Post by ITMedia Operations Support for ObiKwankwaso (@itmedia_operations_suppo)

ITMEDIA OPERATIONS SUPPORT
National Secretariat, Nigeria
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RECENT COMMENTS BY THE FIRST LADY: ITMEDIA OPERATIONS SUPPORT DECRIES THE SYSTEMATIC DOWNGRADING OF NIGERIAN WOMEN
"NIGERIA" — ITMedia Operations Support expresses its profound disappointment, shock, and concern over recent statements credited to the First Lady of Nigeria, Senator Oluremi Tinubu. Speaking after the Renewed Hope Initiative’s second-quarter meeting in Abuja, the First Lady publicly advised economically disadvantaged Nigerians—particularly women—to embrace micro-scale ventures like frying "Akara" (bean cakes), roasting corn, and making "Kuli-Kuli" (groundnut cake), defending these trades as low-capital options suitable for grassroots government grants.
While we recognize the dignity of honest labor, ITMedia Operations Support strongly rejects the narrative that the pinnacle of economic empowerment for the Nigerian woman should be confined to roadside, subsistence trading. At a time when the global community is training women in data science, technological innovation, automated agriculture, and advanced entrepreneurship, it is deeply discouraging to see leadership prescribe survivalist, energy-sapping, and low-yield ventures as a national economic strategy for vulnerable citizens.
"To tell struggling mothers and young girls to rely on roasting corn and frying Akara under the weight of historic inflation is an admission of a lack of a broader economic vision. It reduces the immense potential of the Nigerian woman to mere survivalism."

The Reality on the Ground
The First Lady’s remarks betray a severe disconnect from the current harsh economic realities. In today’s Nigeria, even starting a petty trading business is no longer "cheap." The skyrocketing costs of basic raw materials and production essentials include:
Beans and Groundnuts: Seeing unprecedented, triple-digit price hikes over the past year.
Cooking Oil and Ingredients: Becoming luxury commodities for the average trader.
Energy Costs: The soaring prices of charcoal, firewood, and cooking gas make roadside frying an increasingly expensive and low-margin struggle.
By suggesting that small grants should merely fund roadside frying, the current leadership inadvertently highlights its inability to lower production costs or provide sustainable, high-value economic opportunities that could lift families out of structural poverty.
Our Position and Call to Action
Nigerian women have consistently shown themselves to be innovative, brilliant, and capable of leading macro-economic transformations. They deserve structural support that enables them to become tech-literatate professionals, modern agro-processors, and scalable business owners.
ITMedia Operations Support calls on the administrators of the Renewed Hope Initiative and the Federal Government to look beyond subsistence-level interventions. We demand a shift toward impactful capacity building, robust vocational training in high-demand fields, and economic policies that tackle inflation directly. Our women and youth should be empowered to build the future of Nigeria, not left behind by it.

Signed,
Emmanuel Abuh
National Director and Convener
ITMedia Operations Support

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