NEWS
Tinubu’s Wife to Disburse N200,000 Each to 250 Senior Citizens in Benue
From Attah Ede, Makurdi
Wife of the Nigeria President, Senator Oluremi Tinubu on Tuesday said the sum of N200,000 each would be disburse to 250 elderly people in Benue State as part of the launch of the 2nd edition of the Renewed Hope Initiative Elderly Support Scheme (RHIESS) across the country.
She said the theme of the 2nd edition of the RHIESS was “Total Wellness: Happy, Healthy and Prosperous Lifestyle” aimed at promoting the welfare of Nigeria’s senior citizens.
Senator Oluremi Tinubu who was represented by Scholastica Bem-sor, Special Adviser to Benue State Governor on Women Affairs and State Coordinator of the Renewed Hope Initiative, said the program is targeted at Nigerians with the ages 65 and above.
She revealed that 250 elderly beneficiaries would be selected annually across all 36 states of the federation, including Federal Capital Territory (FCT), including members of the Defence and Police Officers’ Wives Association (DEPOWA).
“Notably, the financial grant has been increased from N100,000 to N200,000 per beneficiary, with a total of N1.9 billion set for nationwide disbursement. The initiative’s focus on health and wellness, offering free medical check-ups and support to ensure elderly citizens lead healthier lives.
“I want to encourage the beneficiaries to maintain healthy lifestyles, Eat well, stay hydrated, do little exercises like walking, and get adequate rest and spend quality time with loved ones and do what makes you happy.”
She disclosed that the Governing Board of the renewed hope initiative had increased the grant from N100,000 to N200,000 for the year to provide further support to elderly citizens during the festive period.
According to her, a total of N1.9 billion would be disbursed across the country.
In his remarks, Benue State Governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Iormem Alia, represented by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Relations, Mary Yisa, expressed gratitude to the First Lady for prioritizing the elderly across Nigeria and in Benue State, noting that 250 elderly individuals benefited from the programme’s first edition and lauded the increase in financial support and the additional provision of medical outreach services, including malaria treatment and eye check-ups.
Alia highlighted the alignment of the Renewed Hope Initiative with his administration’s social programs, such as the ‘Alia Cares’ empowerment scheme and the ‘Benue Alia Palm Project’, aimed at boosting food security through palm oil production.
He also announced progress on the construction of a state-of-the-art cancer treatment center at Benue State University, Makurdi, designed to serve as a regional medical hub.
Acknowledging the elderly as custodians of societal values and wisdom, Governor Alia urged beneficiaries to use the financial support wisely and also actively participate in the medical outreach to improve their health.
In her opening remarks, the Special Adviser on Women Affairs, Hon. Scholastica Bem-sor outlined the Renewed Hope Initiative’s broad focus areas, including Education, Agriculture, Health, Economic Empowerment, and Social Investment.
She praised the First Lady for her unwavering support for the less privileged and disclosed significant achievements under the Tinubu administration, such as empowering women in agriculture with N500,000 each, providing food relief to widows and internally displaced persons, and supporting petty traders with N50,000 grants.
In their goodwill message, the Special Adviser on Beautification, Member Dekera and Helen Agaigbe, State Woman Leader, commended Governor Alia’s administration for amplifying women’s voices in governance and reaffirmed their support for the Tinubu-led government.
Terna Andural, Special Adviser on Community Relations, called for more initiatives to uplift vulnerable women in society, recognizing their resilience and industrious nature.
There were other goodwill messages from zonal representatives, including Hon. Janet Orukuna (Zone A), Grace Asor (Zone B), and Patience Erube (Zone C), who applauded Senator Oluremi Tinubu for her unwavering commitment to empowering women and elderly citizens.
The launch ceremony also featured a medical outreach offering services such as malaria screening, blood pressure checks, eye examinations, free medications, and glasses, reaffirming the government’s commitment to enhancing the health and well-being of Nigeria’s elderly population.
Experts in social and economic sectors have advocated proactive financial regulatory measures to ensure probity and accountability in the implementation of the 2025 budget.The experts, including economics, academics, public administrators and entrepreneurs, spoke in Bauchi, Dutse and Gombe while reacting to the 2025 budget presentation to the National Assembly by President Bola Tinubu.
