By Musa Ubandawaki, Sokoto

SOKOTO — The Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) Project has made significant progress in Sokoto State, completing 94 out of 161 planned activities for 2025, representing 53 per cent of its annual targets, officials have disclosed.

The State Project Coordinator, Dr. Mansur Buhari, revealed this during a media roundtable in Sokoto, highlighting the project’s growing impact on education infrastructure, enrolment, and social protection for adolescent girls. He was represented at the forum by the Assistant System Strengthening Manager, Malam Suleiman Musa.

Dr. Buhari said AGILE expended a total of ₦8.456 billion in Sokoto State within the period under review. The funds were deployed to strengthen learning environments, improve access to basic amenities, and encourage school retention among adolescent girls.

According to him, the project renovated 749 classrooms and constructed 214 solar-powered boreholes in 240 public secondary schools, addressing long-standing infrastructure and water challenges. AGILE also constructed 1,652 toilet units across the state’s 23 local government areas to improve hygiene, dignity, and safety for students, particularly girls.

The coordinator further disclosed that AGILE planted 4,480 trees in 224 schools as part of its climate-smart school initiative and supplied 11,221 desks to enhance classroom learning conditions.

On enrolment, Dr. Buhari said the project successfully enrolled 16,528 adolescent girls in 2025, close to the target of 17,000, marking a major boost to the state’s efforts to reduce out-of-school rates among girls. Additionally, 2,240 members of School-Based Management Committees (SBMCs) were trained on school environment management and social compliance to strengthen community ownership and accountability.

The project also distributed 97,446 teaching and learning materials to 240 secondary schools and reached 41,821 beneficiaries through its Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programme, which supports vulnerable households.

Dr. Buhari noted that while Sokoto has over 2,000 primary schools, it has fewer than 600 secondary schools. To address this gap, AGILE plans to establish 58 additional smart secondary schools to expand access and improve transition rates for girls.

Muhammad Mainasara, Monitoring and Evaluation Component Officer, said the project had achieved 53 per cent implementation of its 2025 work plan. He explained that 78 activities (43 per cent) were fully completed, 16 activities (10 per cent) were ongoing, one was delayed, and seven were rescheduled, bringing the total number of implemented activities to 94.

Hajiya Rabi Gwadabawa, a component lead, highlighted the strategic role of the media in promoting AGILE’s objectives. She said accurate reporting and public engagement help educate communities and counter misinformation that could undermine public trust.

On the Gender-Based Violence (GBV) component, Hajiya Rabi explained that AGILE adopts a safe-space approach to provide life-skills training for adolescent girls. Skills covered include communication, menstrual hygiene management, climate change awareness, reproductive health, nutrition, decision-making, and prevention of sexually transmitted infections — essential tools for empowering girls and securing their future.