Wives of Nigeria’s 36 state governors call for improved communication to highlight their social intervention efforts, which they say often go unnoticed despite complementing state development

The spouses of Nigeria’s 36 state governors convened in Abuja on Wednesday, advocating for greater visibility and enhanced communication capabilities to effectively showcase their significant social intervention work.

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They expressed that their efforts, which often directly support and complement state developmental programmes, frequently go unacknowledged.

The First Ladies voiced their concerns during a media and leadership retreat themed “Leading With Impact.” This retreat brought together the wives of governors from across the federation to focus on strategic communication, media engagement, and effective narrative building.

The retreat was facilitated by Emmy Award-winning journalist and former CNN Africa Senior Editor, Stephanie Busari, through her firm, SBB Media.

Speaking to journalists on behalf of her colleagues, the First Lady of Ogun State, Bamidele Abiodun, highlighted that despite their unique position as wives of elected governors, often serving at the intersection of compassion and influence, their tireless work in supporting communities is frequently underrepresented or entirely unheard of.

Abiodun urged her fellow First Ladies to leverage the training provided at the retreat to reshape the prevailing narrative and strengthen their abilities to communicate with clarity, confidence, and conviction.

“We each have stories that can move policy, shape perception, and inspire change, not just in our countries but across the continent.

It’s about learning how to share our work with the world, not just through speeches but through strategy,” she emphasized.

“It’s about embracing the truth that our visibility is not vanity, it is responsibility. We ought to support what the governors do, and usually, what we do is in the social space, like working with women, children and enhancing lives, things that the governors may not be able to identify, or even if they identify, they may not be able to reach those areas.”

“We each have stories that can move policy, shape perception, and inspire change… It’s about learning how to share our work with the world, not just through speeches but through strategy,” said Ogun State First Lady Bamidele Abiodun, speaking on behalf of her colleagues.

Abiodun further articulated the collective goal: “So, what we plan to do, what we would like to do as a body and individually, is to be strengthened in those areas of communicating with people—not only communicating with them, but reaching them effectively.”

Earlier, Stephanie Busari asserted that First Ladies, often perceived as ceremonial figures, are increasingly central to social intervention, advocacy, and policy mobilization across critical sectors such as maternal health, education, gender-based violence, and economic empowerment.

However, she lamented that many of these vital contributions remain underreported or undervalued, largely due to limited access to structured media training or public strategy support.

“We realise that the work that they do is so vital with women, children, health, maternal mortality, things that are affecting so many aspects of our community.

Like she rightly said, these are areas that the governors may not have oversight over,” Busari stated. “That is their role.

It’s their role also to make sure that you, as members of the press and the general community, know about these things most especially the resources that people can access in their communities.”