Nigeria’s First Lady, Remi Tinubu, has defended the government’s petty traders’ support initiative, insisting that the programme extends far beyond akara sellers and benefits a wide range of small-scale business owners across the country.
Reacting to what she described as wrong reports, Tinubu said beneficiaries include tomato sellers, bole sellers, maize sellers, vegetable sellers and many other petty traders.
She maintained that those receiving the support appreciate the intervention and dismissed criticism surrounding the initiative.
“It is not only akara sellers. We are also supporting tomato sellers, bole, maize sellers, vegetable sellers, and many other petty traders. I know the beneficiaries appreciate it, and we’re not intimidated by the wrong reports,” she said.
Her remarks underscore the government’s position that the intervention is broad-based and targeted at improving the livelihoods of diverse categories of small traders despite public scrutiny and negative reports.
