₦airaland Forum

FG launches Renewed Hope Ward Development Programme to empower 8.8 million Nigerians across 8,809 electoral wards nationwide.

The federal government on Thursday unveiled plans to roll out targeted economic stimulus aimed at improving the livelihoods of more than 8.8 million Nigerians spread across the country’s 8,809 electoral wards nationwide.

The initiative, which seeks to deepen grassroots impact, marked one of the most ambitious attempts yet to align economic planning with Nigeria’s local governance structure, to ensure that no community is left behind in national development efforts.

According to him, the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning will be the Secretariat of the programme, highlighting that in the most recent report about Nigeria, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the 2025 article four consultation precisely encouraged Nigeria along this path.

He stated that the IMF acknowledged that the bold reforms have improved stability and enhanced resilience, liberalising and strengthening the function of the foreign exchange market, removing foreign subsidies, ending monetary policy, strengthening revenue administration and raising hydrocarbon production, which all have all contributed to improve macroeconomic stability.


“Mr president that always believes that to reduce poverty and food insecurity, we must invest collaboratively with federal and state in the creative energy of Nigerians and the geographical wards and having achieved the successes at the macroeconomic level, that is why this programme is unfolded today at the National Economic Council, which graciously approved the programme,” Bagudu stated.

In the same vein, the Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, acknowledged improved government revenue, spurred by key reforms, but stressed that the real test lies in delivering measurable impact to communities nationwide.

“We acknowledged Mr. President’s efforts in driving increased revenue generation and the positive results already being recorded. But the real challenge now is how this additional income will improve the lives of people at the grassroots.”

Uzodimma explained that the programme is designed to decentralise development, empower local communities, promote entrepreneurship, and create jobs directly within local economies.

“The meeting presented an opportunity for him to brief the governors and the need for the national government and subnational government to work together for the overall interest of our people and country, Nigeria.

“Well, we acknowledged his triumphs for revenue generation and the results already recorded as a result of the various reform policies of his administration. The country is earning more money now, the subnational governments are also earning more money.

“The president came up with a programme that will fast-track the process of this additional money creating a bigger impact on Nigerians by making sure that it trickles down to the grassroots. For that reason, they brought a programme to stimulate economic activities at the ward level,” the governor said.

Tinubu, who for the second time in days, advised governors to prioritise the welfare of Nigerians, said “We know the situation in the rural areas. Let us collaborate and do what will benefit the people.”

He urged the governors to invest more in the future of Nigerians, putting more money in rural electrification, agricultural mechanisation, poverty eradication and improved investment in infrastructure.

Tinubu’s charge to the governors, according to a statement by Media Assistant to the Vice President, Stanley Nkwocha, followed a presentation on the RHWDP by the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Abubakar Bagudu, at the 150th meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC) held at the State House Council Chambers, Abuja.

The president implored the governors to do more to positively impact the lives of Nigerians in the grassroots, saying, “I want to appeal to you. Let us change the story of our people in the rural areas.

“The economy is working. We are on the path of recovery, but we need to stimulate growth in the rural areas. We know the situation in the rural areas, let us collaborate and do what will benefit the people.”

Tinubu urged the governors to collaborate with the federal government to drive economic development in rural areas across the country.


“We have to embrace mechanisation in agriculture, fight insecurity and improve school enrolment through school-feeding,” he said.

Accordingly, he directed NEC to set up a committee to enhance the actualisation of legacy projects, especially the Lagos-Calabar and the Sokoto-Badagry SuperHighways.

He also ordered the transfer of the Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation from the Ministry of Works to the presidency to enhance the seamless actualisation of his administration’s legacy projects across the country.

NEC also directed the strengthening of State Emergency Management Agencies (SEMAs) across all 36 states of the federation and asked the Federal Ministry of Finance to release emergency funds to address impending flood effects.

Council’s resolution came following a presentation by Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mrs Zubaida Umar, on the country’s 2025 flood preparedness and response initiatives during the council’s meeting.

NEMA’s presentation detailed the agency’s progress since 2024, including production of the National Disaster Risk Reduction Strategy and Action Plan (2024-2027) with United Nations support, and ongoing validation of the Nigeria Hazard Risk Countrywide Analysis for 2024.

The agency has also improved civil-military coordination on disaster risk reduction and relief operations through partnerships with military disaster response units, the Nigeria Police Force, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, and the Nigeria Red Cross.

