The First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has announced that the community category of the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI) Green Nigeria Challenge closed on July 15, 2026, without receiving any significant entries.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Tinubu said the category was designed to encourage the transformation of degraded community spaces such as dumpsites, landfills and abandoned areas into green parks, gardens and other eco-friendly spaces, with a N50,000,000 cash prize attached for winning entries from local governments, communities, youth groups, schools and NGOs across the 36 states and the FCT.
“Unfortunately, no significant entry was received,” she said.
The First Lady, however, commended the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, for remodelling the Abuja City Gate, describing it as a clear example of the kind of environmental transformation the competition sought to promote.
“I commend the Honourable Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, His Excellency, Barr. Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, for remodelling the Abuja City Gate, which has become a notable landmark,” she stated.
She urged other states to emulate the effort by investing in cleaner and greener communities, ensuring proper waste disposal and keeping drainage channels free of plastic waste and other obstructions to help reduce flooding.
Tinubu noted that while the community category has closed, the Household and State categories of the Green Nigeria Challenge remain open until December 20, 2026.
She called on eligible participants to submit their entries through the Offices of the First Ladies in their respective states.
The Household Category is open to households in 10 frontline northern states of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara, and offers a ₦20m prize for tree-planting initiatives.
The State Category, open to all states except Enugu, which has already been recognised as the RHI’s “Model Green State”, carries a N100m prize for state-wide tree-planting efforts.
The RHI Green Nigeria Challenge was launched under the Renewed Hope Initiative led by the First Lady as a nationwide environmental campaign to promote tree planting and the restoration of degraded environments across the country.
