Presidency defends First Lady’s ‘akara business’ comment

Vice President, Kashim Shettima, has declared that the Federal Government is determined to create enabling opportunities for youths through skills acquisition and empowerment.
 
Shettima gave the assurance while unveiling the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure’s (NASENI) Community Empowerment Initiative in Science, Technology, Skills Acquisition and Renewable Energy for youths and women in Kano State.

The VP, represented by his Personal Assistant on Sub-national Infrastructure, Musaddiq Adamu, asserted that the NASENI initiative is aimed at creating opportunities for young Nigerians through practical skills development.
 
He noted that the programme aligns with the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which prioritises youth empowerment, innovation, and economic growth, highlighting that it would be replicated across the six geopolitical zones of the country.
 
Adamu noted that Nigerian youths were already contributing to national development and needed the right platforms to harness their potential.
 
He maintained that the programme was an investment in young people, urging beneficiaries to take advantage of the training and apply the skills acquired to create jobs and businesses.
 
He also commended NASENI’s Executive Vice Chairman, Khalil Halilu, for repositioning the agency through practical interventions focused on technology and human capital development.
 
Speaking earlier, Halilu hinted that the programme was designed to equip youths and women with relevant skills capable of creating employment opportunities and strengthening local economies.

Meanwhile, the spokesperson for President Bola Tinubu on Media and Communications, Sunday Dare, has defended the First Lady, Remi Tinubu, over her comment encouraging Nigerians, especially women, to start roasted corn, Akara, kuli-kuli, and other small-scale businesses.
 
After hosting the wives of the 36 governors in Abuja last week, Mrs Tinubu highlighted the financial interventions provided through her office to vulnerable Nigerians in line with President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
 
Her comment had generated widespread reactions from Nigerians who accused the President’s wife of being insensitive to the plight of Nigerians.
 
Mr Dare, in an interview on Mic on Podcast, hosted by Seun Okinbaloye on Saturday, however, said Mrs Tinubu did not miss any point, insisting she was advising Nigerians to get some level of entrepreneurial skills.
 
“Her point is that whatever it is, try to do something. Have some level of entrepreneurial skills. When you look at the informal sector, whose resilience continues to lift this economy, it’s because of these small-scale entrepreneurs who sell akara, because we find it predominantly everywhere, and also in the north. They are also significant,” Dare stated.
 
Citing his own experience and that of the business tycoon Aliko Dangote, the presidential aide urged Nigerians to get engaged in any legitimate enterprise, however small, amid the biting hardship in the country.

However, human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, berated Mrs Tinubu over her comment, asking her to first venture into the business to encourage other Nigerian women.