
She also said that the projects were in the area of education,
income generation, agriculture, health, water and sanitation
sectors.
According to her, there has been a successful execution of 12,342
water and sanitation projects nationwide, with the construction,
renovation and equipping of 5,206 health facilities.
Gbeneol said about 68,430 health workers were trained to provide
the much-needed skilled health services at the grassroots.
She said that funding was also provided to 1,704 beneficiaries to
aid start-up of agriculture enterprises.
Gbeneol noted that the launching of the books was another step to
attain the one of the mandatory targets of the MDGs on universal
primary education.
“I am convinced that the free exercise books, when distributed, will
further ease the burden of the benefiting poor families.
“It will also stimulate the interest of the pupils themselves to
embrace education and quit street life.
She said that the MDGs office was making efforts to ensure that
children, both boys and girls, would be able to complete a full
course of primary education by 2015.
The Executive Secretary of UBEC, Alhaji Dikko Suleiman, said the
launch was evidence of the commitment of the Federal Government
to the realisation of the MDGs.
Suleiman, who was represented by Mr Pius Osagie, UBEC Deputy
Director, Academic, said the efforts would complement those of
UBEC and improve standard of education in the country.
Alhaji Wada Waziri, Chairman of State Universal Basic Education,
who spoke on behalf of other chairmen of SUBEB, said that the
books would help UBEC to achieve its mandates.
Waziri said that the MDGs commitment would improve the lives of
the poor and vulnerable while breaking the generational cycle of
poverty.
Miss Olubukola Adewale, a 13 year-old student of Garki
Government Junior Secondary School, FCT, one of the
beneficiaries, expressed appreciation to God for making her one of
the beneficiaries.