Sokoto State has rolled out a Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) scheme for 41,825 adolescent female students across its 23 Local Government Areas under the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) project.

The official flag-off ceremony took place at Government House, Sokoto, and was presided over by Hajiya Fatima Ahmed Aliyu, wife of the state governor.

She commended Governor Ahmed Aliyu for prioritizing girl-child education and applauded AGILE and its development partners for supporting the programme.

Launched in August 2024, AGILE is a World Bank-supported intervention designed to improve school retention and completion among girls through infrastructure development and targeted support. Sokoto is one of the states benefiting from the scheme, which has since expanded beyond the initial 18 states captured.

Under the initiative, each beneficiary will receive ₦40,000 every term for as long as the project runs. Beneficiaries expressed joy at the gesture, pledging to utilize the funds to support their education.

State Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Prof. Ahmed Ladan Ala, and the AGILE National Coordinator, Hajiya Fatima, who represented the Sultan of Sokoto, praised the state government for exceeding expectations in its support of the project.

So far, more than 200,000 adolescent girls have been targeted to benefit from AGILE before the programme winds down.