President Bola Tinubu on Thursday playfully referred to First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu as ‘Iya Alakara’ (Mama Akara Seller) during the Presidential Press Corps Dinner at the State House in Abuja, drawing laughter from guests at the event.
The light-hearted remark appeared to reference the recent public debate surrounding the First Lady’s comments on small-scale businesses and economic empowerment.
While acknowledging dignitaries during his speech, Tinubu smiled before addressing his wife, saying,
‘Good evening, gentlemen of the press, ladies and gentlemen, my dear wife, the First Lady, Iya Alakara.’
A video of the event shared by Aso Rock TV on YouTube captured reactions from the audience following the President’s remarks.
The nickname followed recent comments by the First Lady under the Renewed Hope Initiative empowerment programme, where she encouraged Nigerian women to consider small businesses such as selling akara, roasted corn and kuli-kuli, noting that such ventures require limited start-up capital.
Responding to the criticism during an event in Jigawa State, First Lady clarified that the programme supports a wider range of petty traders, including tomato, pepper, vegetable and roasted plantain sellers.
She also disclosed that the Federal Government had provided N100 million to empower 2,000 petty traders in the state.