₦airaland Forum

One of the biggest mistakes in Nigerian politics is assuming that everyone lives in the same economic reality.

They don't.

The debate over Senator Oluremi Tinubu's comments about akara and kuli-kuli exposed something deeper than politics. It exposed a disconnect between many middle-class commentators and the daily realities of millions of Nigerians.

To someone earning a salary every month, ₦50,000 may look insignificant.

To a widow selling akara, roasted yam, boiled corn, kuli-kuli or cashew nuts, ₦50,000 can be working capital. It is the difference between buying today's stock with borrowed money and buying it outright. It is the difference between surviving and expanding.

Years ago, I personally experienced this.

I gave five widows ₦30,000 each to buy cashew nuts. They repackaged them into smaller bottles and sachets for resale. Within three months, every one of them had repaid the money. We then revolved the same capital to another five women.

That small intervention did not create software engineers. It created sustainable micro-businesses.

That is the point many critics miss.

Not every Nigerian needs a laptop before they can be economically productive. Nigeria's economy is layered. A graduate may benefit from digital skills and technology. A market woman may benefit more from affordable working capital. A roadside food vendor may simply need enough money to increase inventory.

As food prices have risen, another trend has emerged. Demand for lower-cost prepared foods such as roasted yam, akara, bread-and-akara ("akara burger"wink, boiled maize and similar street foods has increased in many communities because they remain relatively affordable. That, in turn, has created opportunities for thousands of small traders operating with modest capital.

This is not an argument against technology or digital empowerment.

It is an argument against one-size-fits-all thinking.

Successful social policy recognises that poverty is not uniform. The needs of a graduate seeking employment are different from those of a widow selling vegetables, or a hawker financing her daily stock on credit.

Politics is ultimately about understanding people where they are, not where we wish they were.

If the opposition wants to become electorally competitive, it must spend more time listening in markets than arguing on social media.

The grassroots are not asking politicians to solve every problem overnight. Many are asking for something much simpler: enough capital to take the next step.

Sometimes, the journey out of poverty does not begin with millions of naira.

Sometimes, it begins with one basin of akara.

Can 50k really do kulikuli and Akara business successfully? You gave 30k to someone some years back. Do you know that the 30k is the 300k of our time?

How can you give people 50k to start Akara and kulikuli business in this Tinubulation? You didn't even buy them the cylinder, the gas 12kg, which is 24k for a start, the wide pots used which cannot be less than 15 to 20k at the moment. The space for the akara business which in these days you have to keep paying and paying over again because of agbero and KAI that will keep chasing you about.

You didn't even factor in the umbrella they need to shield themselves from the sun. You gave them 50k and start saying, go and do Akara business.

If that's how cheap you can start Akara business, me and my guy for don run am tey tey when we were planning to do it some years back. Mtchew.


Please take note everyone, those people selling kunu and Akara by the roadside are far far richer than you doing 9 to 5 jobs o. And their starting capital no be the classmates of six months of your salary o. If you think say e easy, go try am na.

At least you posted with sense. Someone else would bring Peter Obi into his conversation and begin to post video of where Obi gave money to some people as if Obi is now the yardstick for measuring the performance of their failing government.

You can't wake anyone pretending to be sleeping, you just can't.

The widow sitting idly somewhere, who do not know where the next meal will come from , will jump at a grant of 50-100k to start something meaningful.

But hey, it's politics.

A real-time validation is the rapid spread of loan apps offering small loans at exorbitant interest rates.

CharlesCNG:
One of the biggest mistakes in Nigerian politics is assuming that everyone lives in the same economic reality.

They don't.

The debate over Senator Oluremi Tinubu's comments about akara and kuli-kuli exposed something deeper than politics. It exposed a disconnect between many middle-class commentators and the daily realities of millions of Nigerians.

To someone earning a salary every month, ₦50,000 may look insignificant.

