Nine out of 10 young girls in Nigeria, especially those who have been displaced by the insurgency use rags, banana leafs, newspapers and other unhygienic materials as menstrual pad, a report by some non-profit-organisation has revealed.
While some girl-child advocates in the report decried the development, which could supposedly worsen the plight of out of school children, the group asked government at all levels to find sustainable solutions to menstrual hygiene in the country.
Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Virtous Reusable Sanitary Pads and Co-founder, Female Empowerment Initiative, Tabitha Abimiku insisted that life and education of many young girls in the country are being threatened by lack of sustainable approach to menstrual hygiene.
Speaking with The Guardian, Abimiku, whose foundation articulated the situation across Internally Displaced camps in the country, said it remained pathetic that menstruation is widely being stigmatised.
She urged the Federal Government to include menstrual hygiene in school curriculum right from elementary schools, adding that while charity is expected to begin at home, most parents fail in discussing the issue due to religion and culture.
Stating that her foundation has reached over 30, 000 young girls and empowered them not only with sanitary pads but techniques to make reuseable ones, she said teachers, as well as parents, needed proper education on menstrual hygiene.
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