Renewed Hope Ambassadors activate grassroots machine
•Polling unit members to deepen outreach nationwide The leadership of the Renewed Hope Ambassadors (RHAs) has activated a nationwide mobilisation strategy at the grassroots in a move aimed at deepening
•Polling unit members to deepen outreach nationwide
- From Bolaji Ogundele, Abuja
The leadership of the Renewed Hope Ambassadors (RHAs) has activated a nationwide mobilisation strategy at the grassroots in a move aimed at deepening public awareness of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s reforms and their outcomes.
At a strategic meeting with zonal and state coordinators in Abuja at the weekend, the body resolved to intensify its enlightenment campaign by establishing polling unit ambassadors across the country, a move designed to take its message directly to the grassroots and ensure that government policies are clearly understood at the community level.
National Coordinator of RHAs Imo Governor Hope Uzodinma said the initiative was conceived as a vehicle to propagate the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda (RHA) by explaining both the rationale behind ongoing reforms and the tangible benefits already being recorded.
Describing the meeting as a consolidation of earlier engagements, Uzodimma noted that the ambassadors were being deployed to bridge the information gap between government and citizens.
He said: “The Renewed Hope Ambassadors is an outfit designed to create national awareness and get citizens to understand the reason for the introduction of various reforms by Mr. President, educate them on the necessity to embrace them, and inform them of the dividends as they trickle in.”
The Imo helmsman noted that coordinators from the six geopolitical zones and all 36 states, alongside the national leadership, participated in the session, which he said ended with renewed enthusiasm and commitment to the administration’s programmes.
A key outcome of the meeting, according to sources at the gathering, was the strong recommendation by zonal and state coordinators for the creation of polling unit ambassadors, a structure expected to significantly expand the group’s reach and embed its operations at the most basic level of Nigeria’s political architecture.
Uzodimma stressed that the ambassadors’ mandate goes beyond advocacy to include actively countering what he described as opposition-driven misinformation with verifiable facts and data.
“The opposition can play politics with everything, including developmental programmes. Their only weapon is misinformation. If we don’t rise to inform the people properly, this government will be misunderstood,” the governor said.
He added that ambassadors have been tasked with engaging citizens in markets, motor parks, and other public spaces, providing clear explanations of policies such as subsidy removal and the government’s introduction of compressed natural gas (CNG) alternatives to reduce transportation costs.
“We use facts to counter misinformation,” he emphasised, citing examples of what he described as early gains of the reforms, including improved access to student loans, reduction in staple food prices, and wage adjustments.
He maintained that while reforms initially came with challenges, the situation was easing, with long-term stability and development beginning to take shape.
Highlighting broader political support for the administration, Uzodimma pointed to the growing number of APC governors across the country as evidence of confidence in the government’s direction.
“You cannot cover light with a blanket. That light must be seen,” he said.
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Governors Uba Sani of Kaduna State and Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State, who serve as the Deputy Director-General and Secretary of the network, respectively, endorsed the push for coordinated mobilisation, expressing confidence that party leaders would effectively communicate the administration’s record since 2023.
Yahaya called for stronger collaboration between the federal and state governments, stressing that national development and security require coordinated action across all tiers.
He noted that federal policies have direct grassroots impact, making synergy essential for effective implementation, and advocated a more data-driven approach to addressing emerging security challenges.
The Gombe governor also backed the establishment of local policing structures, arguing that security management is most effective when driven at the grassroots level.
“Politics is local. The involvement of local police will enhance security and enable economic and political activities to thrive,” he said.
The RHAs expanded grassroots strategy is expected to play a central role in shaping public perception of the Tinubu administration’s policies as the government continues to push forward with its reform agenda.