To a widow selling akara, roasted yam, boiled corn, kuli-kuli or cashew nuts, ₦50,000 can be working capital. It is the difference between buying today's stock with borrowed money and buying it outright. It is the difference between surviving and expanding.

kara.

This is Akara in motion...small biz to big biz

You guys are trying to do Damage control.

What Remi Tinubu said was very irresponsible, reckless and insensitive.

You can see the disconnect between our useless politicians and the people they govern.

No wonder they keep rolling out policies that keeps harming the mass.

Very useless sets.

Your take, OP, as interesting as it is, and exposing still doesn't negate the fact that, many Nigerians are empty and very ignorant. In fact, they wear their ignorance with such magnificent foolishness, you have to wonder which hole they crawled out from.

I still don't even want to imagine how many of these people started dancing azonto because of what Remi Tinubu said. It only shows just how far gone we are as a people. A people who refuse to learn or even care to know anything of worth. It is why we are like this, and the country is in this present state it is.

HOT AKARA WITH JENDOL BREAD .

No explanation can replace or correct what has been said. It's bad
Government: motivate and reassure you people, encourage them, little and humble beginnings is good, YES. but going into specifics " akara and corn " that's mockery!!!
Especially coming from a failed government that just rewarded APC women leaders hundreds of millions worth vehicles for what now
I don't have an issue with motivation or encouragement but it should never be used as a tool for insult or mockery.. that statement right there is OUTRIGHT DISRESPECTFUL TO NIGERIANS.
reminds me of the song by the GOAT, THE ICON, MJ "all I wanna say is that, they don't really care about us".

Doing such business means you'll not touch the profit for a long time. You'll need to keep rolling everything into the business (take a family of 6 for an example, and that's the only source of livelihood).

In a political season like ours, words should be calculated before being spoken otherwise, it'll be misconstrued. Indeed, it was, because few weeks ago, she gave some people brand new carsy

Keep writing the jargons that you know nothing about.

Did you give it to a member of your family?

geoworldedu:
Can 50k really do kulikuli and Akara business successfully? You gave 30k to someone some years back. Do you know that the 30k is the 300k of our time?

How can you give people 50k to start Akara and kulikuli business in this Tinubulation? You didn't even buy them the cylinder, the gas 12kg, which is 24k for a start, the wide pots used which cannot be less than 15 to 20k at the moment. The space for the akara business which in these days you have to keep paying and paying over again because of agbero and KAI that will keep chasing you about.

You didn't even factor in the umbrella they need to shield themselves from the sun. You gave them 50k and start saying, go and do Akara business.

If that's how cheap you can start Akara business, me and my guy for don run am tey tey when we were planning to do it some years back. Mtchew.

mactoni91:
You guys are trying to do Damage control.

What Remi Tinubu said was very irresponsible, reckless and insensitive.

ThIs is one of them. Ask him how what the first lady said, is reckless, and you'd be amazed at his response.

You are the one bringing Obi to this conversation.

By the ways. The people have built houses with akara business

kernniejay:
At least you posted with sense. Someone else would bring Peter Obi into his conversation and begin to post video of where Obi gave money to some people as if Obi is now the yardstick for measuring the performance of their failing government.

70% of the Nigerian elites are corrupt politicians. They don't understand a thing about the grassroots they represent. Else they won't see Akara business, corn and plantain roasting, wheel barrow, etc as an empowermemt.

LibertyRep:
You can't wake anyone pretending to be sleeping, you just can't.

The widow sitting idly somewhere, who do not know where the next meal will come from , will jump at a grant of 50-100k to start something meaningful.

But hey, it's politics.

A grant of 50k to 100k can't do anything sustainable. People who are using 300k to do businesses are even folding up , not to talk of someone with just 50k. The money won't last one week.

lordm:
You are the one bringing Obi to this conversation.

By the ways. The people have built houses with akara business

The person I refer to knows himself.

