First Lady Oluremi Tinubu has stood her ground on her widely criticised akara empowerment comment, while also taking aim at Nigeria’s biggest music stars, urging them to give back to the less privileged.
Remi Tinubu made the remarks on Saturday at the launch of the National Community Food Bank Programme in Lokoja, Kogi State, where she doubled down on the Renewed Hope Initiative’s grassroots support scheme.
The Nigerian first lady’s original comment, made in June, had suggested that women could be empowered through government grants to start small businesses such as frying akara, roasting corn and processing kuli-kuli.
The statement sparked backlash from several quarters, including the Yoruba Union, Ìgbìnmọ́ Májékóbájé Ilé-Yorùbá, celebrities and many Nigerians who argued that the remarks trivialised the real hardships facing Nigerian women.
The controversy over her June remarks has followed the First Lady closely. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu even referenced it at the Presidential Press Corps Dinner in Abuja, playfully calling her “Iya Alakara.” She had also extended N50,000 grants to 2,000 petty traders during a visit to Jigawa State that same month, making clear the criticism would not derail the programme.
Rather than walk back her position, the First Lady made a case for the dignity of petty trading, listing pepper, vegetable, okra, melon and akara sellers as genuine beneficiaries of the scheme.
“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, and akara sellers. Akara is delicious, I can tell you that,” she said.
To illustrate her point, Senator Oluremi Tinubu recounted the story of a university graduate in Abuja who turned to selling akara after years of failed job hunting.
According to her, the initiative quietly stepped in to support him without making a public spectacle of it, and he now runs an operation with 12 employees.
“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 further. He now has 12 workers working under him, and he’s doing very, very well,” she claimed.
Perhaps the most striking moment of her address came when she pivoted to Nigeria’s entertainment elite, singling out some of the country’s biggest names. Citing Senegalese legendary musician Akon as a model of celebrity philanthropy, she urged Nigerian stars, including Burna Boy, Davido, Wizkid and Asake, to follow suit.
“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, Davido, all of them, we want to see you with one foundation or the other, helping the poor with your money,” she said.
She was careful to add that enjoying the trappings of success was not the issue.
“Good cars are good, a Maybach is good, a Rolls-Royce is good, but still, you can help the people,” she said.
