Nigeria’s first lady ‘Akara’ paradox: Smallest businesswomen empowered to croak

Nigeria’s first lady, Oluremi Tinubu, urged women to weather the country’s economic hardship by starting low-cost ventures such as selling akara, kuli-kuli, and roasted corn, portraying micro-enterprises as a practical path to self-reliance.

However, for many women who already earn a living from such businesses, the bigger challenge is not starting up, it is surviving a barrage of local government revenues, levies and enforcement drives that critics say are squeezing the very enterprises the government claims to be promoting.

Critics argue that Remi Tinubu’s advice shows a substantial disconnect from the harsh microeconomic realities currently facing everyday Nigerians and that the advice is a suboptimal solution to a systemic economic crisis.

Inflation and Erosion of Low-Capital Assumptions

Anti-first lady’s comments argue that due to hyperinflation, no business is truly “low-capital” anymore in Nigeria.

The skyrocketing costs of basic inputs, such as beans, vegetable oil, charcoal, and cooking gas, mean that even starting a roadside akara stall requires substantial money that vulnerable people do not have.

BusinessDay survey finding of what it takes to start an ‘Akara’ business in Lagos shows that one needs about N400,000 to begin, depending on the part of the state the business is located.

According to BusinessDay market research, a half-bag of beans costs between N35,000 to N40,000, depending on the type, groundnut oil for a starter will cost N13,500,  a 12.5 KG gas is at N21,000, Frying pan costs N18,000, trays to display the fried akara N6,000 to N8,000, container shed/shop, N120,000; and other ingredients such as onions, N2,000, pepper, N2,000.

For those who may want to get built shops, in one of estates within Oshodi/Isolo, renovated market shops are sold at the rate of N3 to N5 million per shop, while the form is obtainable at the cost of N50,000, non-refundable fee.

Besides, those who are selling by road sides are subjected to an unfriendly business ecosystem by the local government authorities. A woman in one of the estates built by late Pa Jakande, told BusinessDay that she pays N120,000 per year because she is an old tenant.

“Someone who wanted to rent a space was told to pay N200,000 besides the agreement fee,” she said.

Florence Ubong, a mother of two, who was selling vegetables at the   Jakande Estate Gate market, Oke Afa, Isolo in Lagos State, shared story.

“We’re beaten and our goods thrown away by officials of the Ejigbo Local Government Development Authority on Saturday, June 27, simply because they want to force us to pay for the new market space under high-tension cables, which they initially demolished.

“The new shops they built inside the estate market are beyond the financial capacity of a small income businesswoman,” she said.

The emotional feeling associated with the first lady’s statement goes beyond whether she meant to encourage self-resilience among women or otherwise. If such a statement is coming from someone-else, it could be easily understood, but from a first lady, it is not acceptable.

It is obviously strange that the mother of the country is pushing for low-income empowerment without structures. Tokenization empowerment cannot sustain hungry Nigerians.

In fact, one would have expected that the first lady should first get the business environment friendly to the low income earners, before preaching self-resilience with akara and kulikuli business.

According to Claude Akee, a political scientist, “This amounts to democratization of disempowerment.” How can the first lady give out money for smallest income businesses in a system where the government will not allow the business to thrive because of their revenue drive?

Besides, there is a need to change the people’s thinking about what they should expect from the government. Did the people elected you into office to share tokens to them or to make the environment comfortable for businesses to flourish.

Industry experts believe that even if the women were to start an akara or corn-roasting business, the bigger economic adversity means that the target customer base is cutting back on spending.

That is what is called in the local palace, “from-hand- to- mouth”, because of the severe conditions of doing business obtainable in Nigeria today.

When Goodluck Jonathan handed over power to Muhammadu Buhari in 2015, the exchange rate was $1 to N198, the national minimum wage was N18,000, while a litre of petrol cost N87. A bag of Thailand rice was N7,500, One carton of silver spaghetti was N1,900,  one carton of Golden Penny macaroni at N1,900, a litre of petrol at N87, and refill a 12.5KG gas cylinder costed N2,500.

Today, in 2026, ten years later, Nigerians find themselves in a very different situation. A N70,000 minimum wage can no longer buy even a bag of Thailand rice, a litre of petrol is sold at N1,200, 12.5 KG gas cylinder refills at N21,000.

There is hardly any country experiencing this level of economic decline and the first lady will come out to call the women lazy people, because according to her, they could not start akara or kulikuli businesses amid the tokens she was giving to them.

Many young Nigerians believe that the government should be championing structural economic reforms, high-yield agricultural investments, technology, and manufacturing opportunities.

They argue that pushing for informal, subsistence-level street trading is a low-bar ambition that keeps the population trapped in poverty rather than fostering a modern SME sector.

Across the state and many other states, small business owners are not allowed to operate by the road side. And where this is allowed, the LGA authorities squeeze the little incomes via their rates and revenue drives.

Some school of thoughts argue that Nigeria cannot pull itself out of a austere macroeconomic slump by simply multiplying micro-retailers.

Hence, the government should focus on structural solutions, such as stable electricity, lower transportation costs, and large-scale industrialization, rather than directing women toward survivalist trading.