Lagos women compete for N20m in nationwide farming contest

The Office of the First Lady of Lagos State has finalised the selection of 200 participants to partake in the nationwide farming competition for female first-time farmers.

The scheme, tagged “Every Home A Garden” competition under the Renewed Hope Initiative of the First Lady of Nigeria, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, is set to have the winner bagging a N20 million prize.

The First Lady of Lagos State, Dr. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, at the press conference and seminar organised for the selected Lagos participants at the State House, Ikeja, on Thursday, said the state would deploy all resources to ensure the winner emerges from Lagos.

Sanwo-Olu disclosed that the 200 participants were selected from a total of 1,052 applications after a thorough scrutiny.

She also expressed confidence Lagos would emerge victorious among the competitors, saying, “We are being prepared like a boy scout for this competition, and we know we are going to emerge victorious.”

“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.

She said since the announcement of the competition, 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.”

She said the seminar marked a significant milestone in the journey, as part of measures to ensure Lagos complies strictly with guidelines and have the winner of the competition emerge from the state.

“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.”

Sanwo-Olu said that in addition to the ₦20 million star prize for the overall winner across the country, the Office of the First Lady of Lagos State will provide consolation prizes for each of the 200 first-time farmers and another 50 experienced participants already captured in the data bank.

This, she said, “is intended to encourage you all to continue with the spirit of home gardening and to inspire others to embrace this practice.”