First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, on Saturday defended her widely criticised remarks on empowering women through petty trading, insisting that businesses such as akara frying can transform lives and deserve government support.
Mrs Tinubu spoke during the launch of the National Community Food Bank Programme in Lokoja, Kogi State, where she maintained that the Renewed Hope Initiative would continue to support small-scale traders across the country.
Her comments followed the backlash that greeted her June remarks suggesting that women could be empowered through government grants to establish businesses such as frying akara, roasting corn and processing kuli-kuli.
The remarks had drawn criticism from many Nigerians, including the Yoruba socio-cultural group, Ìgbìnmọ́ Májékóbájé Ilé-Yorùbá, which argued that the proposal trivialised the economic hardship confronting Nigerian women.
Responding to the criticism, the First Lady said petty trading remains a legitimate source of livelihood for many families and should not be looked down upon.
She also appealed to successful Nigerian entertainers to establish charitable foundations to support vulnerable citizens.
“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.
She added that owning luxury cars should not prevent celebrities from giving back to society.
“Good cars are good, a Maybach is good, a Rolls-Royce is good, but still, you can help,” she said.
Mrs Tinubu said beneficiaries of her empowerment programme include traders dealing in pepper, vegetables, okra, melon, akara and kuli-kuli, stressing that such businesses have continued to provide sustainable livelihoods for many Nigerians.
“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.
The First Lady also cited the example of a graduate in Abuja who turned to akara production after failing to secure paid 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 said.
President Bola Tinubu had, in the wake of the controversy generated by the First Lady’s earlier remarks, jokingly referred to her as “Iya Alakara” during the Presidential Press Corps Dinner in Abuja.
Despite the criticism, Mrs Tinubu has continued with the empowerment initiative, including the disbursement of N50,000 grants to 2,000 petty traders during her visit to Jigawa State in June.
