One of the best instance of management, somebody has mentioned, is management BY instance. A great chief doesn’t simply inform her followers what to do; she reveals them the way it’s completed.
As has been noticed over time by those that know her up shut – or have seen her in motion – nobody exemplifies this precept greater than Nigeria’s present First Woman, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, OON, CON. Those that know her greatest would readily let you know that her engagement with folks, and the style during which she approaches her public position – is a mix of onerous and comfortable energy. As each a political partner AND a political participant herself, she is an archetype of each energy (by way of being decisive, particularly in the case of the pursuit of acknowledged goals, or upholding her rules within the face of resistance) and gentleness (by way of being compassionate and empathetic, and visibly manifesting a want to make a optimistic distinction within the lives of others, in addition to a willingness to compromise and yield some floor within the quest for frequent floor).
Since her assumption of workplace as Nigeria’s First Woman on Might 29, 2023, Sen. Tinubu has been up and about, displaying the latter trait for all to see. Although it’s nonetheless early days within the lifetime of the administration of her husband, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a rising variety of Nigerians are starting to sense that even within the face of their despair over the tough financial situations they at present face (partly because of the powerful reforms instituted by this administration), Mrs. Tinubu represents a silver lining of hope within the midst of that despair. In her actions, phrases and engagements with varied teams within the land to date, she has embodied the ‘Renewed Hope’ mantra of the administration; certainly, she is proving by the day that it’s extra than simply an election-winning mantra.
Quite a lot of her engagements in latest weeks serve the butress this conviction – on account of which a rising perspective of goodwill in direction of her is starting to coalesce amongst Nigerians who’re conscious of what she’s doing, and the impression of her engagements – particularly amongst susceptible teams in varied elements of the nation, and in varied areas of nationwide life, from healthcare, to agriculture and meals safety, and to the search for nationwide unity and cohesion.
Some months in the past, the First Woman had trigger to reveal her dedication to decreasing the prevalence of most cancers amongst Nigerians by means of efficient preventive management and advocacy, when she hosted a seminar in collaboration with the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) geared toward selling most cancers consciousness and advocacy programmes amongst residents in African member-states of the group. The occasion, which was formally the third version of the OIC’s Excessive-Stage Regional Seminar, with the theme, ‘Progressive Approaches to Most cancers and Early Detection’, was geared toward offering world specialists (in addition to different First Women of OIC Africa member-states who attended the occasion) with the chance to debate and make suggestions on initiatives to advertise efficient most cancers management and prevention within the OIC’s Africa area.
In her remarks on the event, Sen. Tinubu made clear her willingness – even whereas the Federal Authorities of Nigeria took cost of the diagnostic and remedy element of most cancers care – to take the lead in advocacy to advertise progressive approaches to most cancers prevention and early detection – the precept right here being that, as is usually mentioned, prevention was infinitely higher (and in maybe all instances, cheaper) than remedy. Her place, she mentioned, was triggered by her alarm over the statistics about a rise in most cancers prevalence in Nigeria and throughout the continent. Citing these statistics, she mentioned that amongst ladies, cervical most cancers was now the second commonest sort of the illness in Nigeria. Fortuitously, she added, it was preventable and curable when detected early – a ray of hope which has prompted her to take a stand in championing preventive measures and early detection strategy.
To this finish, the First Woman has since launched an initiative facilitating the introduction of the Human Papilloma Virus Vaccine for the prevention of cervical most cancers in Nigeria, which, she mentioned, marked the start of the inclusion of the HPV Vaccine into the routine immunisation actions of the Nationwide Major Healthcare Improvement Company.
