By Favour Awuzie, Port Harcourt
The Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI), in collaboration with the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), has provided learning devices, financial assistance and more than 10,000 sanitary pads to students in Rivers State to strengthen digital education and promote menstrual health.
The interventions were presented on Monday at the Rivers State Government House in Port Harcourt on behalf of the Wife of the President, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, by the Wife of the Rivers State Governor, Lady Valerie Siminalayi Fubara, through the State Coordinator of RHI, Mrs Tonye Briggs-Onyide.
Speaking at the event, Tinubu said the NDDC-sponsored learning devices were targeted at students in junior secondary schools to expand their access to digital educational resources.
She explained that the iPads had been preloaded with educational applications to make learning more interactive and accessible.
The First Lady urged beneficiary schools to ensure that the devices were used exclusively for academic purposes, warning that they were not intended for sale.
She also directed the schools to provide evidence of distribution and ensure that the devices got to the students for whom they were provided.
Receiving the learning devices, Mrs Gladys Ogudechika of Community Secondary School, Oyigbo, Oyigbo Local Government Area, expressed appreciation to the Wife of the President and the Wife of the Governor, saying the intervention would enhance the students’ learning abilities.
Similarly, Mr Boyle Dedeboma of Community Secondary School, Akinima, in Ahoada-West Local Government Area, described the initiative as beneficial, noting that the educational applications installed on the devices would support both teachers and students.
Meanwhile, the RHI has handed over more than 10,000 sanitary pads to the Rivers State Ministries of Education and Health for distribution to female students across the state.
The intervention, which was themed, “Empowering School Girls Through Menstrual Health,” is aimed at improving menstrual hygiene and addressing challenges faced by schoolgirls during their menstrual periods.
Tinubu, represented by Lady Fubara through Briggs-Onyide, directed the two ministries to ensure that the sanitary pads were distributed to government schools, including mixed schools, with priority given to students in rural communities.
The Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Education, Dr Mina Ikuru, described the initiative as timely, saying it would help address the stigma and silence surrounding menstrual health among young girls.
Ikuru encouraged students experiencing menstrual health challenges to seek guidance from trusted and appropriate persons rather than suffer in silence.
She also urged the beneficiaries to serve as mentors and ambassadors of the Renewed Hope Initiative by promoting proper menstrual hygiene and supporting other girls.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr Vincent Wachukwu, assured that the ministry would distribute the sanitary pads in accordance with the directive, including to schools in rural areas.
Two beneficiaries, Miss Chika Wilson Marvelous of Government Girls Secondary School, Rumuokwuta, and Miss Okodu Godstime Mirabel of Government Girls Secondary School, Rumueme, commended the RHI for the intervention.
They pledged to make effective use of the sanitary pads and adopt proper menstrual health practices.