The Kogi State Government has inaugurated the State Project Steering Committee (SPSC) for full implementation of the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) programme in the state.
The state’s Commissioner for Education Science and Technology, Hon. Wemi Jones FCIB, inaugurated the committee in Lokoja, said AGILE was a Federal Government World Bank-sponsored project.
Jones said that the project would be using secondary schools as platforms to empower girls through education, life skills, health education, gender-based violence awareness and prevention, and digital literacy skills.
He explained that the World Bank had seen the success of the project in the initial seven states that kicked off the project, and thereafter recently approved 11 additional states which Kogi is part of the first six enlisted states to commence.
The commissioner commended Gov. Yahaya Bello for approving the project and making available all the needed requirements to make the project fully operational in the state.
According to Jones, if the project is well executed, the state stands a chance of being able to renovate public schools across the state, train young girls to be digitally sound, self-dependent through skills acquisition, and empowered through Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT).
He admonished the SPSC members to bring their wealth of experience to bear while ensuring that supervision and all necessary support are given to the State Project Implementing Unit (SPIU).
The commissioner urged the SPIU members to put in all efforts and expertise to ensure that the project succeed in the state.
Earlier, the Executive Chairman, Kogi State Science, Technical Education and Teaching Service Commission (STETSCOM), Mrs Cecilia Cook, commended the Governor for the approval of the project.
She commended the commissioner for the proactive measures taken so far in ensuring the success of the project.
Cook said the project would bring benefits especially to the Adolescent Girls across the state, and promised her agency’s support for the project.
Similarly, the Executive Chairman of State Universal Basic Education Board, (SUBEB), Abdullahi Ndalaye Suleiman, stressed that the project demand sacrifice from both the State Project Steering Committee and the State Project Implementing Unit.
He opined that the project should be driven with passion and desire to help change the narrative about girl child education, get those out of school back to school, and help create a safe and conducive environment for learning for both the girl and the male child.
Members of the committee into the SPSC are; the Commissioner for Education, Science, and Technology, Hon. Wemi Jones as Chairman; the Ministry’s Director of EPRS, Dr. Ahman Animoku as Secretary;
Other are: Permanent Secretaries of, Education ministry; Ministry of Finance, Budget and Economic Planning; Women Affairs; Youth and Sports Development; Information and Communication; and Health, Executive Chairman, STETCOM, and SUBEB.