Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has attracted reactions online after encouraging Nigerians to explore small-scale businesses such as selling akara, roasted corn and kuli-kuli as a way of earning income.
She made the remarks while speaking with State House correspondents after the second-quarter meeting of the Renewed Hope Initiative with wives of state governors at the State House in Abuja on Wednesday. A video of her comments was later shared by News Channel 247 on Friday.
Speaking about the initiative’s support programmes, the First Lady said assistance given to beneficiaries came in the form of grants rather than 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.
She added that the Renewed Hope Initiative had extended support beyond entrepreneurship into healthcare, agriculture, education and social intervention projects.
According to her, she committed N2 billion toward tuberculosis interventions, N1 billion for breast cancer support and N500 million to tackle 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.
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She also said the programme had invested in scholarships, digital training opportunities and agricultural empowerment efforts.
Addressing the economic realities in the country, the First Lady urged Nigerians to remain optimistic.
“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 comments generated strong reactions across social media platforms.
One X user, @ADCVanguard_, described the remarks as evidence of how far removed political leaders have become from everyday realities.
Another user, @ireteeh, compared the initiative to private-sector efforts, arguing that while ordinary citizens were creating career opportunities in sectors like cybersecurity, the government was promoting survival-level businesses.
Nefertiti (@firstladyship) wrote: “Nigerians are in big trouble. There is fire on the mountain but the people are tired of running.”
However, others defended the First Lady’s comments.
User @Akikanju1568901 argued that akara remains a profitable venture with minimal startup costs and noted that many families had built livelihoods through the business.
Another user, @PemiOladapo, wrote: “There’s dignity in labour… these are our local snacks! People should start it and scale it!”
Meanwhile, @TossynBankz_ said the criticism was not directed at the businesses themselves but at the context in which the advice was given.
“Nobody is mocking akara, roasted corn, or kuli-kuli. Those are honest businesses. The problem is that Nigerians are asking for a better economy, more jobs, and lower prices. Telling people to start selling akara in this situation just feels like the government doesn’t understand what people are going through,” the user wrote.