Nigeria’s First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, has encouraged women to embrace small-scale businesses, saying ventures such as selling akara, roasted corn, and kuli-kuli require minimal capital to start.

Speaking with journalists in Abuja, Tinubu said her office has been providing grants—not loans—to support women and small entrepreneurs as part of efforts to improve livelihoods under the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

According to her, the initiative is designed to empower beneficiaries by providing financial support without placing them under the burden of repayment.

“We’re trying to give hope, and to start an akara business doesn’t take a lot of money. To start roasting corn, or somebody even said kuli-kuli, doesn’t take much. We didn’t give them a loan; we gave it to them as a grant,” she said.

The First Lady explained that the grants are intended to complement the programmes of President Bola Tinubu’s administration by helping Nigerians establish sustainable sources of income.

She also outlined several health interventions funded through her office, including ₦2 billion to combat tuberculosis, ₦1 billion for breast cancer support, and ₦500 million to address food malnutrition.

“I remember giving for TB. When I heard there were so many TB cases, I gave ₦2 billion. To breast cancer, I gave a billion. For food malnutrition, I gave half a billion,” she said.

“So those are the things we’ve been doing and making sure that whatever this government is trying to do, it will see the light of day.”

Tinubu further expressed concern over what she described as growing pessimism among Nigerians, stressing that the Renewed Hope Agenda is aimed at restoring confidence and optimism across the country.

“The narrative has really changed to challenge the average man, whereas the average man is supposed to have hope,” she said.

“I like the idea that Mr President says this is the Renewed Hope Agenda. We have to renew our hope,” the First Lady added.