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 ladies’ schooling, pupil 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 instructional entry, management growth, pupil 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 may broaden instructional alternatives and enhance the welfare of feminine college students.
She mentioned the affiliation’s assist was based mostly on its choice 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 limitations to increased schooling.
It famous that the scholar mortgage software portal opened in May 2024, whereas disbursements started in February 2025. According to the affiliation, NELFUND’s printed affect dashboard had reported roughly 440,000 feminine beneficiaries.
ANFS mentioned the scheme may allow eligible college students from financially deprived backgrounds to pursue college schooling and different permitted 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 acknowledged.
It, nonetheless, referred to 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 situations.
The affiliation additionally acknowledged interventions by the First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, by way of the Renewed Hope Initiative, notably programmes addressing menstrual hygiene and ladies’ faculty attendance.
It cited the Flow with Confidence initiative, launched in October 2025, which supplied 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 women in public fundamental schooling faculties.
According to ANFS, menstrual poverty stays a barrier to women’ 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 various schooling programmes designed to assist ladies 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 ladies’ entry to secondary schooling, digital literacy and life abilities.
Although the programme predates the present administration, ANFS mentioned its continued implementation remained essential to efforts to enhance ladies’ instructional outcomes.
It equally highlighted the Nigeria for Women Programme, together with an growth introduced in February 2026, as related to ladies’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, expertise, engineering and arithmetic (STEM), vocational coaching, little one safety and financial empowerment.
It additionally listed improved pupil financing, high quality schooling, secure studying environments, safety in opposition to gender-based violence, menstrual well being and higher participation of feminine college students in policymaking amongst its priorities.
ANFS referred to as for stronger collaboration among the many Ministries of Education and Women Affairs, instructional establishments, growth companions and pupil 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 should 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 little one growth, little one safety and pupil welfare, figuring out the scholar mortgage scheme as one of many initiatives serving to college students from completely different backgrounds, together with orphans, entry increased schooling.
The minister urged feminine college students to pursue financial empowerment, pointing to alternatives in agriculture, cell companies, the gasoline sector and on-line companies.
She additionally mentioned the federal government was strengthening the care economic system to make sure that unpaid care work carried out by ladies was recognised and valued.
Sulaiman-Ibrahim disclosed that memoranda on menstrual hygiene, the care economic system and violence in opposition to youngsters had been being introduced to the Federal Executive Council.
The convention additionally featured the election of latest nationwide executives, with Comrade Okwuchukwu Joy rising because the affiliation’s new president.
ANFS mentioned the convention supplied 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 method of amplifying feminine college students’ voices, showcasing their achievements and offering data on teachers, mentorship, entrepreneurship and advocacy.
The affiliation referred to as on authorities companies 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 ladies’ schooling and ladies’s empowerment remained important to nationwide growth, reaffirming its tenet: “One Voice. One Movement. One Future.”
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