Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has sparked debate online after suggesting that Nigerians can earn a living by venturing into small businesses like selling akara, roasted corn and kuli-kuli, noting that such businesses require only a modest amount of capital.
She made the comments after the Renewed Hope Initiative’s second-quarter meeting with the wives of state governors at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. The programme focuses on supporting vulnerable Nigerians through grants and other empowerment initiatives.
Explaining the initiative’s approach, Tinubu said recipients were given grants instead of loans to help them establish businesses.
“We’re trying to give hope, and to start Akara business doesn’t take a lot of money. To start roasting corn, or somebody even said kuli kuli doesn’t take much. We didn’t give them a loan; we gave it to them as a grant.
“So we’ve encouraged Nigerians as best as we could. What is within our hands, I have given, and I keep giving,” she said.
The First Lady also highlighted some of her humanitarian interventions, revealing that she donated N2 billion towards tuberculosis treatment, N1 billion for breast cancer programmes and N500 million to combat malnutrition.
“I remember giving for TB. When I heard there were so many TB cases, I gave N2 billion. To breast cancer, I gave a billion. For food malnutrition, I gave half a billion.
“So those are the things we’ve been doing and making sure we can make sure that whatever this government is trying to do, it will see the light of day,” she stated.
She added that the initiative has continued to invest in scholarships, ICT training, agriculture and other social intervention programmes while urging Nigerians to remain hopeful despite the country’s economic difficulties.
“The narrative has really changed, has changed to challenge the average man, whereas the average man is supposed to have hope. So I like the idea that Mr President say this is the Renewed Hope Agenda.
“We have to renew our hope, and that’s how we renew our hope, you know, and that’s what I have to tell Nigerians,” she said.
Her remarks quickly generated reactions on social media. While many users argued that the comments reflected a disconnect from the economic realities facing Nigerians, others defended her, saying there is dignity in honest work and that businesses such as akara, roasted corn and kuli-kuli have helped many families build sustainable livelihoods.
Some users, however, insisted the criticism was not directed at the businesses themselves but at the timing of the message, arguing that many Nigerians are more concerned about rising living costs, unemployment and the overall state of the economy.