Because the launch, over 9 million women have been absolutely immunized. Additionally due to her advocacy, President Tinubu accepted the growth of entry to most cancers remedy and care – by way of the upgrading of six federal tertiary well being establishments with trendy Brachytherapy and Nuclear Drugs gear and different complimentary services, along with guaranteeing that the well being sector was allotted extra funds within the 2024 funds. Commending the efforts of all stakeholders devoted to ending the scourge of most cancers in Nigeria, the First Woman assured Nigerians that her workplace would proceed to accomplice with all stakeholders to deal with the challenges of late presentation of most cancers instances to well being services throughout the nation.
Mrs. Tinubu has additionally proven the identical dedication to the reason for guaranteeing meals safety in Nigeria. This she demonstrated when she empowered no fewer than 120 ladies farmers within the nation’s South West geopolitical area with the sum of N60m. She introduced the donation through the launch of the 2024 Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI) Ladies Agricultural Help Programme for the South-West in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital – simply months after an identical launch for the South-East zone in Owerri, the Imo State capital.
On the Abeokuta occasion, it was disclosed that beneficiaries, drawn every from the six states within the zone, could be given the sum of N500,000 underneath the initiative – with the First Woman formally presenting cheques of N10m to every of the six South-West States of Ogun, Lagos, Osun, Oyo, Ondo and Ekiti for disbursement to 120 ladies farmers chosen throughout the states. The President’s spouse additionally used the event to announce a money grant of N100,000 every for 100 folks residing with incapacity in Ogun State – which, she mentioned, they had been to plough into their varied companies as a part of their dividends from the Renewed Hope Initiative – whose actions on this regard, she added, had been occurring concurrently within the states of Plateau (for the North Central geopolitical zone); Borno (North East) and Kebbi (North West) in a bid to assist fulfil the Tinubu’s administration’s pledge to advertise ladies farmers throughout the nation. She urged the beneficiaries to grab the chance of the assist to develop their farming entrepreneurship, enhance on their contributions to nationwide and native meals manufacturing, and function position fashions to aspiring ladies within the nation. She additionally known as on all stakeholders together with authorities officers, group leaders and NGOs to assist native farmers and redouble their efforts to extend meals manufacturing within the nation. One of many highlights of the Abeokuta occasion was the presentation of farming enter comparable to luggage of fertiliser, cassava stems, herbicides, luggage of maize, amongst different gadgets, to over 2,000 farmers in preparation for the 2024 planting season.
With out unity and peace, the cliche goes, there may be no significant progress. The hunt for nationwide cohesion amongst Nigerians within the face of the nation’s staggering cultural range is one which has engaged patriotic residents of this nice nation for the reason that daybreak of political independence. Unity, it has been proven, is constructed on frequent goal, and cemented on the rules of shared values, shared duties and shared advantages.
This understanding has led the First Woman, in her bid to contribute her bit to nationwide unity, to lend her weight to numerous initiatives geared toward cementing the bond of understanding amongst Nigerians, regardless of their background or partisan affiliation. One in every of such latest initiatives was the #OneNigeriaUnityFabric competitors. Organized underneath the auspices of the Renewed Hope Initiative, the competitors will see the winner cart house a whopping money prize of N20m. Saying the competition some months again, Sen. Tinubu revealed that the winner, to be introduced in September, will earn the prize to assist their profession. The aim of the unity material is to showcase the distinctiveness of Nigeria among the many comity of countries, and the various cultures and ethnic nationalities that make up the wealthy tapestry of Nigeria. The competitors, which is open to younger folks aged between 15 to 25 years, will reveal the crucial nexus between creative creativity, inter-cultural perceive and nationwide greatness.
With the above interventions, and others too quite a few to articulate right here, Nigeria’s First Woman has demonstrated that she intends to make use of her place – as each a political partner and a political participant of no imply pedigree – to affect optimistic outcomes within the lifetime of her nation, and within the fortunes of her fellow-citizens.
In a rustic the place good governance continues to be at a premium, Sen. Oluremi Tinubu’s instance of management is clearly price of emulation.
Keem Abdul, writer and author, hails from Lagos. He may be reached by way of +2348038795377 or Akeemabdul2023@gmail.com
