The Federal Government has moved to close Nigeria’s child identity and healthcare participation gaps through the Renewed Hope Baby Support programme.
Vice President Kashim Shettima disclosed this on Thursday when the management team of the North East Development Commission, led by its Managing Director/CEO, Mohammed Goni Alkali, presented the programme’s execution framework to him at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
In a statement signed by Stanley Nkwocha, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications in the Office of the Vice President, Shettima said the initiative aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of 2026 as the Year of the Family and Social Protection.
He said the programme, initiated by the NEDC, is designed to provide Nigerian children with structured identity, healthcare participation and long-term opportunities.
Shettima described the initiative as timely and strategic, noting that it fits into the North East Stabilisation and Development Masterplan.
He said it also supports the masterplan’s key pillars of a peaceful society, healthy citizens and an educated population.
The Vice President urged the NEDC to work with the Federal Ministry of Regional Development and other relevant agencies to ensure the programme achieves maximum impact.
According to him, the programme will support vulnerable families and serve as a structured palliative to cushion the impact of ongoing economic reforms.
Earlier, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Regional Development and NEDC, Dr. Mariam Masha, said Nigeria records about 7.6 million births annually, but fewer than half are formally registered within the first year.
She said the gap leaves millions of children outside national visibility and weakens planning across education, health, economic and social systems.
Masha explained that the Renewed Hope Baby Support programme is designed to ensure every Nigerian child begins life through a structured pathway linked to identity, healthcare and opportunity.
She said the programme is not a traditional welfare intervention, but a national operating model for identity inclusion, developmental health participation and long-term human capital development.
Shettima said the Presidency would provide further details on the implementation and rollout strategy on May 27, 2026, as part of activities marking Children’s Day.
