Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu has empowered families and persons living with disabilities with essential food items under the ongoing Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI) food outreach in Lagos State.
Senator Tinubu also unveiled plan to launch a support project for the elderly across Nigeria.
Represented in Lagos by the wife of the Vice President, Hajia Nana Shettima, the First Lady stressed that the food relief initiative was designed to ease the burden on the most vulnerable.
“This Food Outreach Scheme under the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI)’s Social Investment Scope was launched in March 2024 to provide food items to Persons with Disabilities and other vulnerable groups in order to support their families.”
In a statement by the Special Assistant to the President, Media & ICT OVP, Kwapchi Bata Hamman, the programme was powered by the Abdul-Samad Rabiu Africa Initiative (ASR) and another benefactor who has chosen to remain anonymous.
Each month, the donors supply two truckloads of food items to the initiative, with two states benefitting at a time.
The statement said the Lagos outreach was made possible by the anonymous donor.
So far, 16 states and the Federal Capital Territory have benefited from the initiative, with Bayelsa and Sokoto next in line.
Mrs Tinubu further seized the moment to highlight other ongoing RHI programmes targeted at empowering women and young people.
According to her, these include the SDG/Renewed Hope Initiative Women Empowerment Programme for the South-West Zone, which provides tools like freezers, cookers, ovens, and generators for small businesses, and the Renewed Hope Initiative/Tony Elumelu Foundation Women Economic Empowerment Programme, which will disburse N50,000 each to 500 women per state and the FCT.
The programme is backed by a N1 billion fund from the Tony Elumelu Foundation.
Furthermore, she disclosed that the RHI would soon “launch projects to support the elderly and more persons with disabilities” across the nation.
She highlighted that a flagship effort tagged: ‘Flow with Confidence’ will also provide a year’s supply of sanitary pads to 370,000 schoolgirls nationwide to keep them in school during their menstrual cycle.
“Our goal at RHI is to complement the Renewed Hope Agenda of the administration of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, which aims to support all Nigerians to thrive and achieve their goals irrespective of their condition or status,” the First Lady said.
Receiving the items on behalf of beneficiaries, First Lady of Lagos State, Dr. Claudiana Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu described the outreach as both timely and meaningful.
“Providing essential food items to those in need at this time is both timely and deeply appreciated. I am confident that this gesture will make a significant difference in the lives of today’s beneficiaries,” she said.
Lagos State governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, commended the initiative, noting that its direct impact on communities aligns with the THEMES+ agenda of his administration, which places a strong emphasis on social inclusion, health, and economic empowerment at the grassroots.
The beneficiaries included persons living with disabilities such as the blind and deaf, alongside struggling families.
