‘Stop insulting Nigerian women’s intelligence’ — Arise TV anchor Ayo Mairo-Ese blasts Remi Tinubu over ‘akara, kuli-kuli’ business advice
Arise News anchor Ayo Mairo-Ese has criticised Nigeria’s First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, over her recent remarks encouraging women to embrace small-scale businesses such as frying akara (bean cakes), roasting corn, selling akamu (pap), and producing kuli-kuli (groundnut cakes) as a pathway to economic empowerment.
Global Mirror News gathered that the comments followed the circulation of a viral video from a recent press briefing in which the First Lady defended the Federal Government’s economic intervention programmes.
During the briefing, Mrs Tinubu highlighted micro-grants as a means of helping low-income Nigerians, particularly women, establish small businesses and become financially self-reliant.
However, reacting during a live morning programme on Arise Television, Mairo-Ese described the suggestion as outdated and disconnected from the realities and aspirations of Nigerian women in 2026.
According to the broadcaster, while small businesses have their place in the economy, the country’s leadership should be focusing on policies that promote industrialisation, innovation and technology-driven enterprises capable of creating jobs and stimulating sustainable economic growth.
“I think there are many things wrong with this assertion by the First Lady,” Mairo-Ese said.
“The first thing is that it almost seems as if you are watching a video from 1960. There is a place in our society for small business owners, micro, small and medium-scale enterprises, but we are looking at a Nigeria of 2026. We are looking at Nigeria in the context of where the rest of the world is talking about cutting-edge technology.”
She argued that women across the world now lead multinational companies and billion-dollar enterprises, insisting that conversations about women’s empowerment in Nigeria should reflect modern economic realities rather than focus solely on petty trading.
“Is the First Lady aware that women now run multi-billion-dollar empires across the world? Businesses like akara and akamu may suffice in rural communities, but if we are talking about empowering women in modern-day Nigeria, then let us talk about industrialisation. That is the engine of a modern economy,” she stated.
Mairo-Ese added that industrialisation would have far-reaching benefits, including increased job creation, stronger contributions to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and broader economic development.
She further questioned whether the country’s political leaders truly understood the expectations of Nigerian women.
“If this is the thinking in Aso Villa, then there is a problem. You are talking about empowering Nigerian women in 2026—the same women whose votes you will seek during elections—and this is the level of creativity being suggested? We have moved beyond that.”
The television anchor also challenged members of the political elite to identify anyone within their own families who had built a successful life in today’s Nigeria by selling the products mentioned by the First Lady.
“How many people in the families they come from have become successful today by selling the things she mentioned?” she asked.
Concluding her remarks, Mairo-Ese said it was time for leaders to stop underestimating the ambitions and capabilities of Nigerian women.
“I do think, quite frankly, that it is about time we stop insulting the intelligence of Nigerian women by saying the best they can do is to be selling this or that.”
The First Lady’s remarks have continued to generate mixed reactions on social media, with some Nigerians defending the importance of micro-enterprises in poverty alleviation, while others argue that government empowerment initiatives should prioritise larger-scale economic opportunities, skills development, manufacturing and technology-driven businesses.
