First Lady Oluremi Tinubu has described living within the Aso Rock Presidential Villa as “quite secluded,” as a result, she focused her philanthropic efforts on young women.
She expressed this in her 52-page memoir, The Journey of Grace: Giving Thanks in All Things, which was published to commemorate her 65th birthday.
The book, broken over five chapters spanning 2021 to 2025, follows her spiritual journey with her husband’s climb to the presidency.
Mrs. Tinubu wrote, “Life at the (Resident) Presidential Villa can be quite secluded.
“So getting busy when I do not have much to do, Daughters of Zelophehad Ministries came quite handy.”
During this time, Tinubu stated that she recorded her first podcast for DOZ Ministries, which grew into a monthly message to young girls and married women.
“Sometimes, I record episodes ahead, and some friends of like minds join some of our recordings,” she added.
She elucidated that the initiative fulfilled a pledge she made to God that if her husband became president, she would not stop speaking to young women.
“Scriptural things are not political; there should always be a straight line differentiating both sides,” Tinubu said, recalling how she had visited universities before 2023 to speak with female students “at the crossroads of life trying to understand the true meaning of their purpose.”
The podcast, titled The Conversation, was intended to be brief and straightforward since, in her words, “our young people get distracted easily.”
Aside from ministry, Mrs. Tinubu discussed her involvement in establishing the Renewed Hope Agenda, a social intervention platform that she leads.
She stated that she chose its Board of Trustees and Governing Council prior to the organization’s debut meeting on July 7, 2023, and that she opened its first account with leftover campaign monies and gifts.
The initiative, she said, chose to engage Nigerians at the grassroots level through state first ladies, who then collaborated with the wives of local government chairmen, traditional rulers, and community leaders.
By mid-July, she had organized a meeting with state first ladies to design programs ranging from senior support and scholarships to women’s empowerment and aid for people with disabilities.
According to her, RHI also assisted wives of service commanders and families of slain troops by offering recapitalization grants and seasonal relief.
As Grand Patron of the National Council of Women’s Societies, she stated that the organization was represented in all programs.
She also pushed the effort to the continental level, joining the Organisation of African First Ladies for Development at the UN General Assembly in September 2023, where she met with colleagues, including US First Lady Jill Biden.
She described these activities as a method to escape the villa’s silence.
“It was a great platform because I saw the hunger in these young women,” she wrote of her podcast ministry.
