Shettima urges partnerships on Renewed Hope Baby Support

From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja

Vice President Kashim Shettima has praised the North East Development Commission (NEDC) for launching the Renewed Hope Baby Support (RHBS) programme, a national effort to bridge critical gaps in child identity registration and healthcare access while creating long-term financial pathways for Nigerian children.

Speaking on Thursday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, during a presentation by the NEDC’s management team led by Managing Director/CEO Mohammed Alkali, the Vice President linked the initiative directly to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s designation of 2026 as the Year of the Family and Social Protection.

“As you are aware, Mr President has declared 2026 as the Year of the Family and Social Protection, with clear directives for implementation across all levels of government. I commend the NEDC for taking proactive steps to translate this vision into concrete action, particularly through the Renewed Hope Baby Support (RHBS) programme,” Shettima stated.

He described RHBS as “a very timely and strategic initiative. It sits squarely within the North East Stabilization and Development Masterplan, aligning perfectly with its three critical pillars: peaceful society, healthy citizens, and an educated populace.”

Shettima called for “seamless collaboration between the NEDC, the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, and other relevant agencies to ensure the RHBS achieves maximum impact.” He added that the programme would deliver direct benefits to vulnerable families, acting as “a strategic palliative that cushions the effects of necessary economic reforms in a dignified and structured manner.”

“It demonstrates that while we implement difficult but essential policies, we remain deeply committed to the welfare of our people — especially the women and children of the North East,” he noted, positioning the NEDC as a vital force in President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda. “This is the kind of focused, results-oriented intervention we expect from our Regional Development Commissions.”

The Vice President announced that the Presidency would provide further details on RHBS implementation by May 27, 2026, ahead of Children’s Day.

In her briefing, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Regional Development and NEDC (Office of the Vice President), Mariam Masha, highlighted Nigeria’s birth registration crisis: approximately 7.6 million births occur annually, but “fewer than half are formally registered within the first year, resulting in millions of children beginning life outside national visibility and weakening long-term planning across education, health, economic, and social systems.”

“RHBS is positioned as a structured national programme, not a traditional welfare intervention. It uses milestone-linked support to connect children from birth to formal systems of identity, health, and opportunity,” Dr Masha explained. “The programme serves as the operational mechanism to translate the President’s directive placing Nigerian families at the centre of governance into measurable outcomes, with a strong focus on early childhood development.”

She stressed that RHBS represents “a structured national operating model for identity inclusion, developmental health participation, and long-term human capital development,” adding, “The necessary infrastructure and political mandate already exist — what is now required is disciplined execution.”