NEDC Ready to Close Child Identity, Healthcare Gaps with Renewed Hope Baby Support

• Shettima asks commission to work with MDAs to ensure maximum impact

• Says initiative aligns with Tinubu’s 2026 family, social protection mandate

Deji Elumoye in Abuja

Vice President Kashim Shettima has applauded the Renewed Hope Baby Support (RHBS) programme, a national human capital infrastructure initiative aimed at providing every Nigerian child with structured identity, healthcare participation, and long-term financial opportunities.

Shettima said the RHBS programme, initiated by North East Development Commission (NEDC), aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of 2026 as the Year of the Family and Social Protection.

He lauded the commission for taking proactive steps to translate the president’s vision into concrete action.

Shettima spoke on Thursday when the management team of NEDC, led by its Managing Director/CEO, Mohammed Alkali, presented the RHBS programme execution framework to him at State House, Abuja.

The vice president stated, “As you are aware, Mr. President has declared 2026 as the Year of the Family and Social Protection, with clear directives for implementation across all levels of government. I commend the NEDC for taking proactive steps to translate this vision into concrete action, particularly through the Renewed Hope Baby Support (RHBS) programme.

“The RHBS is a very timely and strategic initiative. It sits squarely within the North East Stabilization and Development Masterplan, aligning perfectly with its three critical pillars: peaceful society, healthy citizens, and an educated populace.”

He advised “seamless collaboration between the NEDC, the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, and other relevant agencies to ensure the RHBS achieves maximum impact”.

Shettima said by focusing on children and families the RHBS programme will deliver direct impact on the most vulnerable Nigerians, “while serving as an effective execution mechanism for Mr. President’s social protection mandate.”

Describing the timing of the programme as auspicious, the vice president said RHBS “will serve as a strategic palliative that cushions the effects of necessary economic reforms in a dignified and structured manner”.

He said, “It demonstrates that while we implement difficult but essential policies, we remain deeply committed to the welfare of our people — especially the women and children of the North East.”

Shettima maintained that RHBS will further position NEDC as a key player in the actualisation of Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda in the North-east.

He sated, “This is the kind of focused, results-oriented intervention we expect from our regional development commissions.”

He disclosed that since the initiative was primarily designed for children, the presidency will shed more light on the implementation and rollout strategy by May 27, 2026, in commemoration of Children’s Day.

Earlier, in her presentation, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Regional Development and NEDC (Office of the Vice President), Dr. Mariam Masha, explained that the RHBS programme was a national human capital infrastructure initiative.

Masha said while Nigeria recorded approximately 7.6 million births yearly, only “fewer than half are formally registered within the first year, resulting in millions of children beginning life outside national visibility and weakening long-term planning across education, health, economic, and social systems.”

According to her, the RHBS programme is designed to ensure every Nigerian child enters life through a structured pathway connecting identity, healthcare participation, and long-term opportunity formation.

Masha stated, “RHBS is positioned as a structured national programme, not a traditional welfare intervention. It uses milestone-linked support to connect children from birth to formal systems of identity, health, and opportunity.

“The programme serves as the operational mechanism to translate the president’s directive placing Nigerian families at the centre of governance into measurable outcomes, with a strong focus on early childhood development.”

Masha stressed that RHBS was not a social intervention but a structured national operating model for identity inclusion, developmental health participation, and long-term human capital development.

“The necessary infrastructure and political mandate already exist — what is now required is disciplined execution,” she said.