By Foluso Adelaja, Editor
Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu’s recent comment on empowering women in subsistence trading which some critics had condemned as unprogressive has found a supporter who insisted that the first lady meant no harm.
The Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare has come out to vociferously defend the recent statement by the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, on empowering Nigerian women to set up small-scale businesses such as akara, roasted corn, and kuli-kuli with little capital.
It would be recalled Senator Oluremi Tinubu, while speaking with journalists in a video that has gone viral online, explained the administration’s support for small businesses through grants rather than loans.
However, her comment attracted heavy pushback from social media users who argued that the remarks were insulting and failed to reflect or address the economic challenges facing many Nigerians.
Speaking against the backdrop of this development during an interview with a journalist, Dare revealed that his mother trained him by selling bananas and oranges in Jos, Plateau State.
He added that he himself hawked the fruits in the Jos markets.
He argued that the resilience of Nigeria’s small-scale businesses continues to lift the country’s economy.
The presidential media aide submitted that the First Lady’s point was simply an encouragement for people to have some level of entrepreneurial skill and not remain idle.
According to him, if his own mother could do that sixty years ago and train him successfully, there is nothing wrong with what the First Lady said.
Dare stated, “My mother sold akara and bananas. I carried bananas on the trays on my head to the market in Jos. My mother sold oranges, and through this, they were able to train me.”
