President Bola Tinubu on Thursday urged state governors to focus more on improving the lives of Nigerians by investing in rural electrification, agricultural mechanisation, poverty reduction, and infrastructure development.
The President’s appeal came after the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Abubakar Bagudu, presented the Renewed Hope Ward Development Programme (RHWDP) during the 150th meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC), held at the State House Council Chambers in Abuja.
“I want to appeal to you; let us change the story of our people in the rural areas,” the President was quoted as saying in a statement 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. We know the situation in the rural areas, let us collaborate and do what will benefit the people,” he added.
President Tinubu called on state governments to partner with the Federal Government to drive meaningful development in rural communities.
“We have to embrace mechanisation in agriculture, fight insecurity and improve school enrolment through school-feeding,” he said.
To accelerate the delivery of key initiatives, the President directed NEC to establish a committee to facilitate the implementation of legacy projects, including the Lagos-Calabar and Sokoto-Badagry Super Highways.
He also approved the relocation of the Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation to the Presidency to streamline the execution of national infrastructure projects.
Meanwhile, NEC endorsed the RHWDP, a ward-based development strategy designed to achieve double-digit economic growth by directly impacting Nigeria’s 8,809 administrative wards across all 36 states.
The programme, presented by Bagudu, was fully approved as a joint effort involving the federal, state, and local governments.
As outlined in the statement, the RHWDP aligns with Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which targets a \$1 trillion economy by 2030, requiring an annual growth rate of 15 per cent—far above the current rate of less than four per cent.
Grounded in the 1999 Constitution and the Fifth Alteration Act, the RHWDP emphasizes food security and improved production methods as part of its strategic objectives.
The programme aims to support economic activity through minimum engagement thresholds of 1,000 economically active individuals per smaller ward and 2,000 for larger ones.
A National Steering Committee, comprising representatives from all six geopolitical zones, will oversee its implementation, with the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning serving as the secretariat.