No child should go hungry, says Oluremi Tinubu
….RHI expands food bank initiative to tackle malnutrition
First Lady Oluremi Tinubu, has announced plans to expand the National Food Bank Programme and nutrition support initiatives across the country, stressing that no Nigerian child should be allowed to go hungry.
Speaking at the second-quarter meeting with wives of state governors at the State House, Abuja, on Wednesday, Tinubu said the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI) was scaling up interventions aimed at tackling child malnutrition, particularly among vulnerable families, pregnant women and nursing mothers.
She urged governors’ wives to play active roles in identifying and supporting malnourished children in their states.
“Our children are not supposed to be going hungry,” the First Lady said. “No matter what, when you see a child that is malnourished in your state, you have to take them and make sure that they are properly cared for.”
According to Tinubu, the National Food Bank Programme, inaugurated in Abuja on February 17, 2026, and subsequently launched in the North-East geopolitical zone on April 27, will continue to expand to other parts of the country.
She explained that food banks established under the RHI would be located close to primary healthcare centres to enable beneficiaries to access nutritional supplements and healthcare services simultaneously.
“These food banks are built next to the primary health care centres so that the ones that need supplement can get their supplements. Lactating mothers and pregnant women too will be given food items from the food bank,” she said.
The First Lady disclosed that the initiative is being supported by development partners and agencies, including the Bank of Agriculture, the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Dangote Group and the National Population Commission.
“What we have done so far is to come up with the strategy, which for me is a very good example,” Tinubu said. “It is now left for the first ladies to take it upon themselves and make sure that the states have more food banks because our children are not supposed to be going hungry.”
