First Lady to Govs’ Wives: Ensure RHI’s Impact Gets to Grassroots

First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu has met in Abuja with wives of the 36 State Governors under the Renewed Hope Initiative with a charge on them to ensure that the impact of the Initiative are felt by the people at the grassroots in their respectiive states.

Wife of the President, Senator Oluremi Tinubu has charged the wives of the 36 state governors to deepen grassroots interventions and take greater ownership of social programmes in their respective states.

She spoke while presiding over the first quarterly meeting of wives of state governors under the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI),

held at the State House, Abuja, which brought together the state First Ladies to review the activities, programmes, events and targets set for the year under the RHI platform.

Addressing newsmen after the opening session, Mrs Timubu said the gathering marked the first time in 2026 that the governors’ wives would collectively review their roles and contributions as partners in advancing social development across the country.

According to her, while significant groundwork had been laid since the launch of the initiative, the time had come for the programmes to mature and deliver visible results at the state level.

Her words: “It’s like giving birth to a baby, the teething stage and learning how to walk. After a while, the baby is supposed to walk unaided, and that is what I want to see.”

She said the objective of the meeting was to hear from the governors’ wives about initiatives they are implementing in their states and how they are complementing government efforts through social and humanitarian programmes.

The First Lady noted that both she and the wife of the Vice President, Hajia Nana Shettima, had served as First Ladies of their states in the past and understood the unique challenges associated with the role.

Mrs Tinubu said the title of “First Lady” carried expectations of leadership and social responsibility, urging the governors’ wives to justify the position by initiating impactful programmes.

“They wanted the title ‘First Lady of the state.’ Before, people would say wife of the governor. But if you want that title, then we want to see you actually reach out and be independent in what you are doing.”

Relieving her experience as former First Lady of Lagos State, she encouraged them to develop initiatives that support young people, promote mentorship and foster self-reliance.

Mrs Tinubu recalled how programmes such as the Lagos Spelling Bee competition were introduced to encourage pupils to remain in public schools at a time when educational infrastructure faced serious challenges.

“I started some small initiatives like spelling competitions and leadership programmes for girls to encourage young people and complement what government was doing”.

She also urged the governors’ wives to address emerging social concerns, including the need to positively reshape the mindset of young boys through targeted mentorship and support programmes.

Mrs Tinubu cited initiatives already underway in some states, including programmes focusing on the boy-child, being run by the current Lagos First Lady, Dr Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, describing them as important steps toward addressing societal challenges.

The First Lady further identified child nutrition as one of the major priorities of the Renewed Hope Initiative this year, saying the issue would be tackled aggressively across the country.

“It is sad that a nation as rich as ours is still talking about child malnutrition at this level. We are going to go at it aggressively and do the best we can to tackle it,” she said.

Mrs Tinubu also encouraged the governors’ wives to promote women’s economic empowerment through agriculture, skills development and small-scale enterprises tailored to the strengths of their states.

She cited examples of initiatives in some states, including the development of an adire production hub in Ekiti and opportunities in cassava processing and fish production in other regions.

According to her, such locally driven programmes can help women generate income while strengthening community economies.

The quarterly meeting, she said, would also serve as a platform for sharing success stories and best practices that could be replicated across states.

“We want to hear their stories; what they are doing in their states, so that we can tell people and encourage others to do more,” she further explained.