First Lady Oluremi Tinubu, World Bank Strengthen Partnership on Early Childhood Development

 First Lady Oluremi Tinubu, World Bank Strengthen Partnership on Early Childhood Development

Nigeria's First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has reaffirmed the Federal Government's commitment to investing in early childhood development, describing Nigeria's large population as a major national asset while pledging stronger collaboration with the World Bank and state governments to improve children's health, nutrition, education and overall wellbeing.

First Lady of Nigeria, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, on Monday received a delegation from the World Bank at the State House, Abuja, where both parties reaffirmed their commitment to advancing early childhood development (ECD) as a key driver of Nigeria's long-term growth and prosperity.

Speaking during the meeting, Senator Tinubu stressed that investing in children from their earliest years is essential for improving their growth, learning outcomes and future opportunities.

She noted that the Federal Government remains committed to policies and programmes that promote national development and improve the welfare of citizens.

"The population size of Nigeria is our advantage because Nigeria is a great nation," she said, adding that government ministries have continued to work collaboratively on initiatives that benefit the country.

The First Lady highlighted the importance of environmental sanitation and recalled her collaboration with the Minister of Environment, which led to the Green Challenge initiative aimed at promoting environmental cleanliness.

She also praised the administration of President Bola Tinubu for adopting a multi-sectoral approach to governance, citing ongoing public health campaigns, including tuberculosis awareness and sensitisation efforts.

Describing children as "the joy of our nation," Senator Tinubu assured the World Bank delegation that her office would continue working closely with the wives of state governors to implement programmes that improve the lives of children across the country.

She further disclosed that the Federal Government is prioritising the school feeding programme and expressed confidence that it would be firmly established before the end of the current administration.

"We are looking forward to school feeding. I can assure you that before we finish our tenure, it would have been properly established because Mr President is very passionate about it, even from his days as Governor of Lagos State," she said.

Earlier, the World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Dr. Matthew Verghis, called for deeper collaboration with Nigerian leaders to advance the bank's Early Childhood Development programme.

He described ECD as one of Nigeria's most important long-term investments, noting that the bank's new five-to-six-year Country Partnership Framework places significant emphasis on investing in people through improved healthcare, nutrition, education and skills development.

According to Verghis, investments made from pregnancy through a child's first five years produce significant long-term benefits by improving cognitive development, reducing healthcare costs and helping to break cycles of poverty.

"Nigeria is one of the World Bank's largest partners, and our office here is among the largest in the world," he said.

He explained that Nigeria's success is central to the World Bank's global development targets, particularly in healthcare delivery, broadband expansion, energy access and human capital development.

"If Nigeria does not succeed, the World Bank is not succeeding," Verghis stated.

He also urged the First Lady to leverage her platform to promote a coordinated, multi-sectoral approach that would accelerate the implementation of early childhood development programmes nationwide.

Members of the World Bank delegation commended the alignment between Senator Tinubu's initiatives—especially her campaign against child malnutrition—and the bank's development priorities.

The five-member delegation, led by Dr. Verghis, visited the First Lady to brief her on the World Bank's proposed Early Years Programme for Nigeria, which is currently in its technical and analytical phase ahead of implementation over the next five years.