Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, has commended the First Lady of Nigeria, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, for her compassion and unwavering support for vulnerable Nigerians amid prevailing economic challenges in the country.
Governor Otti gave the commendation on Friday at the International Conference Centre, Umuahia, during the launch of the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI) Food Outreach Programme in Abia State.
“Leadership is a call to empathy, and an opportunity to respond with kindness to the plight of the poor,” Otti said, applauding the First Lady’s efforts to alleviate hardship across the country.
He highlighted his administration’s commitment to social welfare, revealing that one of his first decisions as governor was the establishment of the Ministry of Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection.
According to him, the ministry collaborates with both international and local partners to roll out programmes that benefit women, youths, and other vulnerable groups in the state.
“In several communities, women cooperative groups have been set up to access grants at zero to low interest rate facilities to establish businesses along the agricultural value chains,” he said.
“Our conviction is that many of the individuals living in economic vulnerabilities can still add value to our GDP by engaging in productive ventures.”
While expressing full support for the Renewed Hope Initiative, Governor Otti emphasized the importance of sustainable, long-term solutions to tackle poverty and unemployment.
“The goal at all times should be to keep reducing the number of persons living below the poverty line by offering the population a path to economic sustainability and ultimately, independence,” he added.
Speaking at the event, the First Lady, represented by the wife of the Vice President, Mrs. Nana Shettima, said she was pleased to deliver food items to vulnerable groups in Abia through the governor’s wife, Mrs. Priscilla Otti.
She noted that the initiative had already reached 11 states with food distributions, and that Enugu and Kaduna states were next in line.
She expressed gratitude to the BUA Group and another anonymous donor for their monthly contributions of food items to the initiative, enabling continued outreach.
Under the economic empowerment component of the programme, she revealed, “We will be giving N200,000 grant to 250 persons with disabilities to recapitalise their existing small businesses in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.”
She also announced a key education-focused intervention: “Under our education programme, we will be introducing ‘Flow with Confidence’, through which we will distribute 10,000 packs, a year’s supply of sanitary pads to each of our young girls, particularly those in rural communities in each state. This will encourage them to remain in school during their menstrual cycle.”
She urged beneficiaries not to sell the food items, stressing they were intended strictly for household consumption. She also commended Mrs. Priscilla Otti for her strong coordination and support for the initiative in Abia.
In her remarks, the Abia First Lady described the First Lady’s presence, through her representative, as a reinforcement of their shared mission to uplift the most vulnerable members of society.
She said the RHI had already made a measurable impact in Abia in the areas of education, healthcare, empowerment, and nutrition.
According to her, while the RHI donated Semolina and Noodles for the outreach, the state government has decided to augment the supply with an additional 3,000 bags of 10kg rice to expand the reach of the palliative programme.
She assured that distribution would continue in the coming weeks to ensure that as many households as possible benefited from the support.
The event marks another chapter in the nationwide efforts by the Renewed Hope Initiative to mitigate the effects of the current economic climate on Nigeria’s most vulnerable populations.
