Nigeria’s First Lady Distributes Food Items, Grants in Abia State

Senator Oluremi Tinubu, Wife of Nigeria’s President, has commenced the distribution of food items to vulnerable groups in Abia State.

The gesture is part of her Renewed Hope Initiative Social Investment Food Outreach Programme.

Speaking at the event in Umuahia, the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu said the aim of the programme is to further complement the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in making life better for the people.

Mrs. Tinubu who was represented by the wife of the Vice President, Hajia Nana Shettima disclosed that the food outreach scheme began on March 8, 2024 and has so far been done in 11 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

She cautioned the beneficiaries against selling the food items as they are for their families.

“We will be giving a grant of 200,000 Naira for 250 persons with disabilities to recapitalize their existing small businesses in the 36 states and the federal capital territories.

“Since inception in 2023, the Renewed Hope Initiative has made significant progress in our efforts to support our people, particularly women and youth towards building a better life for their families,” Mrs. Tinubu stated.

In his remarks,Governor Alex Otti commended Mrs. Tinubu for appreciating the pains many individuals and families are passing through in the face of economic challenges by providing succour to them.

Otti said the challenge of poverty and its manifestations require a holistic programme of economic development, stressing the need for development of a comprehensive tracking system to monitor progress as Nigeria battles poverty.

“Today’s event is proof that the poor and vulnerable in our country have a reliable friend in the First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“We are glad to receive you and appreciate your generous sentiments to our great state in matters connected to the welfare of women and young people, the less privileged and those hit by the shipwrecks of life, Otti stated.

“My position is that whatever we do as leaders, we have a responsibility to keep our focus on finding a realistic path to overcoming the myriad of challenges facing the country, which economic destitution is one of its manifestations.

“It therefore entails that a comprehensive tracking system should be developed and managed locally to enable us monitor and assess our progress as we battle poverty together in the country,” Otti said.

He informed that his government is mindful of the challenges facing many individuals and families in Abia, hence the creation of the Ministry of Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection to tackle such challenges.

Earlier, the Wife of the Governor of Abia State and Coordinator of the Renewed Hope Initiative in the State, Lady Priscilla Otti appreciated the First Lady of Nigeria for her passion in assisting the less privileged and vulnerable people.

Mrs Otti announced that as a partner in the project, Abia State government has provided 3,000 bags of 10 kg rice to add to the ones already donated by Mrs. Tinubu.

She said that the distribution exercise will continue in the coming week to ensure that many more families across the state benefit from the intervention, assuring that it would be equitably distributed.

“The interventions of the Renewed Hope Initiative in Abia States have already had a significant impact across education, empowerment, health, and nutrition.

“As the First Lady of Abia States and coordinator of the Renewed Hope Initiative in the State and the host and partner in this shared endeavor to bring hope and relief to our people, we are immensely proud of the support we have received and continue to receive from RHI.

“Together, let us continue to act in love, to lead with empathy, and to build a future where every home in Abia State, and indeed Nigeria, is free from hunger,” Lady Otti stated.

Some beneficiaries including Orasi Eze and Uzoma Ezebiro pledged to use the items to take care of their families, thanked the First Lady of Nigeria and the wife of Abia State Governor for the kind gesture extended to them.