THE First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, has defended her controversial remarks about empowering women through petty trading, including ‘akara‘.
She, therefore, challenged Nigeria’s biggest music stars, including Davido, Burna Boy, and Asake, to establish charitable foundations to support vulnerable Nigerians.
Speaking on Saturday at the launch of the National Community Food Bank Programme in Lokoja, Kogi State, the First Lady insisted that businesses such as frying akara, selling vegetables and processing local food products remained viable pathways to economic independence for many Nigerians.
“I want to appeal to our young ones in the entertainment industry. I have mentioned it before, and I will use Akon, a music icon who does a lot of great charity work. They make the Burna Boys of this world, the Asakes, all of them, Davido, we want to see you with one foundation or the other, helping the poor with your money,” she said.
Her remarks come weeks after she faced backlash over comments suggesting that women could be empowered through government grants to engage in small-scale businesses such as frying akara, roasting corn, and processing kuli-kuli.
Critics argued that the suggestion reflected the country’s worsening economic hardship and failed to address the need for sustainable job creation.
The debate caught the attention of President Bola Tinubu who jokingly referred to his wife as “Iya Alakara”, meaning a woman who specialises in akara business.
Tinubu made the remark during the Presidential Press Corps Dinner in Abuja recently.
Responding to the backlash, the president’s wife maintained that his administration’s Renewed Hope Initiative’s grassroots empowerment programme was yielding tangible results and would continue despite public criticism.
She said there was nothing wrong with celebrities enjoying the rewards of their success but urged them to balance luxury with philanthropy.
“Good cars are good, a Maybach is good, a Rolls-Royce is good, but still, you can help,” she said.
Defending the empowerment scheme that sparked the controversy, she said that petty traders including pepper sellers, vegetable vendors, okra sellers, melon sellers and akara vendors deserved financial support because they contribute significantly to local economies.
“The burden on the government is huge. You can still help. There are pepper sellers, there are vegetable sellers, there are okra sellers, melon sellers, akara sellers. Akara is delicious, I can tell you that,” she said.
To reinforce her argument, the First Lady recounted the story of a university graduate in Abuja who reportedly turned to selling akara after failing to secure formal employment.
“There was once I read an article about a young graduate who said he didn’t get a job, and he said he sells akara because he couldn’t get a job. He’s in Abuja. We approached him, I didn’t put my name to it, and we equipped him more. He now has 12 workers working under him, and he’s doing very, very well,” she claimed.
She said that she had also extended N50,000 grants to 2,000 petty traders during a visit to Jigawa State in June, insisting the criticism would not stop the programme.
The First Lady reaffirmed that supporting micro-enterprises was central to her vision of grassroots economic empowerment, while calling on wealthy Nigerians, particularly celebrities, to complement government efforts by investing in charitable initiatives that directly improve the lives of the poor.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.