First Lady Champions Grassroots Development in Lagos Through Renewed Hope Initiative
Kehinde Adeleye
Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, on Friday met with religious leaders and traditional rulers in Lagos State during the first day of her three-day official visit to the nation’s commercial capital.
The interactive session, which took place at the Lagos State Governor’s residence in Marina, provided an opportunity for the First Lady to engage grassroots opinion leaders on the impacts of her Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI) in Lagos and other parts of the country.
The meeting was attended by leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC), members of the National Assembly from Lagos, state cabinet officials, and members of the Governance Advisory Council (GAC). Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu led the state delegation to welcome the President’s wife, who was accompanied by the wife of the Vice President, Hajia Nana Shettima, and the wife of the Chief of Staff to the President, Mrs. Salamatu Gbajabiamila.
Traditional rulers at the forum were led by the Chairman of the Lagos State Council of Obas and Chiefs, Oba of Lagos, Alayeluwa Rilwanu Akiolu, represented by his deputy, the Ayangburen of Ikorodu, Oba Kabiru Shotobi.
The gathering served as a feedback platform for the First Lady to assess the reach of RHI programmes at the grassroots and to highlight ongoing interventions in Lagos.
In his remarks, Governor Sanwo-Olu described religious and traditional leaders as critical stakeholders in grassroots governance, stressing that they remain the closest link to the citizens.
He praised Senator Tinubu for using her Renewed Hope Initiative to bring relief to the vulnerable and the elderly.
According to the Governor, “Over the last two years, the First Lady has introduced new ideas to drive the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu across communities in the country. The impacts are visible in every geopolitical zone.
These initiatives, delivered without drawing from government funds, show her commitment and compassion for the people, regardless of political or ethnic affiliations.”
Senator Tinubu gave a detailed update on her programmes and interventions in Lagos. Through RHI, her office distributed 100,000 educational materials to pupils across the state, awarded scholarships, and donated laptops.
Lagos also benefited from 140 scholarships under the Federal Ministry of Education’s 2024 bursary programme, as well as school renovation projects.
She added that RHI had empowered 20 women in Lagos with training and financial support to boost food security through smart agriculture.
Similarly, 1,000 women per state had received N50,000 each to recapitalise their small businesses. “This grant may seem little to those living comfortably, but it means a lot to an average woman frying bean cakes at the street corner,” she explained.
The empowerment programme also includes the distribution of equipment such as freezers, industrial ovens, and grinding machines to women entrepreneurs.
On healthcare, the First Lady disclosed that her office launched a vaccination programme to immunise children against cervical cancer and had intensified advocacy on tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS.
She further revealed that Lagos would receive a 10,000-year supply of sanitary pads under the “Flow With Confidence” initiative to support schoolgirls in rural areas who often miss school during their menstrual cycle.
Since November 2023, RHI has also provided N422.8 million in support to 1,709 widows and orphans of fallen ex-servicemen. Senator Tinubu announced that on World Disability Day in December, her office would empower 250 persons with disabilities per state with N200,000 each to enable them to start businesses and live independently.
The First Lady thanked the religious and traditional leaders for helping her to extend the Renewed Hope Initiative to the grassroots and urged them to share the outcomes with their communities.