Key preparedness actions undertaken in 2025 included expert review and analysis of meteorological forecasts, with NEMA communicating flood predictions to state governments between May and June.

The agency has strengthened SEMAs and established Local Emergency Management Committees, while activating the Emergency Coordination Forum involving military, police and civil defence disaster response units.

The Emergency Operations Centre was activated on May 29, 2025, with national and zonal centres now operational. NEMA has deployed search and rescue equipment to high-risk states and continues downscaling early warning messages across all 36 states to local communities through the National Preparedness and Response Campaign.

NEMA, however, identified persistent challenges hindering effective flood response to include weak drainage infrastructure, delayed data reporting from states, insecurity in flood-prone areas, limited functionality of SEMAs and inactive Local Emergency Management Committees.

Additional concerns included poor compliance with urban planning and building codes, alongside inadequate environmental hygiene and waste management systems.

State governments were urged to fully strengthen SEMAs, operationalise Local Emergency Management Committees, enforce physical planning laws and building code compliance, and institutionalise monthly environmental sanitation while prioritising disaster preparedness funding in annual budgets.

Local government areas and communities were specifically directed to take ownership of local risk mitigation efforts, engage actively in awareness campaigns, and report early signs of flood risk to appropriate authorities.

To this end, council directed the Federal Ministry of Finance to release funds to each state of the Federation, the FCT and some Federal Agencies for this year’s flood preparedness.

Govs Lament Challenges in Education Sector, Say They Are Facing Serious Crisis

Governors of the 36 states of the federation, on Thursday, lamented serious challenges confronting them in the education sector. The governors said the foundational skills were critical building blocks for achieving educational objectives.

Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) and Kwara State governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, disclosed this during the State-Level Workshop on Foundational Learning and Out-of-School Children.

AbdulRazaq, in his speech read by NGF Education Advisor, Leo The Great, said, “Nigeria is faced with a crisis. We are dealing with some out-of-school children. However, enrollment in school for most children does not translate into actual learning.”

He disclosed that nationwide data indicated a 66% out-of-school rate among primary school-age children in Nigeria, noting that the poor quality of education has led to high dropout rates, as well as low transition and completion levels.

*”Foundational skills are not merely the end goal of an educational system; they are also critical building blocks for achieving other educational objectives, including retention and progression from one level to the next.

*“As critical stakeholders in the education ecosystem, we understand that there is now a focus standing on the provision of quality education, especially for foundational learning, to enhance the success of globally tested learning methodology and technology,” he said.

*As part of the challenges, the chairman of the governors forum expressed concern that the education sector’s workforce was both insufficient and undervalued.

“Specifically, basic education and the course of national governance in Nigeria are underfunded. Lack of characterisation of the issues of conditional training, absence of appropriate learning materials and independent training and literacy, lack of familiarity with recent research in the operations of conditional training and digital literacy skills.

•”Also, weak local capacity and monitoring and evaluation of conditional training disruptions and outcomes, insufficiency of available points, low level of awareness and support from families and communities for conditional training skills, and lack of commitment among state and non-state actors in addressing these challenges are key factors in developing the education sector and in feeding on basic proficiency in numeracy and literacy in Nigeria.

“The Nigerian Governors Forum expects this workshop to strengthen motivation for federal and state policymakers in driving and sustaining evidence-based reforms to improve implementation of foundational learning and reduce the out-of-school children challenges across the states of the federation.”

In his remarks, the UBEC Executive Secretary, Aisha Garba, said despite ongoing political and systemic barriers, Nigeria’s education system is still battling deep-rooted challenges.

•Garba, represented by UBEC Deputy Secretary, Technical, Rasaq Akinyemi, stressed the need for Nigeria to build on existing achievements and ensure inclusive education, affirming that every Nigerian child has the right to quality education.

iwaeda:
Nlfpmod, this is nothing but money to buy votes, their projection is 10m induced voters.

Tunmise40:
Good idea. I hope it works

Still Need 40 more characters ke

Disenfranchised:
Wey go chop their money and packages and still vote the most competent.

iwaeda:
Nlfpmod, this is nothing but money to buy votes, their projection is 10m induced voters.

lexy2014:
How is it a good idea?

4 more characters needed

Three

koladata:
- It's not a bad idea, most developed country does this, there are some unemployed American citizens that get paid monthly while some gets food stamps.

