Ahmed Bala, the Director General of the group Relax, Tinubu Is Fixing Nigeria (RTIFN), has come to the defense of First Lady Senator Oluremi Tinubu. He argues that recent backlash regarding her comments on small-scale trades has been unfairly politicized and taken out of context.
During a gathering of the Renewed Hope Initiative at the State House in Abuja, the First Lady discussed providing grants to vulnerable citizens for modest business ventures like roasting corn or selling akara. While she intended to promote entrepreneurship, her words faced heavy criticism from social media users who felt she was trivializing the nation’s economic hardship.
Bala clarified that the First Lady was advocating for self-reliance and the dignity of labor rather than belittling the jobless. He noted that many Nigerians who scoff at small businesses locally are often eager to perform demanding, menial tasks when working abroad. He questioned why individuals would sweep streets or work in nursing homes overseas yet find similar industriousness offensive in Nigeria.
According to Bala, the national economy can no longer sustain a culture of dependency on connections. He stated that true prosperity requires every citizen to contribute through hard work and innovation, pointing to successful nations like China and Singapore as examples of where a strong work ethic drove development. He concluded by urging the public to stop the political discourse and instead focus on becoming productive contributors to the national economy.
