“It does not take a lot of money to start an akar or kuli-kuli business” — First Lady Oluremi Tinubu tells Nigerians

The First Lady of Nigeria, Oluremi Tinubu, called Nigerians remain hopeful despite the country’s economic challenges, saying many small businesses can be started with little capital.

Speaking about the Federal Government’s efforts to support citizens, Mrs. Tinubu said initiatives such as akara selling, maize roasting and kuli-kuli production required minimal financial investment and can provide a source of livelihood for many Nigerians.

“We are trying to give hope, and starting an akar business does not require a lot of money,” she said.

“To start roasting corn or someone even said about grants, you see they say that it doesn’t take much for kuli-kuli.”

The first lady explained that support for some beneficiaries was in the form of grants, not loans.

“We didn’t give them a loan, we gave it to them as support,” she said.

Emphasizes government interventions

Mrs. Tinubu also highlighted several interventions which she said have been undertaken to support vulnerable Nigerians and improve public welfare.

According to her, she has donated ₦2 billion to address tuberculosis cases in the country, ₦1 billion to breast cancer initiatives and ₦500 million to address food malnutrition.

“I remember that I gave for tuberculosis, when I heard that there were so many cases of tuberculosis, I gave two billion. For breast cancer, I gave one billion. For malnutrition, I gave half a billion,” she said.

She added that efforts were directed towards social investment programs, education, scholarships and ICT training in partnership with competent agencies.

“So, in our work that we have done, in the social investments that we have, in education, we have given some scholarships, ICT training and with NIDA,” she said.

It calls for the renewal of hope

The first lady asserted that the story of the country should inspire hope among ordinary citizens, not discourage them.

“The story really changed to challenge the average person, when the average person should have hope,” she said.

She commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, saying Nigerians must continue to believe in the country’s future.

“We have to renew our hope and this is how we renew our hope,” she said.

Mrs Tinubu concluded her address by urging Nigerians not to give up, describing the country as a “very proud nation”.

“They don’t give up, they just hold on, we are a very proud nation,” she said.

Watch the video here…

“It doesn’t take a lot of money to start an akar business. It doesn’t take much to start roasting maize or kuli-kuli. We encouraged Nigerians as best we could. We gave people grants and I also gave grants to a few others” — First Lady Remi Tinubu…

— Instablog9ja (@instablog9ja) June 26, 2026