President Tinubu Amusingly Refers to First Lady as 'Iya Alakara'

President Bola Tinubu on Thursday playfully addressed his wife, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, the First Lady, as “Iya Alakara” (Mama Akara Seller). This light-hearted remark appeared to acknowledge the recent public discussion surrounding her comments on small-scale enterprises.

The President's comment occurred during the protocol observations of his speech at the Presidential Press Corps Dinner, held at the State House in Abuja. A video capturing the moment was uploaded by Aso Rock TV on YouTube, showing President Tinubu smiling as he greeted various dignitaries before turning to his spouse. He stated, “Good evening, gentlemen of the press, ladies and gentlemen, my dear wife, the First Lady, Iya Alakara,” which elicited laughter and reactions from those present.

This affectionate moniker was used days after the First Lady encouraged Nigerian women to consider petty trading, such as selling akara (bean cakes), roasted corn, and kuli-kuli, as part of the Renewed Hope Initiative’s empowerment scheme. She had suggested that such ventures “don’t take much money” to commence.

Her initial statement triggered widespread reactions across social media, with some Nigerians criticizing the remarks as insensitive given the country’s economic challenges, accusing her of downplaying the difficulties many citizens face. However, the First Lady later clarified that the Federal Government’s empowerment program extended beyond akara vendors to include traders dealing in tomatoes, pepper, vegetables, roasted plantain, and other small businesses.

She made this clarification on Monday during the commissioning of the recently constructed Abubakar Maje Haruna Hall at the Emir of Hadejia’s Palace in Jigawa State. Directly addressing the criticism, the First Lady announced that the Federal Government had provided N100 million to the Jigawa State Government to empower 2,000 petty traders in the state.

“Because of the atmosphere, what is going on, I’ve told Her Excellency that we’ve already given, donated about 100 million to her to use to empower 2,000 petty traders,” she explained. “And I know they’ve been talking that I said akara. 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. 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 affirmed.