Remi Tinubu defends Akara comments, asks Davido, others to fund small businesses 

First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has defended her viral comment on empowering women through petty trading, saying the Renewed Hope Initiative’s grassroots scheme is deliberate and necessary.

She spoke on Saturday during the launch of the National Community Food Bank Programme in Lokoja, Kogi State.

In June, the First Lady suggested that women could be empowered through government grants to start businesses such as frying akara, roasting corn and processing kuli-kuli. 

The remark drew criticism from Nigerians, including the Yoruba group, Ìgbìnmọ́ Májékóbájé Ilé-Yorùbá, which said the suggestion trivialised the struggles of Nigerian women.

Responding in Lokoja, Mrs. Tinubu stood by the programme and listed pepper, vegetable, okra, melon, akara and kuli-kuli sellers as key beneficiaries.

“The burden on the government is huge. You can still help. There are pepper sellers, vegetable sellers, okra sellers, melon sellers, akara sellers. Akara is delicious, I can tell you that,” she said.

She narrated the story of an Abuja graduate who turned to selling akara after failing to secure a job. 

“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 said.

The First Lady also appealed to Nigeria’s entertainment industry to give back to the poor through charitable foundations.

“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,” she said.

“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.”

“Good cars are good, a Maybach is good, a Rolls-Royce is good, but still, you can help,” she added.

The June comment trailed the First Lady for weeks, with President Bola Tinubu playfully referring to her as “Iya Alakara” at the Presidential Press Corps Dinner in Abuja.

She also extended N50,000 grants to 2,000 petty traders during a visit to Jigawa State in June, insisting that criticism would not stop the programme.