Need For Tax Waivers On Sanitary Pads Or Menstrual Products For Schoolgirls In Primary And Secondary Schools In Nigeria
BY DONALD INWALOMHE
Statistics from UNICEF have indicated that about 37 million women and girls in Nigeria either lack access to or cannot afford menstrual products. The studies show about 67 per cent of women and girls have resorted to unsafe alternatives such as cloth and tissue, while as many as one in every 10 girls misses school during menstruation, particularly in low-income and rural communities in Nigeria. The situation in Northern Nigeria is worse than that in the South. Tax-free menstrual products or free pad distributions for girls in primary and secondary schools will boost girl-child enrollment in Nigeria. With high level of insecurity and high cost of sanitary pads the number of girls that are out of school will keep rising.
There is a link between high cost of sanitary pads and out of school children in Nigeria. 18.3 million out-of-school children, driven by widespread poverty, regional insecurity, and a lack of adequate school facilities. This total includes 10.2 million children at the primary level and 8.1 million at the junior secondary school level. According to the UNICEF Nigeria office, this gives Nigeria one of the highest numbers of out-of-school children in the entire world.
Federal Government should engage stakeholders to review taxes, duties and levies on menstrual-product manufacturers and importers to reduce production costs and improve affordability for girls in primary and secondary schools in Nigeria.
Menstruation creates major hurdles for school girls due to painful physical symptoms, a lack of clean school toilets, and high costs for sanitary products. Severe lower abdominal pain and backaches affect up to 90% of adolescent girls, making it hard to sit in class or focus. Using dirty rags, old cloth, or tissue paper because of poverty leads to reproductive and urinary tract infections. A research in 2023 on Menstruation among In-School Adolescent Girls and Its Literacy and Practices in Nigeria: A Systematic Review found that over 82% of adolescents have poor knowledge of proper menstrual care. Pain and shame cause girls to miss two to five days of school every month, which hurts their grades. Many public schools lack private toilets, running water, soap, and safe disposal bins for pads. Research on Menstrual hygiene practices of adolescent secondary school highlights how poor infrastructure in Nigeria forces girls to manage periods in undignified conditions. Cultural myths and fear of teasing make girls feel embarrassed, isolated, and anxious.
I am advocating for tax-free menstrual products or free pad distributions in schools to combat period poverty and prevent school absenteeism among girls in primary and secondary schools. The World Bank estimates that about 24% of Nigerian schoolgirls regularly miss classes or exams due to a lack of proper menstrual materials and poor sanitation infrastructure. Organizations like UNICEF and the UNFPA report that roughly 37 million women and adolescent girls in Nigeria face challenges affording safe sanitary pads.
Tax and Duty Waivers: Ongoing discussions involving agencies like the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) focus on lowering production and importation costs to make quality pads affordable. Experts stress that distributing free or cheaper pads must be paired with clean water, private sanitation facilities, and safe disposal systems in schools.
The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) are pushing for stronger regulation and policy reforms to make menstrual products safer and more affordable, as period poverty continues to affect millions of women and girls across Nigeria.
Speaking at the Nigeria Menstrual Health Product Forum 2026 in Lagos, themed ‘Driving Standards and Policy Reform for Affordable Menstrual Products’, the director-general of SON, Dr. Ifeanyi Okeke said collaboration among regulators, government agencies, manufacturers and development partners was key to delivering quality products at prices people can afford.
He stated that SON will intensify efforts on standards, consumer protection and regulatory oversight to protect users, build market confidence and encourage responsible manufacturing.
UNFPA estimates, with UNICEF data, that about 37 million women and girls in Nigeria experience period poverty. The World Bank also estimates that about 24 per cent of Nigerian schoolgirls regularly miss school due to inadequate menstrual materials and WASH infrastructure.
It is not just about having products in the market, but ensure that those products meet the standards and quality that is desired to be used by women and girls in Nigeria. Period poverty extends beyond the inability to purchase sanitary pads and has far-reaching consequences for the education, dignity and well-being of millions of girls and women.
Period poverty is not merely about the inability to buy sanitary pads. It is about period dignity, period equity and menstrual justice. It is about whether a girl can remain confident in the classroom and pursue her dreams without interruption because of a natural biological process.
The Centre for Children’s Health Education, Orientation and Protection (CEE-HOPE) has called on federal and state governments to provide free sanitary pads to schoolgirls and invest in water, sanitation and hygiene facilities in schools as part of efforts to end period poverty in Nigeria. The appeal was made during CEE-HOPE’s 2026 Menstrual Hygiene Management Conference held in Lagos to commemorate Menstrual Hygiene Day. The event brought together schoolgirls, teachers, health professionals, advocates and civil society organisations to discuss challenges surrounding menstrual health and hygiene.
Inwalomhe Donald writes via inwalomhe.donald@yahoo.com
