Oluremi Tinubu seeks stronger World Bank partnership on child welfare

First Lady Oluremi Tinubu has called for increased investment in early childhood development, saying it is essential to improving children’s growth, education and long-term productivity.

She made the call on Monday while receiving a delegation from the World Bank led by its Country Director for Nigeria, Matthew Verghis, at the State House in Abuja.

The delegation briefed the First Lady on the World Bank’s proposed five-year Early Childhood Development (ECD) programme for Nigeria, which is currently at the technical and analytical stage.

Speaking during the meeting, Mrs Tinubu said the Federal Government remained committed to policies and programmes that would improve the lives of Nigerians, stressing that the country’s large population is a major advantage.

“The population size of Nigeria alone is our advantage, because Nigeria is a great nation,” she said.

The First Lady noted that ministries and government agencies were already working together to improve public health and environmental sanitation, citing the Green Challenge initiative and nationwide tuberculosis awareness campaign as examples of the government’s multi-sectoral approach.

“You talked about a multi-sectoral approach; that is what we have been doing. I will say that Mr President has gotten himself a wonderful team,” she said.

Mrs Tinubu also pledged to continue working with wives of state governors to drive interventions aimed at improving the welfare of children across the country.