(140,000 copies of Storybooks Photo Credit: Federal Ministry of Education)
First Lady Oluremi Tinubu on Thursday handed over 140,000 copies of seven storybooks focused on girl-child development to the Federal Ministry of Education, describing the gesture as part of her ongoing efforts to strengthen young girls’ ability to shape futures aligned with their dreams.
According to a statement from her media aide, Busola Kukoyi, the books, published by the Merck Foundation with a foreword written by the First Lady, who also arranged for their national reproduction, were presented for distribution to public school libraries nationwide.
Mrs Tinubu said the titles, which cover a range of life lessons, would benefit both girls and boys by helping to build confidence, empathy, healthy habits and an appreciation for equity and social responsibility.
She expressed satisfaction at partnering with the Merck Foundation, describing it as a relatively small but impactful organisation given Nigeria’s population size, and noted that it has worked across other African nations as well, now serving as an international partner in reproductive health initiatives focused on improving healthcare, education and social development across the continent.
She also highlighted the foundation’s contribution to medical education in Nigeria, noting that the partnership has facilitated 91 medical scholarships aimed at strengthening the country’s health sector.
Handing the books over to Education Minister Tunji Alausa, Mrs Tinubu urged the ministry to ensure adequate incentives and functional education systems that support girls in navigating the path to development, expressing confidence that the ministry would facilitate effective distribution of the books to public school libraries so that children from diverse backgrounds could benefit from their content.
Alausa, who reviewed the seven titles during the handover, commended the initiative for addressing core issues in girl-child development, including gender discrimination and sexual violence, and for promoting values he said are important for today’s youth.
He praised the First Lady for her continued support of education despite what he described as misinformation, and recalled the ministry’s adoption of a similar initiative, the “One Day Minister” programme, which followed a precedent she had set as wife of the Lagos State governor in 2007.
He pledged that the ministry would put the books to full use and ensure their distribution across the country.
The Education Ministry confirmed that distribution to public school libraries has already begun, describing the donation as one of several outcomes of the First Lady’s ongoing collaboration with the Merck Foundation to promote girl-child education nationwide.
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(First Lady Oluremi Tinubu. Photo by Federal Ministry of Education)
