Nigeria’s First Lady, Remi Tinubu, has defended the Federal Government’s grassroots empowerment initiatives, insisting that the financial support provided to beneficiaries is intended to help them establish small businesses and improve their livelihoods.
Speaking on the government’s intervention programmes, the First Lady stressed that many small-scale businesses require only modest startup capital to begin operations.
According to her, businesses such as selling akara, roasting corn, and producing kuli-kuli can be started with relatively little investment, making them viable sources of income for many Nigerians.
“To start akara business doesn’t take a lot of money. To start roasting corn or kuli-kuli doesn’t take much. We didn’t give them a loan, we gave them a grant. We have encouraged Nigerians as best as we could. I also gave to several others,” she said.
Remi Tinubu explained that the funds distributed under the empowerment programme were issued as grants rather than loans, meaning beneficiaries are not expected to repay the money.
She noted that the aim of the initiative is to encourage entrepreneurship at the grassroots level, support self-reliance, and create more opportunities for Nigerians to generate sustainable income.
Her remarks come amid ongoing public discussions about the effectiveness of government empowerment programmes and the best approaches to tackling poverty and unemployment across the country.
