Forty-Six Nigerian students in tertiary institutions across the country have emerged as the first set of beneficiaries of the Renewed Hope Initiative’s (RHI), National Scholarship Programme for Tertiary Education, which has just been flagged off.
This was contained in a statement issued on Saturday in Abuja by the spokesperson to the First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, Busola Kukoyi.
According to the statement, the beneficiaries were drawn from the 36 states of the federation and the FCT, while others were nominated by various women’s societies, including the National Council for Women Societies, and Defence Staff and Police Officers Wives Association DEPOWA.
At the ceremony held at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, First Lady Tinubu congratulated the beneficiaries, noting that the gesture was part of efforts by the initiative to ensure that no willing student is left behind.
“With the National Scholarship Programme (NASP), we envision a Nigeria where every child, regardless of their circumstances, can access the best education available. It is not just about textbooks and classrooms, it is about igniting curiosity, speaking innovation and fostering a love of learning that will transcend generations.
“The inaugural National Scholarship Programme of the Renewed Hope Initiative is a four-year scholarship programme of One Million Naira per year and a laptop for each beneficiary. Today, we are empowering 46 students from across the states,” she said.
While urging the beneficiaries to take their studies seriously as their GPA will be taken into consideration in subsequent years, the First Lady also encouraged them to take on vocational skills.
RHI Director of Education, Prof Hafsat Ganduje, in a welcome address, identified intervention in education as one of the five pillars of the initiative.
The ceremony was attended by the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu and the Minister of State for the FCT, Mariya Mahmood.
Meanwhile, a total of 370 farmers across the country have been billed to benefit from the RHI in the agricultural sector.
The intervention includes distribution of seedlings, pesticides and fertilizers to between 15-20 farmers per state, making up a total of 370.
This is one of the key resolutions at the meeting of zonal coordinators of the initiative with the National President and convener of the initiative, Sen. Oluremi Tinubu.
Other interventions in the sector include a proposal to encourage the establishment of farm markets in strategic locations and home gardens among Nigerians towards facilitating easy access to fresh farm produce.
In health, another key intervention area for the initiative, a partnership with UNICEF to streamline and sanitize the process of birth registration is being worked out.
The same partnership is also to be explored to promote immunization towards stamping out polio.
At the event, the First Lady called on the zonal coordinators to be at the vanguard of the process in their respective domains, urging all of them to be part of the immunization process.
Zonal coordinators of the RHI are drawn from among state governors’ wives in the six geopolitical zones of the country.