Nigeria’s First Lady, Remi Tinubu Meets With State Governors’ Wives In Abuja, Details Emerge

The First Lady of Nigeria, Oluremi Tinubu, held a meeting with the wives of state governors in Abuja.

VerseNews reports that during the meeting, she highlighted the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria, with approximately 1.98 million people living with the virus, emphasizing the need for collective efforts to address the issue.

Tinubu shared insights gained from experiences of First Ladies from other nations and expressed concern about the alarming and unacceptable statistics related to HIV/AIDS in Nigeria.

“In recent times, I have been sharing experiences from the First Ladies of other nations to help me position myself appropriately for the task ahead. Some of the things I discovered were that HIV/AIDS is still very prevalent in Nigeria”.

“Estimates from the 2023 Spectrum by the Federal Ministry of Health, the Nigeria HIV/AIDS Indicator and Impact Survey, there are about 1.98 million persons living with HIV/AIDS in the country. Adults aged 15 years and above make up about 1.8 million People Living with HIV (PLWHIV), of which 1.1 million are adult women.

“Equally, 1 in 7 babies born in the world is a Nigerian Child, underscoring the significance of the nation’s role in the global fight against AIDS. Children contribute 23% of new HIV infections in Nigeria, almost four times more than the 8% contribution of key populations, this is according to the Mode of Transmission Study. These statistics are alarming, embarrassing, and unacceptable,” she said.

She reiterated the commitment of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration to leaving a lasting legacy and outlined plans to work with governors’ wives to complement the President’s efforts.

She continued; “I have got the agreement of the Honourable Minister for Health, Professor Ali Pate on a partnership with the Renewed Hope Initiative, RHI to increase advocacy on the HIV/AIDS epidemic, also working with all the State First Ladies to ensure that Nigeria achieves an end to HIV/AIDS by the year 2030”.

The First Lady also announced the upcoming Renewed Hope Initiative Elderly Support Scheme (RHIESS), scheduled for December 21, 2023.

As part of RHIESS, 250 elderly persons in each state will receive One Hundred Thousand Naira each, along with medical screening and other benefits.

Drafts totaling Twenty-Five Million Naira were presented to the First Ladies of each state for distribution to the beneficiaries.