The First Lady’s comments in June urging Nigerian women to embrace low‑capital ventures such as frying akara, roasting corn, and producing kulikuli sparked widespread debate online. Critics accused her of trivialising the economic hardship facing citizens amid rising food prices, inflation and unemployment.
The Tinubu Media Centre later posted an AI‑generated image of the First Lady selling akara, further fuelling public conversation.
Senator Tinubu subsequently clarified her remarks, insisting that the Federal Government’s empowerment programmes extended beyond akara sellers to include traders in tomatoes, pepper, vegetables and roasted plantain. She disclosed that N100 million had been provided to the Jigawa State Government to empower 2,000 petty traders, each receiving N50,000 to recapitalise their businesses.
Her defence was echoed by Dada Olusegun, Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Social Media, who described the backlash as a “performative circus of selective amnesia”, arguing that critics ignored the broader interventions of the Renewed Hope Initiative across health, women’s empowerment and support for vulnerable groups.
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Academic Engagement With Public Discourse
The inclusion of the topic in a university examination highlights how public debates increasingly shape academic inquiry, especially within communication and media studies. By asking students to create an advocacy ad around the theme, the department appears to be encouraging critical engagement with contemporary socio‑economic issues and the role of messaging in shaping public perception.
In a country where public debates often ignite overnight and ripple across institutions, ValidViewNetwork reports that the transformation of the akara–kulikuli conversation into an academic exercise shows how national discourse can shape learning, creativity and critical thinking. What began as a controversial remark has now become a teaching tool proving once again that in Nigeria, even the simplest conversations can spark complex reflections.
