A 62-year-old retiree, Mrs Veronica Kidafa Mabaya from Borno State has emerged as the winner of the First Lady’s Renewed Hope Initiative #EveryHomeAGarden” Competition.
Mrs Mabaya was announced by the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu in Abuja at the unveiling of the winner of the contest which began in October 2023 to mobilise Nigerian women to embrace home gardening to guarantee food security across the country.
Senator Tinubu commended all women who participated in the #EveryHomeAGarden competition, saying they are not just winners in their own rights, but are contributors in ensuring food security in Nigeria.
The First Lady noted the immense contributions of women to nation building.
In a statement by her media aide, Busola Kukoyi, the First Lady added that women have a vital role to play in the agricultural sector and food revolution drive of the President Bola Tinubu-led administration.
“I am glad to see that this competition has created a positive awareness in home gardening for women across the country. I commend our first time women farmers for their passion and dedication to ensuring food security for their families and neighbours. I say well done.”
Senator Tinubu noted that this passion by the women made it a hard task to get a winner out of the 20 entries submitted from 19 states and the FCT to the office of the RHI.
“In reviewing the entries, members of the RHI Governing Board sat down to thoroughly select the best 3 entries. Delegations headed by the wife of the Speaker, House of Representatives, wife of the Deputy Senate President and wife of the Chief of Staff to the President travelled to Borno, FCT and Sokoto to inspect the gardens before selecting the overall winner, as we have just seen in the documentary.
“We were all very impresses with quality of entries, making it hard to choose a winner.
Earlier, the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Sabi Abdullahi said the ministry would subsequently adopt the competition under its National Agricultural Urban Programme as an annual event.
Also, the National Agricultural Development Fund, NADF through its Executive Secretary/CEO, Mohammed Ibrahim announced its support for the women farmers with training opportunities and additional cash rewards for the winner and finalists.
The winner, Mrs Mbaya, a retiree who resides in Borno State went home with N20 million from the RHI, N15 million from NADF and N1 million from the Borno State Government.
The other 19 finalists got N1million from the RHI, N1 million each from their state governments and N500,000 each from NADF.