A groundbreaking new policy brief has revealed that investing in adolescent girls in Northern Nigeria could deliver life-changing gains for young women and multibillion-dollar returns for the country.
The latest findings support what experts have long argued: that educating girls is not just a social imperative but one of the highest-yielding economic investments Nigeria can make.
According to the new analysis, scaling up proven programmes in Kano and Kaduna States with an investment of US$ 114 million over four years would reach 1.1 million adolescent girls and generates 3.9 million additional years of schooling averts 327,000 child marriages, prevents 383,000 adolescent pregnancies, saves 3,651 adolescent mothers’ lives, reduces 35,675 under-five deaths and delivers an astonishing 21-to-1 return on investment, valued at $2.5 billion
Policymakers are calling the findings a “wake-up call” for national and state governments and an opportunity Nigeria cannot afford to miss.
Despite progress in some parts of the country, millions of Nigerian girls especially in the North still face interrupted education. More than 7.6 million girls are out of school, half of them in the Northwest and Northeast. And while the national secondary school completion rate hovers at 34%, it is just 28% in the Northwest.
The consequences are immediate and generational. Girls without schooling face earlier marriage (median age 16.6 with no education vs. 21.7 for those completing secondary school), higher risk of intimate partner violence, reduced decision-making power Increased risk of maternal complications and death, a greater likelihood of having stunted or malnourished children
Unfortunately, these outcomes reverberate through communities, reinforcing cycles of poverty, poor health, and limited opportunity.
But fortunately, Northern Nigeria is not starting from scratch. The Centre for Girls’ Education (CGE) in Kaduna has spent over a decade pioneering targeted, evidence-backed models that are now informing national policy.
The Executive Director of the Centre for Girls’ Education (CGE), Habiba Mohammed, delivered an urgent call for Nigeria to expand opportunities for every girl—whether in school, out of school, married, young, or facing barriers to further education.
She said educating girls is the foundation for safer communities, stronger families, and a more prosperous nation.
Speaking to policymakers, development partners, teachers, and community members, Mohammed outlined CGE’s comprehensive approach to supporting girls aged 4 to 24, emphasizing that the organization “works with girls at every stage” from preschoolers to married adolescents, from girls seeking vocational skills to those aiming for careers in STEM.
CGE’s model blends literacy, numeracy, life skills, vocational training, and mentorship in safe spaces across communities and schools.
She said: “We train teachers to become mentors. This gives us ripple effects indirect beneficiaries who carry forward the skills and knowledge.”
The organisation works hand-in-hand with community leaders, religious leaders, parents, husbands of married adolescents, school heads, and government officials, ensuring interventions align with local realities.
CGE also collaborates closely with local government education authorities to secure school placements for girls returning to the classroom and to ensure smooth transitions from one level of schooling to the next.
“We don’t want a situation where girls drop out. When girls learn, the possibility of them being retained in school is very high,” she said.
Mohammed highlighted the story of Sakina, a CGE beneficiary who used her voice to spark policy change.
During an advocacy visit supported by the Malala Fund, Sakina told the former governor of Kaduna State:
“I have achieved something, but I have sisters out there who need the same opportunity. School fees are stopping many girls.”
Her plea moved the governor to scrap school fees for all children girls and boys from primary through senior secondary school. The reform became reality, opening classrooms to thousands of learners.
“The voice of the girl was powerful,” Mohammed said. “When we get the right stakeholders, no girl will be left behind.”At CGE, girls are not passive recipients they are activists.
“We believe in the slogan: nothing for us without us,” Mohammed said. “We train our girls to use their voices to speak to policymakers.”
Girls supported by CGE appear on radio and TV, advocate in Hausa and English, and speak publicly about why they want education and why it is a fundamental right.
Addressing the barriers faced by married adolescents, Mohammed shared her own story of completing university while raising three children:
“I was eight months pregnant with my first child when I started university… and before I graduated, I had three children. It did not stop me.”
She stressed that married girls can thrive academically if given supportive environments including child care options, mentorship, and encouragement from family members.
“Our mothers-in-law, co-wives, and extended families can help us continue,” she said. “The issue is understanding not control.”
According to her, girls trained in CGE safe spaces develop the life skills to navigate complex family dynamics. “When you see them, everybody wants to be like them.”
Security threats from community clashes to insurgency remain a challenge. While CGE cannot enforce security, Mohammed said community partnerships are critical.
“Our focal persons inform us immediately if there is a conflict. The safety of mentors, staff, and girls is a priority.”
Communities themselves provide protection and ensure that programmes continue when conditions are safe.
Mohammed urged state governments to develop concrete policies that allow girls who married early or became pregnant to return to school seamlessly.
“Every girl who wants to go back to school should find the door open,” she said.
She pointed to CGE research showing that transition from primary to secondary school was once only 4% in programme communities. But after just one year of life skills intervention, 82% of girls re-enrolled.
“This shows what can happen when girls gain confidence and support,” she said. “Now it is the responsibility of government to create space for every girl.”
“Issues of early marriage will be history. Issues of girls not going to school will be history. Issues of gender-based violence, Boko Haram, kidnapping all will be history in Nigeria. The only thing we need is to educate the girl child.”
Mohammed emphasized that the goal is not to position education against marriage, but to ensure that girls enter both on their own terms, prepared, informed, and empowered.
“Marriage does not stop education, and education does not stop marriage”
Mohammed challenged the widespread belief that schooling and marriage are mutually exclusive for girls in Northern Nigeria. Instead, she argued that girls should marry “at an appropriate age, when she is ready”and that readiness is most often achieved when they complete secondary education.
“For us, it is not the age, it is the maturity,” she said. “If a girl is able to marry after completion of secondary school, she is ready.”
“A girl who is able to go through a life skills component… will understand that she has a voice. She can use her voice,” she said.
According to her, stigma loses its power when girls develop self-confidence and resilience. “Even if it is there, it will not stop her from achieving her goals.”
CGE’s life skills curriculum includes lessons on self-esteem, communication, goal setting, and managing emotional and psychological challenges such as trauma from gender based violence.
Mohammed also discussed CGE’s innovative approach to literacy, supported by the Jolie-Phoenix phonics component, which transforms learning into an interactive, fun experience.
“It is a fun way of learning. The participants learn between songs,” she explained.
She noted that the approach has yielded success, particularly for girls who previously struggled with literacy, stating that phonics-based lessons enable girls to read and write, adding that local -language numeracy makes mathematics easier to grasp, being able to read signs in hospitals, on the road, or at school motivates girls to stay in school; peer learning allows fast learners to support slower learners, strengthening community bonds and accelerating progress.
Mohammed said: “In Hausa, they want to see the end of that education,” describing the sense of achievement girls feel when they can read independently.
She noted that effective teacher training is absolutely critical and that “no teacher is untrainable.”
From her experience recruiting mentors from public schools, she recounted how educators who initially struggled quickly transformed with the right training:
CGE’s life skills curriculum also includes modules to support survivors of rape, domestic abuse, and other forms of gender-based violence. These sessions help girls rebuild emotional strength and regain control of their lives.
“They can be able to do better with their emotions,” habiba explained. “They can be able to help themselves out of the situation they found themselves in.”
She appeal for collaboration among government agencies, civil society, donors, teachers, traditional leaders, and parents.
“If we put our hands and heads together, not working in silos… we will be able to reach where we want to go about girls’ education,” she said.
CGE’s model continues to demonstrate that when girls are nurtured academically, emotionally, and socially, they thrive regardless of the stigma or barriers around them.
Michael Olugbode
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