The 200 contestants for the national agricultural competition for female first-time farmers have been finalized by the Office of the First Lady of Lagos State.
The Renewed Hope Initiative of Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, is organizing a tournament called “Every Home A Garden,” with a N20 million reward for the winner.
At the press conference and seminar held on Thursday at the State House in Ikeja for the chosen Lagos participants, the First Lady of Lagos State, Dr. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, said that the state will utilize all available means to guarantee that the winner comes from Lagos.
According to Sanwo-Olu, following a careful examination, 200 candidates were chosen from 1,052 applications.
“We are being prepared like a boy scout for this competition, and we know we are going to emerge victorious,” she said, expressing her confidence that Lagos would win over the other contestants.
“The “Every Home, A Garden” Competition, aimed at promoting home farming, comes at a crucial time when food prices are soaring across our country and beyond.
“Her Excellency, Distinguished Senator Oluremi Tinubu, CON, rightly believes that embracing home farming will bring much-needed relief to many Nigerians at this crucial time in the history of our nation.
“The “Every Home, A Garden” competition will culminate in December this year when the final winner from all 36 states of the country will be announced,” the Lagos first lady said.
After the competition was announced, she said Lagos State “has taken deliberate steps to ensure due process is followed in line with the criteria issued by the Office of the First Lady of Nigeria.”
Speaking about the seminar, she said it was an important turning point in the process, one of the steps to make sure Lagos follows the rules to the letter and that the state will choose the competition winner.
“To ensure the integrity of our process, we required participants to provide their Lagos State Residents Registration Agency numbers. This helped us verify that applicants who submit videos of their gardens to the Office of the First Lady of Nigeria through our Office are indeed residents of Lagos State,” she said.
She said, “It is worth noting that the level of interest expressed by applicants through the Google Form prepared by the Committee, reflects the strong interest of women in Lagos State in the “Every Home, A Garden” initiative, despite the challenge of limited land space.”
Apart from the ₦20 million star prize for the overall winner nationwide, Sanwo-Olu stated that the Office of the First Lady of Lagos State will offer consolation prizes to every one of the 200 first-time farmers and an additional 50 experienced participants who have already been registered in the data bank.
This, she explained, “is meant to inspire others to embrace this practice and to encourage you all to continue with the spirit of home gardening.”