They said the measure was imperative to stimulate successful implementation of development programmes outlined in the proposed estimate. Tinubu on Wednesday presented a proposed N47.96 trillion government expenditure for 2025 fiscal year.Highlights of the budget allocations included N4.91 trillion for defence and security; infrastructure N4.06 trillion, health N2.48 trillion and education N3.52 trillionThe budget seeks to restore macroeconomic stability; enhance the business environment, foster inclusive growth, employment and poverty reduction as well as promote equitable income distribution and human capital development.Mr Abubakar Garba, a Bauchi-based entrepreneur, said the proposed estimate marked a significant milestone in Tinubu’s effort to drive economic growth and development in Nigeria.He said the budget was a clear indication of the president’s commitment towards revamping Nigeria’s economy.Dr Adamu Hassan, a lecturer at the Federal Polytechnic Bauchi, said the budget would make a positive impact on Nigerians.“The proposed budget allocation to key sectors such as education, healthcare and infrastructure development will go a long way in addressing the developmental challenges facing our country,” he said.He said the government also planned to drive inflation down from 34.6 per cent to 15 per cent, and improve the exchange rate from approximately N1,700 to N1,500 per U.S. dollar, and increase crude oil production to 2.06 million barrels per day.According to Hassan, Tinubu administration’s reforms are beginning to yield positive results, which will boost the social and economic fabric of Nigerian society.Also, Mr Gad Daniel, Executive Director, Maltex Development Initiative, expressed optimism over the increased budgetary allocation to defence, adding that it would address insecurity in the country. He said the improved allocation for infrastructure development would create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive.A farmer, Kabiru Musa, commended Tinubu’s proposed farmer support programme in the coming year, and called for measures to guard against diversion of fertilisers and inputs.Musa noted that without addressing the issue of inputs not getting to the genuine farmers, efforts of the administration in food security would not be achieved.Corroborating Musa, a female farmer, Jane Ayuba said strict monitoring mechanisms would prevent middlemen from diverting inputs meant for farmers, especially fertilisers and agrochemicals.She urged the Federal Government to adopt multi-crop support as against the usual rice, wheat, maize, sorghum among others.“The issue of funding and input support to farmers is a good policy statement if there will be a political will to push it to fruition. “Many people have embraced agriculture but insecurity has driven them away from their farmlands. “If there’ll be support in terms of subsidised farm inputs, fertiliser, that’ll be a great boost to agriculture as more people will leverage on the advantage to increase productivity,” she said.Similarly, Williams Attah, a journalist in Gombe, said the government’s focus in tackling insecurity would encourage more farmers to return to their farmlands.He called for proactive measures to address insecurity preventing farmers from carrying out their activities, especially farmer/herder clashes.However, Ahmad Balarabe, a resident of Dutse, said that effective monitoring and regulatory financial framework were necessary to guide implementation of the budget.This, he said, would ensure budget tracking and policy implementation to stimulate sustainable social and economic development outlined in the proposed budget.He said the increased allocation to security and social sectors would enhance access to quality education, healthcare service delivery, to improve the overall wellbeing of the citizens.Also contributing, Zulkiflu Muhammad and Mrs Zainab Ahmad, urged the government to ensure that all public schools, including tertiary institutions work optimally, considering the huge allocation to the sectors. (NAN)
Dangote Petroleum Refinery has announced a reduction in prices of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, to N899.50 per litre, saying the move was to offer relief to Nigerians during the holiday season.The price cut follows an earlier reduction to N970 per litre on November 24 and aims to ease transportation costs as festive activities peak.
In a statement issued by the Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer of Dangote Group, Anthony Chiejina, on Thursday, the refinery also announced the introduction of a special holiday offer. According to the statement, for every litre purchased with cash, consumers can buy an additional litre on credit, backed by bank guarantees from Access Bank, First Bank, or Zenith Bank.Chiejina stated that the price adjustment reflects the refinery’s commitment to making high-quality petroleum products more accessible.
Some of the released EndBadGovernance protesters arrested during the August 2024 nationwide protests in Kaduna said they were never tortured while in detention.They also stated that they never saw their alleged sponsor, Khalid while in detention.Narrating their accounts after their release, they said they were treated fairly during their stay in detention.
One of the released protesters, Dahiru Hamza from Tudun Wada, Kaduna, stated that their release followed the new DSS Director-General’s decision. He explained, “‘Honestly, I was not happy with the person that sponsored us to the protest, Khalid.“This was because he convinced us to believe that he had police authorisation to embark on the protest, only for us to end up in DSS custody.“But, we were lucky; since our arrest, we were never tortured or maltreated.” I sometimes challenged our sponsor, who was with us in the same room for days.” None of us was tortured in that room, and I never saw him being tortured either.”Hamza further added that after his arrest, he became scared, thinking he would be maltreated.He added,”But, that never happened. After writing my statement, I was even given food to eat before my detention, and the medical team attended to us.”Hamza said the only problem they faced was being confined into a place because they were not used to being kept in one place for a long time as a DJ.He added,”Apart from that, nobody beat or maltreated us.“You know it was not easy to stay in a place for days or more than a month without knowing your fate, even if you are well fed.“That, I will say, was the problem, but nobody beat us in detention.“If I had been tortured, now that I’m free from detention, I would not be afraid to say I was tortured, but I was not.” I don’t know why Khalid claimed he was tortured in detention.”Similarly, another released protester, Abdullahi Isa, arrested on August 2nd, said nobody touched him in the name of beating in detention.Isa said, “We were in the room with Khalid, and I can tell you for a fact that nobody touched me or beat anybody among us.” I never saw him being beaten or tortured.”He said they were not expecting to be released until they were called upon, that the new DGSS said their guardians were invited to write a statement on their behalf, and they were allowed to go after that.” Abdullahi concluded that since their release from the DSS on the order of the new DGSS, none of the officers of the organisation had called or harassed them.Isa averred, ” We later heard that the new DGSS even told the Kaduna DSS to review all operation and legal procedures of their cases and that of Khalid in Court.“That why why he is a free man today even though he sponsored us.” (NAN)
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