UBEC Takes Over LUMINAH 2030 Initiative to Drive Sustainability, Impact
The Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) has formally assumed ownership of the LUMINAH 2030 Initiative from the Federal Ministry of Education, in a move officials say is designed to guarantee the programme’s sustainability and long-term impact.
The Executive Secretary of UBEC, Aisha Garba, announced the transition on Tuesday at the opening of a five-day programme in Abuja tagged LUMINAH 2030: Migration and Establishment Agenda.
Garba explained that the initiative first nurtured under the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) seeks to educate and economically empower one million underserved Nigerian girls by the year 2030.
“LUMINAH illuminates the path to education and empowerment. It integrates schooling, skills training, caregiver support, and community engagement to address the root causes that have kept our girls out of school,” Garba said in her address, which was delivered on her behalf by UBEC’s Deputy Executive Secretary (Technical), Razaq Akinyemi.
She commended AGILE, a global support programme, for incubating LUMINAH since its inception, but noted that the initiative needed a domestic anchor for continuity.
“AGILE has played a pivotal role in nurturing LUMINAH, but being an internationally driven framework, its lifespan is limited. Migrating the programme to UBEC ensures it becomes fully institutionalised within Nigeria’s education system,” she added.
According to UBEC, the LUMINAH 2030 Initiative will not only expand access to basic education for disadvantaged girls but also strengthen their economic resilience by integrating vocational training and community-based support systems.
Education stakeholders at the event welcomed the development, stressing that UBEC’s takeover would allow the programme to scale nationwide while aligning with government policies on inclusive and equitable education.
The five-day programme will focus on strategies for deepening implementation, strengthening partnerships, and creating structures for monitoring and evaluating LUMINAH’s progress across Nigeria.
