A Nigerian youth has defended First Lady Oluremi Tinubu over the recent controversy surrounding her comments encouraging women to engage in petty businesses, arguing that her remarks have been widely misunderstood.
Speaking in support of the First Lady, the youth said there is dignity in honest labour, maintaining that earning a living through small-scale businesses is far more honourable than engaging in criminal activities or prostitution.
“Is it not better to be noble than to be doing filthy things? It’s better they know you as an akara seller than to be known as an armed robber. It’s better they know you as a kuli kuli seller than to be known as a prostitute. It’s better they know you as a boli seller than to be tagged as a hookup girl, hookup woman or sugar mummy. We want our mothers to be noble and start something small.”
He also highlighted what he described as the First Lady’s humanitarian contributions, arguing that many critics had overlooked her broader empowerment efforts.
According to him, aside from distributing ₦100,000 grants to support women, Senator Oluremi Tinubu donated ₦2 billion towards tuberculosis intervention, ₦1 billion to combat malnutrition, and ₦1.5 billion to support cancer-related initiatives.
The speaker further stated that when the First Lady presented ₦100 million empowerment grants to states, she encouraged the wives of state governors to provide additional funding so that more women could benefit from the initiative.
He stressed that the First Lady never instructed beneficiaries to use the grants specifically for selling akara, explaining that the funds were meant to support petty businesses of their choice.
According to him, references to akara, kuli kuli, and other small-scale ventures were merely examples of businesses women could consider, not compulsory directions on how the grants should be spent.
