From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
National Project Coordinating Unit (NPCU) of the Federal Government’s Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) project has started visitations to beneficiary states to ascertain their level of implementation and progress ahead of formal take-off.
The project is a five-year initiative of the Federal Government with support from the World Bank, and is aimed at improving secondary education opportunities for adolescent girls in the implementing states of Borno, Ekiti, Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, and Plateau, and also empower them to earn a living.
A statement from the Federal Ministry of Education said the AGILE National Project Coordinator, Amina Haruna, led the NPCU team to visit Ekiti State, recently where she had interactions with relevant stakeholders involved in the implementation of the project ahead of its formal take-off.
She explained that the team was in the state to find ways to assist ensure effective project implementation for optimum results, and emphasised the need for synergy among team members and with the government to achieve AGILE project goals in the state.
The state’s Project Coordinator, Oluwayemisi Alokan, took the NPCU team to the project’s construction sites to inspect and assess the standard of work being done, especially in the utilisation of the School Improvement Grants (SIG), for the renovation of existing infrastructures in schools in the state.
Alokan disclosed the challenges faced by the State Project Implementing Unit (SPIU), and the subsequent efforts made to address them.
The NPCU team also met with the state Commissioner for Education, and Permanent Secretary, Science and Technology, Ekiti State Ministry of Education, Kofoworola Aderiye, and Folakemi Olomojobi, respectively, who expressed delight at the visit and pledged their commitment to the AGILE project success in the state.
In Katsina, the state Project Coordinator, Mustapha Shehu, also took the NPCU team round the project’s sites for them to see that efforts are being made in accordance with the World Bank’s prescribed construction and renovation standards.
The visiting team, thus commended SPIU on the standard of work, and advised that it partner the ministry of agriculture, alongside community youths on the planting of trees in the targeted schools to mitigate the challenges of climate change.
The team also held a meeting with Katsina Commissioner for Education, Badamasi Charanchi, who expressed government’s commitment to the improvement of girl-child education in the state.
