Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has defended her earlier comments on small-scale businesses, saying the Federal Government’s empowerment programmes cover a wide range of petty traders, including akara, pepper, tomato, vegetable and roasted plantain sellers.

Speaking on Monday during the inauguration of the newly constructed Abubakar Maje Haruna Hall at the Emir of Hadejia’s Palace in Jigawa, Mrs Tinubu addressed the backlash that followed her earlier remarks on akara sellers.

According to a video aired by TVC News, she disclosed that the Federal Government had donated N100 million to the Jigawa State Government to empower 2,000 petty traders across the state.

“Because of the atmosphere, what is going on, I’ve told Her Excellency that we’ve already given, donated about N100 million to her to use to empower 2,000 petty traders.

“And I know they’ve been talking that I said akara. It’s not only akara, we also have tomato sellers. We have bole, and those also selling pepper, selling vegetables for us in the market.

“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,” she said.

Mrs Tinubu explained that each of the 2,000 beneficiaries would receive N50,000 to recapitalise their businesses.

“We continue to carry the capacity. We have the amount of 2,000 women who are already in small businesses. They will recapitalise their businesses with the N50,000 each. We’ve already given the N100 million,” she added.

She maintained that the criticism over her earlier comments would not discourage the government’s empowerment efforts.

“I know all those people who are affected, they do appreciate it. And we are not intimidated by all those wrong reports. But we are forging ahead and making sure that our people are well cared for,” the First Lady said.

Mrs Tinubu also highlighted Nigeria’s untapped economic potential, recalling a visit to an orange orchard in Benue State and urging young Nigerians to take advantage of opportunities beyond the oil sector.

“Nigeria is a really blessed country. I’ve been travelling, and I pray that our young people will see the resources we have in this nation. We have not even gone to explore yet because we are thinking it’s oil. But there are so many things,” she said. (TRIBUNE)