The First Lady of Nigeria, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has donated two state-of-the-art mobile clinics to the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to strengthen its rural healthcare programme.
The mobile clinics, provided under the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI) Health Support Programme, were formally presented at a ceremony held today at the Headquarters of the Nigerian Customs Service in Maitama, Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
At the event, the Taraba State Government also received one mobile clinic to enhance healthcare delivery within the state.
Speaking on the occasion, Senator Tinubu commended successive batches of Corps Members for serving as key drivers of the NYSC’s health interventions. She noted that the donation would support the Scheme’s numerous medical outreach programmes, particularly the Health Initiative for Rural Dwellers (HIRD).
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The First Lady explained that her visit to Taraba State last year informed the decision to donate one mobile clinic to the State Government, in order to complement its efforts to improve healthcare delivery.
She emphasised the need to ensure that the dividends of democracy reach the people, irrespective of ethnic, political, or other affiliations.
“Love on wheels represents care in motion, to strengthen healthcare delivery beyond hospital wards, improve access, shorten response time and support flexible and reliable health services, especially in emergencies and underserved areas through professional healthcare givers,” she added.
Speaking at the event, the Director-General of the NYSC, Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu, described the First Lady’s gesture as a timely and strategic intervention that would significantly expand the HIRD programme.
General Nafiu said the Renewed Hope Initiative’s philosophy, anchored on the belief that “health is not a privilege but a right,” aligns closely with the NYSC’s mandate and its ongoing efforts to deliver free healthcare services to underserved communities.
He explained that since the launch of the HIRD programme in 2014, NYSC medical personnel have provided free primary healthcare, maternal services, malaria testing, health education and disease prevention campaigns to more than four million Nigerians nationwide, reaching an average of about 360,000 beneficiaries annually.
According to him, in 2025 alone, over 6,300 corps medical personnel, including more than 2,300 doctors, were deployed to remote areas to improve access to healthcare.
He added that the two new mobile clinics would greatly enhance operational capacity, enabling the NYSC to reach more communities simultaneously and treat tens of thousands of additional beneficiaries.