Community Food Bank: Oluremi Tinubu and Namadi’s shared vision
By Lawal Jet Kaugama
When the First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senator Oluremi Bola Ahmed Tinubu,touched down in Hadejia for the North-West launch of the National Community Food Bank Programme, she was not merely inaugurating a federal initiative, but was, in effect, endorsing a model of governance that Governor Umar Namadi has spent the better part of his tenure quietly constructing in Jigawa State.
That the state was chosen to host this landmark event is no accident of geography; it is recognition of groundwork already laid.
Food security, as Governor Namadi rightly observed during the visit, is not simply a matter of producing enough food. It is about ensuring that the most vulnerable among us, children, pregnant women, nursing mothers, are not left behind in the distribution of plenty.
This distinction matters, and it is precisely the philosophy that has shaped the Namadi administration’s approach to social welfare since inception.
Consider the numbers. Through the MASAKI Nutrition Programme alone, Jigawa State screened approximately 245,000 children for malnutrition in 2024, a figure that surged to over 382,000 in 2025.
More tellingly, the number of children successfully recovering from moderate acute malnutrition rose from roughly 19,000 to more than 43,000 within the same period. These are not abstract statistics; they represent tens of thousands of families who watched their children regain strength and vitality because a state government chose to prioritise nutrition as a pillar of public health rather than an afterthought.
Equally significant is the administration’s investment in sustainable solutions. The training of 600 women in the production of nutritious complementary food using locally sourced ingredients reflects a governance style that does not merely distribute aid but builds capacity. It is one thing to feed a child today; it is another to empower a mother to nourish her household indefinitely. This is the kind of layered thinking that distinguishes lasting policy from temporary relief.
Governor Namadi’s Food and Nutrition Policy and Social Protection Policy, frameworks established well before the federal food bank initiative arrived in Hadejia, demonstrate a leader who anticipated the direction of national priorities rather than merely reacting to them.
When the First Lady’s programme arrived, it did not need to build from scratch in Jigawa. It found fertile ground, existing structures, trained personnel and a governor already fluent in the language of nutrition security.
It is also worth noting the governor’s pledge, made on behalf of his fellow North-West governors, to support the Community Food Bank Programme through storage facilities, distribution networks and close community engagement.
This is not the posture of a leader seeking photo opportunities but of one who understands that federal programmes succeed or fail at the point of implementation, where state governments either rise to the occasion or allow good intentions to dissolve into bureaucratic inertia. Governor Namadi has chosen the former path.
The commissioning of the Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu Academy and the Oluremi Tinubu Clinic, both delivered through NITDA’s investment under the leadership of Director-General Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, further illustrates how Jigawa State has positioned itself as a willing and capable partner for federal and institutional collaboration. These facilities, expanding access to quality education and healthcare, complement the human capital development agenda that has become a hallmark of the Namadi administration.
A government that attracts such partnerships is one that has demonstrated credibility, transparency and a genuine appetite for development.
What emerges from the events in Hadejia is a portrait of governance rooted in humility and foresight.
Governor Namadi did not approach this occasion as a moment to claim credit, but as an opportunity to thank the First Lady, President, fellow governors and development partners for their roles in a shared mission. This spirit of collaboration, rather than competition, is precisely what food security and social welfare programmes require to succeed at scale.
As Jigawa State continues to record measurable progress in child nutrition, maternal health and community welfare, Governor Namadi’s leadership deserves recognition not for grand declarations but for the patient, methodical work of building systems that outlast any single administration.
In a time dominated by short-term gestures, his administration’s commitment to structural solutions, evidenced in screening numbers, recovery rates, trained women, and policy frameworks, offers a template worth emulating across the North-West and beyond.
Jigawa State’s hosting of the National Community Food Bank Programme launch is, ultimately, a vindication of years of deliberate investment in the wellbeing of its people.
Governor Namadi has earned this moment, and Jigawa sons and daughters are right to take pride in it.
Lawal Jet Kaugama, a commentator on national issues, writes from Kano