Nigeria's First Lady Oluremi Tinubu vows protection and support for widows

On International Widows’ Day (June 23, 2026), Nigeria’s First Lady Oluremi Tinubu announced a series of measures to safeguard widows and improve their livelihoods. She condemned harmful practices such as disinheritance, property grabbing, forced confinement and degrading mourning rites, calling them criminal and citing the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, 2015, which provides up to two years’ imprisonment and a ₦500,000 fine for offenders.

Tinubu said the government will enforce existing laws more rigorously and raise public awareness to protect widows from abuse. Through the Renewed Hope Social Impact Intervention (RHSII‑774), the federal government is rolling out programmes across all 774 local government areas. Seventeen clusters of widows – each comprising 50 women – were enrolled in the National Health Insurance Scheme in 2025, and each cluster received a ₦500,000 grant to develop cooperative businesses. Beneficiaries have accessed vocational training, digital‑skills courses, agricultural inputs, start‑up kits and psychosocial support.

The Police Officers’ Wives Association in Jigawa State also distributed cash (₦30,000 each) and food items to at least 20 widows as part of the day’s celebrations. Tinubu highlighted that more than two million widows in Nigeria play a critical role in family and community stability, and that the new initiatives aim to ensure “widowhood should never become a sentence to poverty, exclusion, discrimination, or despair.”