Tinubu Calls First Lady ‘Iya Alakara’ Amid Akara Comment Controversy (Video)

• President Bola Tinubu jokingly called First Lady Oluremi Tinubu “Iya Alakara” during a public event, weeks after her comments about akara selling sparked widespread reactions and debate across Nigeria.

President Bola Tinubu on Thursday jokingly referred to First Lady Oluremi Tinubu as “Iya Alakara” during the Presidential Press Corps Dinner at the State House, Abuja, drawing laughter from guests at the event.

The President’s remark comes weeks after the First Lady’s comments encouraging Nigerian women to embrace small-scale businesses such as selling akara, roasted corn and kuli-kuli sparked widespread debate across the country.

At the time, Oluremi Tinubu had said such businesses “don’t take much money” to start, a statement that attracted criticism from many Nigerians who argued that it appeared insensitive to the country’s economic hardship.

Responding to the backlash earlier this week, the First Lady clarified that her comments were misunderstood, stressing that “It’s not only akara, we also have tomato sellers. We have boole, and those also selling pepper, selling vegetables for us in the market.”

She explained that the Federal Government’s empowerment programme is designed to support a wide range of petty traders and disclosed that ₦100 million had been donated to empower 2,000 small-scale traders in Jigawa State.

Oluremi Tinubu added that the government would continue supporting small businesses, saying, “We will continue to empower them and add to their resources so that their trade can really be sustainable. So that is what we are doing.”

President Tinubu’s light-hearted introduction of his wife as “Iya Alakara” is widely seen as a humorous reference to the controversy surrounding her earlier remarks.

Watch video below: