TINUBU RACING TO MEET GLOBAL TARGET BY 2030 – PRINCESS AKOBUNDU

 “LEAVING NO ONE BEHIND” – PRESIDENT TINUBU RACING TO MEET GLOBAL TARGET BY 2030 – PRINCESS AKOBUNDU

_Says empowerment of physically challenged persons at APC PCC Women Summit is intentional to meet global goals_

_Calls on persons with disabilities across Nigeria to vote en masse for APC in 2027; urges South-East women to take Renewed Hope message to the grassroots_

Hon. Princess Gloria Akobundu, PhD, fsi, development expert, former National Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer of the African Union Development Agency–New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD) Nigeria, and key member of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council (APC PCC) Women Mobilisation Wing, has declared that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration is racing deliberately to meet the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target of 2030 by ensuring that no segment of the population is left behind.

Reacting to the inclusion and empowerment of persons with physical challenges at the APC Women Stakeholders’ Mobilisation and Empowerment Pre-Inaugural Summit held in Abuja, Akobundu described the gesture as intentional, strategic, and fully aligned with the United Nations’ central pledge of “leaving no one behind” as well as the African Union’s Agenda 2063.

_“The empowerment of physically challenged persons at this summit is not accidental,” Akobundu stated. “It is a deliberate policy choice that reflects the Renewed Hope Agenda’s commitment to inclusive development. President Tinubu and Her Excellency Senator Oluremi Tinubu understand that true national progress cannot be measured only by the number of roads constructed or loans disbursed. It must also be measured by how far the most vulnerable members of society including persons with disabilities are carried along.”_

The high-profile summit, convened by the First Lady at the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre. A major highlight was the distribution of livelihood-support items  tricycles, sewing machines, refrigerators, agricultural implements, and other productive tools to a large number of beneficiaries, among whom were persons living with physical challenges.

Akobundu, who has long championed inclusive development during her tenure at AUDA-NEPAD, said the deliberate targeting of persons with disabilities demonstrates that the Tinubu administration is translating the SDG principle of “leave no one behind” into concrete action on Nigerian soil.

“The global community set 2030 as the deadline for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals,” she noted. “Goal 1 seeks to end poverty in all its forms; Goal 5 promotes gender equality; Goal 8 calls for decent work and economic growth; and Goal 10 demands reduced inequalities. All of these goals insist that persons with disabilities must be fully included. What we witnessed at the APC PCC Women Summit is Nigeria moving purposefully in that direction.”

“When a physically challenged woman receives a sewing machine, a grinding machine, or a tricycle, she is not merely receiving a gift,” Akobundu said. “She is receiving the means to generate income, support her household, and participate actively in the economy. That is the essence of sustainable development. That is what Agenda 2063 and the SDGs demand of African leadership.”

Drawing from her experience coordinating continental development programmes, Akobundu recalled that AUDA-NEPAD’s mandate has always emphasised the inclusion of vulnerable groups women, youth, and persons with disabilities  in the push toward the Africa We Want. She said the current national efforts under the Renewed Hope Initiative and the APC women mobilisation structures are localising those continental aspirations.

_“President Tinubu is racing against time to meet the 2030 global targets,” she declared. “The reforms already underway from education financing through NELFUND, infrastructure expansion, consumer credit, social protection, to targeted empowerment of women and persons with disabilities show a government that understands the urgency of the moment. Continuity of these programmes is therefore not optional; it is essential if Nigeria is to meet its international commitments and deliver tangible results for its citizens.”_

Akobundu congratulated the beneficiaries, particularly those living with physical challenges, and urged them to put the empowerment tools to productive use.

_“These items are instruments of economic liberation,” she emphasised. “Use them diligently so that your families, your communities, and the nation at large will feel the positive impact. Your success will prove that disability is not inability, and that with the right support, every Nigerian can contribute to national development.”_

_“Persons with disabilities must not remain on the sidelines of the democratic process,” Akobundu stressed. “You have been deliberately included in the empowerment programmes of this administration. Now consolidate that inclusion by ensuring that your votes protect and expand these gains. Register, collect your Permanent Voter Cards, and vote massively for the All Progressives Congress. Continuity is the only way to guarantee that no one is left behind.”_

Turning to the South-East, the APC PCC Women Mobilisation member urged women in the region to take the Renewed Hope message deep into the grassroots.

_“I call on South-East women to intensify mobilisation in every community, every ward, every local government, and every polling unit,” she said. “Take the message of Renewed Hope to the markets, the churches, the town halls, and the households. Explain the ongoing empowerment programmes, the education loans, the infrastructure projects, and the deliberate inclusion of persons with disabilities. Let every woman and every person with disability in the South-East understand that their future is tied to the continuity of these programmes.”_