- My friend that Migrated to Canada through PR earlier this year gets about 3k CAD almost every 3months.

- The major problem is our federal government, they don't even have a good database to distribute this so they will end up embezzling 90 percent of the money

Bar1941:
You have 6 more years to do this!

In the meantime, nice one from the slayer of Atiku and his woman friend AdaObi Peteru.


Nigeria shall be great again.
God bless President Bola Tinubu
God bless Nigeria

Glimpsetv:
A large crowd of Lagosians was filmed in a long queue struggling to collect a loaf of bread. To maintain order, several military personnel were on the ground to control the crowd. This has triggered a lot of reactions online.

Watch the video, share your thoughts in the comments.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYltMapDyIo?si=0-hO0Vt5C9uBxVd1

Bar1941:
You have 6 more years to do this!

In the meantime, nice one from the slayer of Atiku and his woman friend AdaObi Peteru.


Nigeria shall be great again.
God bless President Bola Tinubu
God bless Nigeria

lexy2014:
How is tinubus Ward-based Stimulus Plan a good idea?

anonimi:
Petrol should never cost more than N70 per litre, says APC

January 19, 2015

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has described as mere tokenism the reduction of petrol price from N97 to N87 per litre, saying the petroleum product ordinarily should sell for N70.

On Sunday, the federal government announced the reduction of petrol price, citing the fall of global crude oil price.

But the APC through Lai Mohammed, its spokesman, on Monday accused the government of making a show out of deceit, saying “a 10.3 per cent slash in the price of petrol was a mere tokenism at a time the price of crude oil has crashed by about 60 per cent”.

It argued that the pump price of a litre of petrol should not be more than 70 Naira, alleging that at N87 per litre, the government was forcing Nigerians to subsidise the massive corruption in the oil sector by N17 for every litre of fuel.

https://www.thecable.ng/petrol-never-cost-n70-per-litre-says-apc/

koladata:
- It's not a bad idea, most developed country does this, there are some unemployed American citizens that get paid monthly while some gets food stamps.

- My friend that Migrated to Canada through PR earlier this year gets about 3k CAD almost every 3months.

- The major problem is our federal government, they don't even have a good database to distribute this so they will end up embezzling 90 percent of the money

Lawmaker scores Lagos Water Corporation low

A Lagos State lawmaker, Mr Saka Fafunmi, on Thursday expressed dissatisfaction at the performance of the state Water Corporation.

Fafunmi, a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly (LAHA), said in Ikeja that the corporation had not been able to justify statutory allocations to it.

The lawmaker, who represents Ifako-Ijaiye Constituency 1 at the assembly, spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

He said that the corporation had the capacity to generate much fund internally through water rates but had relied solely on government funding because of poor performance.

'' Anyone that is using water will be willing to pay for it; the corporation has not been giving us water.

"Is there any new community that Water Corporation has given water? People depend on boreholes; even government estates have industrial boreholes.

"Why do we keep pumping money into an agency that does not give us the desired results?'' he asked.

He noted that the Adiyan Waterworks was located at Ifako-Ijaiye, where many of the residents had resorted to digging boreholes as a means of getting water.

''A lot of people are falling sick because they don't drink clean water.

''In the same compound, where you have sewage, is where you have a borehole.

''There is no way you can manage the sewage that it will not leak and pollute the water; everyone drinking such is drinking contaminated water,'' he said.

The lawmaker urged the corporation to increase water reticulation and supply to residents.

From: http://www.punchng.com/politics/lawm...rporation-low/
https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1056&context=mes_capstones;Ensuring

iwaeda:
https://www.arise.tv/fg-launches-ward-based-stimulus-plan-to-reach-8-8-million-nigerians/

Disenfranchised:
Wey go chop their money and packages and still vote the most competent.

CodeTemplarr:
Vote-buying phase has begun. As 2027 approaches, They will use this as the reason why HE was VOTED IN again. LOL.

anonimi:
Me sef dey wonder the logic behind his decision to call this a good idea after ebilokan saved $84 billion from subsidy removal, which has made petrol and everything else so expensive to choke off the middle class and the poor.

iwaeda:
Nlfpmod, this is nothing but money to buy votes, their projection is 10m induced voters.

Disenfranchised:
Wey go chop their money and packages and still vote the most competent.