- Tinubu mandated NEC to form a committee to speed up key national infrastructure and development projects.
- Renewed Hope Ward Development Programme focuses on economic intervention across Nigeria’s 8,809 administrative wards.
President Bola Tinubu has urged state governors to prioritise poverty eradication and economic revitalisation through rural electrification, agricultural mechanisation and infrastructure development.
Tinubu made the call after a presentation on the Renewed Hope Ward Development Programme by the minister of budget and economic planning, Abubakar Bagudu.
The presentation was made during the 150th meeting of the National Economic Council held at the Council Chambers of the State House, Abuja.
“I want to appeal to you; let us change the story of our people in the rural areas,” Tinubu was quoted as saying in a statement.
The statement was issued on Thursday by the senior special assistant to the president on media and communications (Office of the Vice President), Stanley Nkwocha.
“The economy is working. We are on the path of recovery, but we need to stimulate growth in the rural areas,” the president said.
He added, “We know the situation in the rural areas, let us collaborate and do what will benefit the people.”
The president called on the governors to work with the Federal Government to enhance economic development in communities across the 36 states.
“We have to embrace mechanisation in agriculture, fight insecurity and improve school enrolment through school-feeding,” Tinubu said.
He directed NEC to set up a committee to accelerate the delivery of his legacy projects, including the Lagos-Calabar and Sokoto-Badagry super highways.
He also ordered that the Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation be moved to the presidency to fast-track implementation of national infrastructure.
The NEC approved the Renewed Hope Ward Development Programme as a strategy to promote development in all 8,809 wards in the country.
Bagudu presented the programme during the council meeting, with governors agreeing to adopt it as a collaborative model among all tiers of government.
The strategy forms part of the Renewed Hope Agenda, which targets a $1 trillion economy by 2030 through a 15 per cent growth rate.
The country’s current economic growth rate remains under four per cent, according to government projections.
The RHWDP is backed by the 1999 Constitution and the Fifth Alteration Act, mandating policy to ensure food security and improved production.
The programme aims to support economic activities through a minimum of 1,000 active individuals in small wards and 2,000 in larger wards.
A national steering committee will be established for the implementation of the programme across all six geopolitical zones.
The ministry of budget and economic planning will serve as the secretariat for the committee.
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