It’s not elites it’s APC
Those guys don’t understand how development works at all

Do we lack akara sellers ? Is their shortage ?
So why do you need more ?

The Nigerian economy is an eco system
Image what would happen if 100.000 people that’s less than 5% of unemployed people in Lagos start selling akara ?


Won’t the akara economy collapse?
Demand already very weak

Data boys / bots, Una go explain tire... Nonsense damage control.

Very disappointed in OP comment.

Do you know how much Nigeria has deteriorated within the last 3 years? 30k, some years back is like 400k as at today. How can 50k start akara business? Do you know how much it will cost to buy all the items to set the business up?

Remi’s imbecilic comments show a huge disconnect between the wild beasts (politicians) and the suffering masses.

It is interesting how a government that has pushed millions more Nigerians into multidimensional poverty is priding itself at encouraging the people they made poorer to invest in businesses that are designed to keep them perpetually poor in the present socio-economic system.

Akara selling is not new. Corn roasting is not new. Kuli kuli making is not new. People have trained kids and made thier lives better through it. These are part of critical nano/micro businesses.

What is new is that the incompetence of bat is pushing more people into it. People who would ordinarily not aspire to such enterprises.

People fried akara and sent kids to school. Is that possible today without loans?

When Akpabio’s daughter wanted a job, why didn't he open akara business for her? Something that she could even do in a high class style? Why put her in a NNPC job she did not merit?

Remi even sounded exasperated, as if people are disturbing her. If she and her husband did not push more people into poverty, she would not be disturbed to this extent.

Anyway, let the 60m newly minted multidimensionally poor Nigerians take up the offer.

geoworldedu:
Can 50k really do kulikuli and Akara business successfully? You gave 30k to someone some years back. Do you know that the 30k is the 300k of our time?

How can you give people 50k to start Akara and kulikuli business in this Tinubulation? You didn't even buy them the cylinder, the gas 12kg, which is 24k for a start, the wide pots used which cannot be less than 15 to 20k at the moment. The space for the akara business which in these days you have to keep paying and paying over again because of agbero and KAI that will keep chasing you about.

You didn't even factor in the umbrella they need to shield themselves from the sun. You gave them 50k and start saying, go and do Akara business.

If that's how cheap you can start Akara business, me and my guy for don run am tey tey when we were planning to do it some years back. Mtchew.


Please take note everyone, those people selling kunu and Akara by the roadside are far far richer than you doing 9 to 5 jobs o. And their starting capital no be the classmates of six months of your salary o. If you think say e easy, go try and na.

best thread on nairaland this year! If only the few misled youths are capable of thinking this way , surely, this country would be better off

KonTagiousBull:
Did you give it to a member of your family?

If I have 50k to spare, I will just give it to them to spend, not to do unsustainable business. Sometimes I do give out such amount and never will I say it's for business. An Akara business needs nothing less than 300 to 400k starting capital, except maybe you want to be doing it inside your room and asking people from Tiktok to come and buy. Mrs Tinubu didn't factor in money for space, money for her boys aka agbero, money for KAI, etc.

lordm:
You are the one bringing Obi to this conversation.

By the ways. The people have built houses with akara business

Mention 100 Nigerians out of over 200m Nigerian that has built a house with 50k Akara business.

Sometimes, you guys just vomit rubbish

CharlesCNG:
One of the biggest mistakes in Nigerian politics is assuming that everyone lives in the same economic reality.

They don't.

The debate over Senator Oluremi Tinubu's comments about akara and kuli-kuli exposed something deeper than politics. It exposed a disconnect between many middle-class commentators and the daily realities of millions of Nigerians.

To someone earning a salary every month, ₦50,000 may look insignificant.

To a widow selling akara, roasted yam, boiled corn, kuli-kuli or cashew nuts, ₦50,000 can be working capital. It is the difference between buying today's stock with borrowed money and buying it outright. It is the difference between surviving and expanding.

Years ago, I personally experienced this.

