… as Lagos First Lady Trains 250 Female Farmers
The “Every Home a Garden” National Competition under the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI) Agriculture of the First Lady of Nigeria and Chairman RHI, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, CON, received a boost as Lagos First Lady, Dr. (Mrs.) Claudiana Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu promised to support all 250 Lagos participants in the ongoing National Competition.
The First Lady of Lagos State, Dr. (Mrs.) Claudiana Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu who made the pledge at a Press Conference for Lagos State Participants of the “Every Home a Garden” National Competition held at the Banquet Hall, Lagos House Ikeja, noted that aside from the ₦20 million star prize for the overall winner across the country, the female first-time farmer in Lagos State with the most impressive garden will receive a special prize, with additional prizes for the second and third best gardens respectively.
Dr. Sanwo-Olu explained that after a very rigorous selection process for participants in Lagos State, only 200 successful participants were shortlisted from over 1,000 applicants across all the Five IBILE Divisions of the State, under the First-Timer Farmers category.
She stated that the committee overseeing the initiative from her office employed various elimination strategies, including digital and manual raffles and these efforts were geared to ensure the selection process was fair, unbiased and transparent.
She noted that the First Lady of Nigeria and Chairman RHI, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, CON, rightly believes that embracing home farming will bring much-needed relief to many Nigerians at this crucial time in the Nation, stressing that in line with Mr. President’s Renewed Hope Initiative, the First Lady of Nigeria has launched several programmes such as economic empowerment, social investment, health and education aimed at improving the standard of living and addressing poverty.
While briefing the press, she outlined the various criteria for participation mandated by the Office of the First Lady of Nigeria, which includes only women are eligible to participate, interested participants must be first-time farmers, the farm garden must be located within the residence of the applicant, Lagos residents must have LASRRA Identification Number and a 30-second video recording of the garden must be submitted.
The First Lady revealed that for Lagos State, her office embarked on a sensitisation process, where radio jingles were produced and aired in Pidgin, Yoruba, English, and Egun languages on various radio stations, emphasising that rigorous social media campaign was also adopted to reach a broader audience.
According to her, “It is worth noting that the level of interest expressed by applicants through the application process, reflects the strong interest of women in Lagos State in the competition, despite the challenge of limited land space”.
While charging the participants to maximise the training seminar organised by her office to support them through the competition, she enthused that constituted monitoring teams would visit their gardens periodically to ascertain the progression process of their crops
Earlier in his remarks, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso lauded the initiative as he opined that it will encourage residents to embrace home gardens. Omotoso revealed that some participants were disqualified due to their inability to provide their LASRRA Identification Number, which calls for residents yet to register to do the needful.
While enlightening the participants on the importance of the LASRRA registration and all-purpose card, Omotoso pointed out that the Government, through this registration, acquired comprehensive data of residents across the State, in a bid to provide various amenities for citizens.
In his words, “Lagos is free for all, and if all residents comply to register for LASRRA, it enables the government to plan adequately for the people”.
The Press Conference and Seminar for Lagos Participants also had in attendance the Commissioner for Agriculture, Ms. Abisola Olusanya; the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Mrs. Cecelia Dada and the Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Mr. Jamiu Alli-Balogun.
The participants had insightful training sessions after the Press Briefing on the Home Gardening process and its benefits in a bid to have ardent knowledge for maximum results.