ABUJA, Nigeria – First Lady Senator Oluremi Tinubu has declared that strategic investments in early childhood development are non-negotiable for unlocking the human capital potential and long-term economic growth of the country.
According to an executive session held at the State House, Okay News reports that the First Lady hosted a high-level five-man delegation from the World Bank to review the institutional framework for an upcoming five-year Early Years Programme focusing on maternal nutrition, sanitation, and foundational education.
During the briefing, World Bank Country Director Dr. Matthew Verghis emphasized that Nigeria stands as one of the institution’s largest global partners, noting that the bank’s international targets for healthcare delivery, broadband expansion, and energy access cannot succeed globally if Nigeria does not succeed. Verghis explained that while public investments spanning from pregnancy to age five yield exceptionally high returns by breaking multi-dimensional poverty cycles, the delayed nature of these economic benefits requires strong political leadership to execute successfully.
In her response, Oluremi Tinubu assured the delegation of her office’s commitment to mobilizing the wives of state governors to fast-track a unified, cross-sectoral implementation phase. She noted that the federal government is heavily focused on critical civic needs like environmental sanitation through the Green Challenge initiative and stated that a sustainable national school feeding program would be fully established before the administration concludes its current tenure.
