The First Lady of Nigeria, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has revealed that her office currently receives no direct budgetary provision from the federal government. She made this known on Monday during the second quarterly meeting of the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI), held at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
Speaking at the opening session, Mrs. Tinubu appealed to the National Assembly particularly her former colleagues in the Senate to approve annual funding for the Office of the First Lady to support one impactful social project per year.
“Most of the resources I work with are donations from well-meaning Nigerians,” she said. “Whatever I receive is what I distribute to the First Ladies in the various states. It’s not easy. Government doesn’t run my office.”
Mrs. Tinubu expressed her intention to avoid going through the Ministry of Women Affairs, a channel previously used for such funding, stating she would instead pursue direct support from the Senate.
“I spent 12 years in the Senate, and I believe that experience shouldn’t go to waste. If the Senate can approve one project per year for the First Lady even if it’s N500 million or N1 billion we can use it responsibly and be accountable.”
Remi Tinubu while emphasizing her commitment to service, she stated: “We shouldn’t just sit in government houses and do nothing. After my time here, I will return to society, and I want to have contributed meaningfully to its betterment.”
The First Lady explained that her passion and that of the wives of state governors was driven by a desire to support their husbands’ administration and serve the underprivileged.
“We are wives, whether we call ourselves domestic engineers or otherwise. We want to see our husbands succeed and also stand up for the vulnerable and voiceless.”
Mrs. Tinubu also touched on Nigeria’s paradox of poverty and extravagance, criticizing the culture of excessive celebrations despite widespread hardship.
“Nigeria is not poor, we are blessed with resources. But our mindset has to change. Look at our parties; they go on for a week. How can a poor country celebrate like that?”
She called for autonomy and respect for the Office of the First Lady, noting that even military regimes recognized its value.
“If not for a First Lady, this office wouldn’t exist. Even under military rule, provisions were made for their wives. Why should it be different now?”
During the meeting, the First Lady unveiled the RHI Green Nigeria Challenge, a nationwide tree-planting competition to combat desert encroachment in northern Nigeria.
“Traveling through the North, I saw vast stretches of dry, treeless land. But some trees survive in these conditions. We must act now to restore our environment,” she urged.
The initiative includes competitions at multiple levels: Individual households can win up to N10 million, communities may receive N100 million while a top-performing state will be awarded a N100 million grand prize.
Mrs. Tinubu praised Enugu State as a model for environmental cleanliness and announced a special award and financial compensation for its efforts.
In addition to the environmental campaign, she launched the NITDA-RHI Women’s ICT Training Program for 2025. The program aims to train 240 women, 40 from each geopolitical zone in digital literacy.
With this initiative, each participant will receive: A laptop and accessories, an internet dongle, a user manual and notebook, a cash grant of N80,000 (with plans to increase it to N100,000)
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