Female Students Back Tinubu, Shettima For 2027, Demand Stronger Girls’ Education

The Association of Nigerian Female Students (ANFS) has endorsed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima for a second time period in 2027, urging the federal authorities to strengthen insurance policies on women’ schooling, scholar welfare and ladies’s financial empowerment.

The affiliation introduced its place on the National Female Students Conference held on the Women Development Centre in Abuja, the place stakeholders mentioned academic entry, management growth, scholar welfare and financial alternatives for feminine college students.

Speaking on the convention, the National President of ANFS, Comrade Peter Attracta Precious, mentioned the endorsement was knowledgeable by authorities insurance policies and programmes that the affiliation believes might develop academic alternatives and enhance the welfare of feminine college students.

She mentioned the affiliation’s help was based mostly on its desire for continuity in insurance policies affecting schooling and ladies’s growth, whereas calling for improved implementation and accountability.

“Our support is therefore forward-looking. We want to see existing opportunities strengthened, implementation gaps addressed and more attention given to female students who remain vulnerable to educational and economic exclusion,” she mentioned.

The affiliation recognized the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) as a significant intervention able to serving to college students overcome monetary boundaries to greater schooling.

It famous that the scholar mortgage utility portal opened in May 2024, whereas disbursements started in February 2025. According to the affiliation, NELFUND’s printed influence dashboard had reported roughly 440,000 feminine beneficiaries.

ANFS mentioned the scheme might allow eligible college students from financially deprived backgrounds to pursue college schooling and different accepted tertiary programmes.

“When a young woman has the intellectual capacity to become a doctor, accountant, lawyer, engineer or technology professional, her family’s financial circumstances should not automatically determine whether she can pursue that dream,” the affiliation said.

It, nevertheless, known as for improved accessibility, well timed disbursement, transparency and monitoring to make sure that eligible feminine college students perceive the applying course of and the scheme’s phrases and circumstances.

The affiliation additionally acknowledged interventions by the First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, via the Renewed Hope Initiative, significantly programmes addressing menstrual hygiene and women’ faculty attendance.

It cited the Flow with Confidence initiative, launched in October 2025, which offered a one-year provide of sanitary pads to roughly 370,000 schoolgirls in rural communities.

It additionally referenced a federal authorities announcement in October 2026 on the distribution of two million packs of sanitary towels and studying supplies to ladies in public primary schooling colleges.

According to ANFS, menstrual poverty stays a barrier to ladies’ schooling, affecting attendance, confidence and participation in classroom actions.

“A girl should not have to miss classes because she cannot afford a basic menstrual hygiene product,” the affiliation mentioned, urging the federal government to make sure clear distribution, efficient monitoring and sustained entry to important hygiene merchandise.

ANFS additional highlighted different schooling programmes designed to help women whose education had been interrupted by poverty, early being pregnant, early marriage and social stigma.

It cited the Empower Girls Osun initiative and the renovation of the Alternative High School for Girls in Agboju, Lagos State, as interventions aimed toward widening entry to schooling.

The affiliation additionally recognised the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE), a World Bank-supported programme carried out in partnership with the Nigerian authorities to enhance women’ entry to secondary schooling, digital literacy and life expertise.

Although the programme predates the present administration, ANFS mentioned its continued implementation remained essential to efforts to enhance women’ academic outcomes.

It equally highlighted the Nigeria for Women Programme, together with an growth introduced in February 2026, as related to girls’s financial participation and the preparation of feminine college students for entrepreneurship and monetary independence.

The affiliation urged the federal government to strengthen programmes on digital literacy, science, know-how, engineering and arithmetic (STEM), vocational coaching, baby safety and financial empowerment.

It additionally listed improved scholar financing, high quality schooling, secure studying environments, safety towards gender-based violence, menstrual well being and better participation of feminine college students in policymaking amongst its priorities.

ANFS known as for stronger collaboration among the many Ministries of Education and Women Affairs, academic establishments, growth companions and scholar organisations, stressing that feminine college students ought to have a voice in selections affecting their welfare and academic development.

“Equality must not remain a slogan. It must be reflected in access to education, protection from harmful practices, opportunities for leadership and the ability of girls to pursue their ambitions,” the nationwide president added.

The affiliation maintained that its endorsement of the Tinubu-Shettima ticket wouldn’t diminish its duty to advocate for feminine college students, insisting that coverage continuity have to be accompanied by measurable progress and efforts to shut implementation gaps.

Earlier, the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, reaffirmed the Federal Government’s dedication to creating equal alternatives for feminine college students throughout the nation.

She mentioned President Tinubu had prioritised baby growth, baby safety and scholar welfare, figuring out the scholar mortgage scheme as one of many initiatives serving to college students from completely different backgrounds, together with orphans, entry greater schooling.

The minister urged feminine college students to pursue financial empowerment, pointing to alternatives in agriculture, cell companies, the fuel sector and on-line companies.

She additionally mentioned the federal government was strengthening the care financial system to make sure that unpaid care work carried out by girls was recognised and valued.

Sulaiman-Ibrahim disclosed that memoranda on menstrual hygiene, the care financial system and violence towards kids have been being offered to the Federal Executive Council.

The convention additionally featured the election of recent nationwide executives, with Comrade Okwuchukwu Joy rising because the affiliation’s new president.

ANFS mentioned the convention offered a platform to handle challenges confronting feminine college students, together with campus security, gender-based violence, faculty retention and entry to financial alternatives.

It additionally highlighted the launch of its journal as a way of amplifying feminine college students’ voices, showcasing their achievements and offering info on lecturers, mentorship, entrepreneurship and advocacy.

The affiliation known as on authorities businesses and different stakeholders to maintain collaboration with feminine college students’ organisations to make sure that no woman was left behind in Nigeria’s schooling system.

It mentioned funding in women’ schooling and ladies’s empowerment remained important to nationwide growth, reaffirming its tenet: “One Voice. One Movement. One Future.”