Veronica Mbaya, a housewife from Borno State, has emerged as the winner of the N25 million grand prize from the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI)’s #EveryHomeAGarden competition.
This competition, launched on October 25, 2023, by the First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, is part of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration’s ongoing efforts to promote food security through home gardening.
Mbaya was formally announced as the winner at a special event held at the State House in Abuja, where the First Lady presented her with the prize. The competition’s star prize was N20 million, with the National Agricultural Development Fund (NADFUND) contributing an additional N5 million to support the initiative and reward the winner.
In addition to Mbaya’s grand prize, the remaining 19 finalists from the competition were each awarded N2.5 million, which included contributions from NADFUND, governors’ wives, and the RHI.
During the event, First Lady Oluremi Tinubu praised the high quality of the entries, noting that the selection process had been challenging due to the impressive submissions. She stated, “We were all very impressed with the quality of entries, making it hard to choose a winner. As we have promised, the winner of the #EveryHomeAGarden competition will be going home today with N20,000,000.00.”
Moreover, Tinubu highlighted the generous support provided by the RHI, which included an additional N1 million for each finalist from the state-level submissions. State First Ladies and RHI Coordinators were also set to contribute an extra N1 million each to the finalists.
This competition aims to encourage home gardening as a means to boost food production and sustainability, in line with the government’s broader food security initiatives.
