Akara Comment Sparks Fresh Backlash as First Lady Faces Renewed Heat Over Cost of Living Remarks

(Oluremi Tinubu. Photo by Daily Nigerian)

First Lady Senator Oluremi Tinubu has again come under criticism on social media after encouraging Nigerians to consider small-scale businesses such as selling akara, roasted corn, and kuli-kuli, describing them as ventures that require little capital to start.

Tinubu made the remarks while addressing State House correspondents following the Renewed Hope Initiative's second-quarter meeting with the wives of state governors at the State House, Abuja.

Speaking on the initiative's efforts to support vulnerable Nigerians through grants and other interventions, she said beneficiaries were given outright grants rather than loans to help them start 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 other areas of intervention by the initiative, including a ₦2 billion donation to combat tuberculosis, ₦1 billion for breast cancer interventions, and ₦500 million to tackle malnutrition.

The initiative has also provided scholarships, ICT training, and support for agriculture and social investment programmes.

The remarks, which circulated widely on social media, drew mixed reactions online.

One user argued that even an akara business is no longer affordable to start due to the sharp rise in the cost of beans, cooking oil, and gas driven by inflation, adding that grants lose their value quickly in the current economic climate.

Another questioned whether wealthy politicians built their own fortunes by roasting corn, describing the advice as out of touch.

However, some users pushed back against the criticism. One defended akara as one of Nigeria's most profitable small-scale businesses, noting that many families have built homes and trained children through the trade.

Another user drew a distinction between the businesses themselves and the broader economic context, arguing that the backlash was not directed at the trades but at what the advice revealed about the government's understanding of the hardship facing ordinary Nigerians.

"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.