The First Lady Paid The Ten Million She Promised A Twelve-Year-Old
Abeokuta · Saturday 12 September 2026
Senator Oluremi Tinubu has fulfilled the 10 million naira education pledge she made to Morenikeji Ebunoluwa Joshua, a 12-year-old artist from Ogun State, less than a month after making it. The fund was presented through the Ogun State government by Governor Dapo Abiodun.
The pledge was made on 18 August, after the boy displayed a portrait he had painted of the First Lady at the launch of the South-West zonal national food bank programme at the Cultural Centre in Kuto.
The structure is better than the gesture
The money is described as an education development trust fund intended to carry him through tertiary education, rather than a cash gift. That distinction decides whether a story like this one has a second chapter.
| Form of support | What tends to happen |
|---|---|
| Cash handed over on a podium | Absorbed by immediate family need |
| Trust fund with a stated purpose | Survives to secondary school |
| Trust fund with named trustees and reporting | Survives to university |
The third row is the one that has not been described publicly.
The question this raises about everyone else
One child painted a good portrait in front of the right person. The talent was already there. The encounter was the variable.
Nigeria's art and music education infrastructure is thin to the point of absence in most state schools, and the routes out are personal patronage, private lessons or the internet. A trust fund for one gifted 12-year-old is a good day for that child. It is not a policy, and nobody involved has claimed it is.
Reporting: Channels Television, Premium Times, The Sun Nigeria and New Telegraph.
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Whatever the news does this week, somebody at home still has to eat. The Send Home boxes land as a food shop, a care package or a learning kit. Naira pricing here.
