Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has defended the efforts of the President Bola Tinubu administration, saying the government has done its best to support Nigerians through grants and empowerment programmes.
Speaking during a recent engagement in Abuja, the First Lady encouraged Nigerians to embrace small-scale businesses such as selling akara, roasting corn and producing kuli-kuli, noting that such ventures require relatively little start-up capital. She stressed that the support provided by the government was in the form of grants rather than loans.
“We’re trying to give hope. To start akara business doesn’t take a lot of money. To start roasting corn or kuli-kuli doesn’t take much. We didn’t give them a loan; we gave them a grant. We have encouraged Nigerians as best as we could,” she said.
Mrs. Tinubu also highlighted interventions carried out through her office, including support for healthcare, agriculture, education and social investment programmes, insisting that the administration remains committed to improving the lives of Nigerians.
Her remarks have since generated mixed reactions across social media. While some Nigerians commended the emphasis on entrepreneurship and grant-based support, others argued that the comments did not adequately reflect the economic realities facing many citizens amid rising living costs.