•Set to pick at least 1,000 beneficiaries per ward nationwide

•Tinubu: Economy recovering, working, but we must stimulate growth in rural areas

Deji Elumoye and Chuks Okocha in Abuja

The federal government yesterday 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.

Also yesterday, President Bola Tinubu said the nation’s economy was working and on the path of recovery, but said the government at the state level needed to stimulate growth in the rural areas.

On the fresh entrepreneurial intervention, the National Economic Council (NEC) at its monthly meeting endorsed a new ward-based development strategy, Renewed Hope Ward Development Programme (RHWDP).

The initiative is to actualise double-digit economic growth through direct intervention in Nigeria’s 8,809 administrative wards across all 36 states.

The RHWDP, aimed at achieving double-digit economic growth through direct intervention in Nigeria’s 8,809 administrative wards across all 36 states.

The RHWDP, presented by Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, during the council’s 150th meeting, received full endorsement as a collaborative undertaking between federal, state and local governments.

It was anchored on President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which seeks to achieve a $1 trillion economy by 2030, requiring a growth rate of 15 per cent, while the current rate sat below 4 per cent.

The RHWDP drew its legal framework from the 1999 Constitution and the Fifth Alteration Act, which mandated state policy toward ensuring food security and improved production methods.

Its key targets included sustainable support for economic activities with minimum thresholds of 1,000 economically active individuals for smaller wards and 2,000 for larger ones.

A National Steering Committee comprising representatives from all six geopolitical zones is expected to oversee the implementation, with the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning as secretariat.

Explaining the rationale for the initiative, Bagudu said: “Today Mr President attended the NEC meeting and he commended the state governors for the cooperation they have extended to him and to the federal government. And today, in a very historic next step, Mr President witnessed the presentation of the memo on Renewed Hope Ward Development Programme, which is a strategy to support the macroeconomic reforms being undertaken by the administration.

“Having stabilised the macro economy. The next step is to drill down development to the lowest levels so that we can in the 8,809 wards of the country simulate economic activity, which we believe will generate employment, reduce poverty, enhance food security and even enhance social protection.

“And this is in line with our Constitution. Chapter 2 of our Constitution demands the government, federal, state and local government to harness the resources of the nation and promote national prosperity and efficient, dynamic and self reliant economy. This can only be done cooperatively.

“Mr President as an ardent believer in federalism today, presented Renewed Hope Ward based development programme as a collaboration between federal state and local governments, a Federation project and to be funded with the increased revenues accruing to the Federation Account, as well as other programmes that the federal government and states are undertaking.

“Equally, it is to identify in each ward at least 1000 economically active persons that will be supported so that economic activity will be boosted in each ward of the Federation. The idea is to utilize this unique feature of our economy to generate double digit growth in most of the wards as we march towards a $1 trillion economy.”

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  Super Highways.

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, yesterday, 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.

NewGlobe’s Vice President for Policy and Partnerships, Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu, also acknowledged that while notable progress has been made in expanding access to education across the states, much remained to be done to close the learning gap.

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