I gave five widows ₦30,000 each to buy cashew nuts. They repackaged them into smaller bottles and sachets for resale. Within three months, every one of them had repaid the money. We then revolved the same capital to another five women.

That small intervention did not create software engineers. It created sustainable micro-businesses.

That is the point many critics miss.

Not every Nigerian needs a laptop before they can be economically productive. Nigeria's economy is layered. A graduate may benefit from digital skills and technology. A market woman may benefit more from affordable working capital. A roadside food vendor may simply need enough money to increase inventory.

As food prices have risen, another trend has emerged. Demand for lower-cost prepared foods such as roasted yam, akara, bread-and-akara ("akara burger"wink, boiled maize and similar street foods has increased in many communities because they remain relatively affordable. That, in turn, has created opportunities for thousands of small traders operating with modest capital.

This is not an argument against technology or digital empowerment.

It is an argument against one-size-fits-all thinking.

Successful social policy recognises that poverty is not uniform. The needs of a graduate seeking employment are different from those of a widow selling vegetables, or a hawker financing her daily stock on credit.

Politics is ultimately about understanding people where they are, not where we wish they were.

If the opposition wants to become electorally competitive, it must spend more time listening in markets than arguing on social media.

The grassroots are not asking politicians to solve every problem overnight. Many are asking for something much simpler: enough capital to take the next step.

Sometimes, the journey out of poverty does not begin with millions of naira.

Sometimes, it begins with one basin of akara.

Trash.
Billions will be wasted in vain, and you advise people you tax to finance your government to start akara business, are you okay?
Data boy, are you okay?

You expect someone who do not know where next meal will come from to use 50k to start a business? No be to cure hunger first go be their priority?

LibertyRep:
You can't wake anyone pretending to be sleeping, you just can't.

The widow sitting idly somewhere, who do not know where the next meal will come from , will jump at a grant of 50-100k to start something meaningful.

But hey, it's politics.

These are the shameless propagandists that have been sent to make the citizens satisfied with peanuts. Their job is to regularize poverty and hardship.

Dynamicboss:
Very disappointed in OP comment.

Do you know how much Nigeria has deteriorated within the last 3 years? 30k, some years back is like 400k as at today. How can 50k start akara business? Do you know how much it will cost to buy all the items to set it up?

you didn't make any sense with your fake statistics, Park well and let's see what is going on in the front

I agree, even people who start with 3m and more fold up, businesses fail.

But trust me, 50 -100k is enough to give some people the start and spark they need in their line of business.

Could it be more than that, absolutely.

But hey, this is a grant, a gift.

geoworldedu:
A grant of 50k to 100k can't do anything sustainable. People who are using 300k to do businesses are even folding up , not to talk of someone with just 50k. The money won't last one week.

CharlesCNG:
Not every Nigerian needs a laptop before they can be economically productive. Nigeria's economy is layered. A graduate may benefit from digital skills and technology. A market woman may benefit more from affordable working capital. A roadside food vendor may simply need enough money to increase inventory.

As food prices have risen, another trend has emerged. Demand for lower-cost prepared foods such as roasted yam, akara, bread-and-akara ("akara burger"wink, boiled maize and similar street foods has increased in many communities because they remain relatively affordable. That, in turn, has created opportunities for thousands of small traders operating with modest capital.

This is not an argument against technology or digital empowerment.

It is an argument against one-size-fits-all thinking.

Thank you, my brother. A knee-jerk reaction to everything is the trademark of the Nigerian Twitterati.

The experience of the most disadvantaged among us is the most relevant experience for analysis. When did we become an economy where everyone works with a laptop?

In a country exporting billions of dollars of raw material, see what someone is typing in support of wicked insensitive leaders.
Such scale of empowerment is suitable for alhajis and middleclass Nigerians like the OP. Remi Tinubu with her office should be sending out kits to 100,000 farmer or solar kits to 100,000 SMEs or or to producers of everyday goods.