Nigeria is a country where political gestures are often wrapped in tinsel but rarely reach the grassroots. In such a things-might-not-be-what-they-seem setting, the First Lady, Senator Remi Tinubu, is carving out her own corner of relevance. Yet it is not with fanfare, but with injections and dignity kits.
Her recent N1billion donation to the National Cancer Fund through the Renewed Hope Initiative may not reverse inflation or fix power outages, but it speaks to a soft power often dismissed in Nigeria’s harsh political theatre: care. At a time when hunger is the headline and cynicism the default setting, the First Lady has made health – particularly women’s health – a political priority. It’s not glamorous, but it’s needed.
Even her fiercest critics, quick to see every gesture through the lens of privilege, must contend with the numbers: 12 million girls vaccinated against HPV in just nine months, thanks in part to her advocacy. These are not abstract figures. They are future women spared the horror of cervical cancer. In a political environment where optics often eclipse outcomes, this is a measurable impact.
But let’s be honest. Senator Remi is not just any First Lady. She is a political thoroughbred – former senator, pastor, wife to a president whose popularity rides a rollercoaster. That makes her every action both a humanitarian gesture and a political signal. For her loyalists, this is the mother of the nation rising to the hour. For her detractors, it’s optics wrapped in philanthropy.
Yet somewhere between both camps lies a simple truth: if a billion naira towards cancer prevention is political theatre, let’s have more of it. Nigerians are tired of empty speeches. They’ll take vaccines and dignity kits if that’s what’s on offer.
So, maybe – just maybe – Senator Remi’s milk of human kindness isn’t performative. Maybe it’s just milk. And in today’s Nigeria, that’s something.
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