The good, the bad and the ugly of AGILE and why the states must accept it

AGILE is an acronym of Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment. It is a project that aims to empower and educate female adolescent, the the program which was approved by World Bank on July 29, 2020 at $500 million from the International Development Association (IDA) is facing hiccup and accused of destroying the religious and cultural impact of the Islamic states.

The project is launched in seven states: Kano, Kebbi, Kaduna, Katsina, Borno, Plateau and Ekiti to support the states’ needs on female adolescent education. The AGILE project is targeted to benefit about 6.7 million female adolescents with 15.5 million direct project including families and communities in the participating states.

While the AGILE project will expand existing primary and secondary schools “it entails building more than 5,500 JSSs and 3,300 classrooms for SSSs, as well as improving 2,786 Junior Secondary and 1,914 Senior Secondary schools with safe, accessible, and inclusive infrastructure.”

The AGILE project is geared to help girls from 10 – 20 thrive in the digital economy, where 300,000 girls will receive digital literacy trainings from the seven states. The states were selected through a consultative process involving the Federal Ministry of Education, Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, State Governors, and State Ministries of Education. “The selection criteria among others, included the number of out of school Girls, secondary school transition rates, the existence of enabling policies on Girls education as well as the States’ engagement and commitment to improving Girls’ educational attainment and empowerment.”

The AGILE project is targeted to reduce the high number of out-of-school children in the selected states, empower women and make them reliable but as the program moves it comes with some grumpy statement.

The Emir of Katsina, Alhaji Abdulmumini Kabir Usman accused the AGILE program as anti Islam and contrary to the norms and culture of the Islamic people, while the Kaduna State Government said it done away with the anti of the AGILE project and embrace it for the goodness of the people of the state. A Kano based scholar; Muhammad Usman criticized the AGILE project in a Jumma’at prayer sermon in Maiduguri testified that the project will erode the religious values and cultural heritage of the Northern people.

While, the AGILE program mandate is to promote education participation and empowerment among women. In the North, the AGILE project will build 150 schools in Katsina state, build 159 schools and renovate 69 in Kaduna state, voted N8.9bn for the construction 120 schools in Kebbi state while 300 schools Plateau schools identified to get 1.012bn for renovation. Each of the six states in the North got whopping amount of Dollars for educational progress in the selected states.

No matter what, AGILE came with a blessing and the negative side can be tackled as what the government of Kaduna state said. Nigeria as a nation, has it’s constitution and way of life and as a democratic independent nation the people have the right to choose their path without enforcement. The governors and traditional leaders in every part of Nigeria should make sure that AGILE program is in line with their values and utilize it for their benefit. AGILE is a good project that will solve the problems of women out-of-school for the benefit of the country, and we must appreciate the World Bank for the gesture.

3 thoughts on “The good, the bad and the ugly of AGILE and why the states must accept it

  1. Reading through your write up, I have seen the good.
    1. What about the bad and ugly?
    2.What plan do have to address the negative perception about the program?
    3. Did you meet with Emire of Katsina and sheik Muhammad Ibn Usman for discussion?
    Thank you

  2. AGILE is a program that entails allowing less privileged female students to acquire education and certain skills that will improve their life in the future.

  3. We have learnt a lot and we have seen a lot! Parents can allow their girls to benefit from the good things it come with but be careful and conversant with any move they do. As the world Bank most have a hiden aganda of selecting those states of the north.

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