“My Dear Wife, First Lady, Iya Alakara”: Tinubu Teases Senator Oluremi at Press Corps Dinner

• President Bola Tinubu made a subtle remark about the controversies that followed his wife's comments on akara and other small businesses
• Tinubu made his remark while speaking at the maiden edition of the presidential press corps dinner in Abuja on Thursday, July 2
• While speaking at the event, President Tinubu playfully described the first lady as "Iya Alakara," a comment which drew reactions from Nigerians

Find it fast with our new search feature at Legit.ng!

President Bola Tinubu has made a playful remark about his wife, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, describing her as "Iya Alakara," a reference to the recent controversy that trailed the First Lady following her remarks on empowerment for some women in the country.

The president made the remark while speaking at the maiden press corps dinner at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Thursday, July 2, Vanguard reported.

Recall that the First Lady recently made headlines when she spoke on the importance of small-scale food businesses such as selling akara and roasted corn, noting that they required little capital to start. Akara is a popular Nigerian snack made from deep-frying ground beans.

Speaking in Abuja, the First Lady explained that her office had been providing grants, not loans, to support such ventures under the Renewed Hope Agenda.

From breaking news to viral moments. Follow Legit.ng on Instagram.

She said:

“We’re trying to give hope, and to start 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.”

However, her remarks attracted backlash from critics, who claimed there should be greater empowerment for the people as the country faces serious economic challenges.

Nigerians react as Tinubu speaks on akara controversy

Referring to the backlash, President Tinubu playfully joked about the misinterpretation at the Presidential Villa while speaking at the press corps dinner, and his remark has started generating reactions from Nigerians. Below are some of their comments:

Babs Soft maintained that the government understands the challenges Nigerians are facing:

"And you will want me to believe that this government does not know what's going on and the type of mess the streets are in with their renewed hardship? They knew what's up."

Ológbojò-CFRN noted that it showed that President Tinubu is aware of what's going on online:

"It shows my president acquitted himself with what is going on in the nation and on social media.... Kudos to you, Mr President."

Àdíò maintained that he had been expecting the remark from the president, expressing confidence that Tinubu is acquainted with trends:

"President Tinubu will always show you he’s following the trend. I’ve been expecting this though."

Looking4sam expressed the belief that the first family talked about the matter at home and laughed about it:

"I bet they all talked about it at home and they laughed about it. We are so cooked, ha!"

Watch the video of President Tinubu's comment on X here:

Oluremi Tinubu in Kano and the controversy

Legit.ng earlier reported that Kano state made headlines during the week after Oluremi Tinubu's visit, the first lady of Nigeria, to the state, after the women were seen displaying pants with the image of the governor.

However, the images were fact-checked, and a forensic report showed that they were manipulated to create the impression that the governor actually sponsored the underwear.

Some social media reports claimed that the governor shared the pants as an empowerment or campaign gift to the women.

Proofreading by Funmilayo Aremu, copy editor at Legit.ng.