₦airaland Forum

JuanDeDios:
I think you're making the op's point: the elite don't get it. They don't know how far 50k can go for SOME people. The op already did a good job of explaining it though.

Trust me, I live in the economy. I don't need to ask anyone. I know the price of beans. Yes, 50k can start something for SOME people. Want me to break it down for you?

Go ahead

BATified2023:
use your head n understand that it's always less than 100k

In d evening I will go to d junction n snap d woman doing akara n we will all so the calculation here

Use your head too
Ask that woman and come back here to tell us that it is 50k she use to start that business.

The space is free right?
She stole cylinder right?
The frying pan is free too?
The beans she planted in her backyard?

Abeg talk another thing

Politics is about understanding how much money the federal government currently have to help every grassroot person in need - and not understanding their emotional needs all the time.

No mind these people. They'll just open mouth waaa and speak rubbish.

geoworldedu:
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.

Thank you op for your micro and macro analogy of the Nigerian economy albeit image laundry of this failed administration... IMF Blueprint or should we call it the Bread and Circuses. What i don't get is the continued charade of your likes insulting the collective consciousness and sensitivity of Nigerians?

Nigerian politicians are wicked. I was having conversation with some people last night and one of them said Tinubu would be annoyed with her. I said first lady didnt made mistake by saying that, it's what they are saying in their household everyday with joy she spoke out with pride.

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 am na.

50k will do that

mrvitalis:
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

Comments like yours make me weak sometimes.

This is the reason we are not angry enough to be decisive about taking back our country.

Why would you think they don't know how development works.

Why is it not obvious to you that these people intentionally keep y'all poor and underdeveloped?

No country in the world today that moved its population out of poverty did so through petty trade.

It is usually industrialisation and nothing less.

We are not saying people should no longer go into akara business, but it's not supposed to be a policy statement made openly with pride and with intent to demonstrate that govt is doing well.

If the first lady is empowering people to do akara, she should be hiding to do it.

If they come out and tell us they opened a fashion academy with scholarship for women, where they will aquire skills to make dresses and then at the end of the program you give them free industrial sewing machine and 6 months paid workspace, that can make the news and we will clap for you.

They know exactly how development works, they just don't want us to develop.

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 am na.

baba abeg tell them abeg. They have lost touch with reality. How much is 5 liters of oil? What of transportation?

mactoni91:
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.

How is the statement reckless. Please I need critical analysis not roadside discussion

50k is feeding money for 2 to 3 days
If they really want to help the country, they know what to do, 1: reduce fuel prices
2: stop over taxing
3 : stop overpaying politicians
4 : the president should stop living extravantly he is old
5: He should stop borrowing at the expense of the poor masses

joseph1832:
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.

I don’t see any meaningful things in your write up.

Mitsurugi:
Akpabio's daughter is not in the NNPC. None of his kids are.

Ok.

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/888419-oshiomhole-alleges-akpabios-daughter-got-nnpc-job-without-due-process.html

TenQ:
The problem not solved by the Government is the several million graduates living from hands to mouth.
N50k is not the kind of help they are looking for.

Government failed to realise that the Olodo Uprising is caused by them

You get it, Federal police from abuja are escort to sunday igboho, a knoen tout in ibadan that who fedejral govt place the responsibility of security

y9u read book, you burn candle finally you graduate with 1st class nd if you are luck someone reward you with 100k on a big billboard post dated chequed
after Nysc you enter labour market, nd you realize 1st is no longer a big deal, una plenty .. then you start looking for underpaying jobs cos the good pay jobs are reserved for the connected and influencials

Do you know the present unemployment rate admidst companies are folding up or down sizing ... Thank God for the era of mnetize social media, a lot of youth have found solace in these opportunity to feed n hold body together iF not crime ratr eould have hit the roof cos no job

Have we not seen Govt reward this so called olodo even than peanut cash price they give to excellence
did APC not use Portable to sell campaign, chief priest look like person wey fit know book but they are the face of city boy.

We must acknowledge our society craves and reward mediocrity than excellence thats why ekiti vote out Fayemi for a Fayose than year
thats why osun voted Micheal jackson, they prefer dance to better governance.
People must survive nd its better to have olodo uprise making elon musk money than have a high criminal society were people cant sleep at night

Ovieemmanuel:
baba abeg tell them abeg. They have lost touch with reality. How much is 5 liters of oil? What of transportation?

I even forgot to include those things sef.

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.

Nigeria is neither an akara nor a corn republic. Before now it was rice for every problem. Is this how you and your paid masters plan to repair the economy you have torn apart? Is this how you folks plan to fix inflation? Is this how you folks plan to fix farming crisis occasion by insecurity in many rural agrarian communities?

I won't call the first lady's reckless statement a miscarriage of speech. It is actually their mission. Impoverish the people and render them useless. Then turn them into pliable tools for electoral benefits.

No wonder Nigeria has remained an underdeveloping country. With bought, biased or gullible people like you, this country has reached a dead end. It's an irredeemable entity. In this century, a nation's first lady boldly advocates petty corn and akara business as the pathway out of the damage her husband does to the country daily, and someone somewhere thinks it makes any sense! Omo!!!! Omo!!!

I spit!!!!!

geoworldedu:
Can 50k really do kulikuli and Akara business successfully?

How much do you think they will need to start or to stop obtaining the materials on credit?

You gave 30k to someone some years back. Do you know that the 30k is the 300k of our time?

That's a lie, an exaggeration! How many years back are you talking about? 1980?1990? Year 2000?

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.

Another mistake! Why do you think they must start with 12kg cylinder? Why would you assume that they don't already have one they can start with?

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.

All I can say about you is that you don't have entrepreneurship spirit. Or, you don't belive in starting small if that's all that is available. And another thing, why must it be government or someone providing all these comfort for you? They owe you?

maasoap:
How much do you think they will need to start or to stop obtaining the materials on credit?


That's a lie, an exaggeration! How many years back are you talking about? 1980?1990? Year 2000?


Another mistake! Why do you think they must start with 12kg cylinder? Why would you assume that they don't already have one they can start with?



All I can say about you is that you don't have entrepreneurship spirit. Or, you don't belive in starting small if that's all that is available. And another thing, why must it be government or someone providing all these comfort for you? They owe you?

10 years back tfare from Igbo Efon to Ajah was #50 but today it is #600 to #700. Fuel 1 litre was #97 now it is over #1000. So the maths is very simple. Whatever you have in 2016, multiply it by 10. That's the worth of your 2016 money now. So 30k of 2016 is 300k of now.

If you want a sustainable business, not the one that will stop existing in 3 days to one week, you need to get everything ready. If not you are just wasting your time. You want to sell Akara and you want to fill your gas with 2kg for a start? Omorr, the gas will be finishing every single day and you will need tfare of like #600 or 1k for transport to filling stations and back to your roadside everyday. Except maybe you want to be frying your Akara inside the gas filling station.

geoworldedu:
10 years back tfare from Igbo Efon to Ajah was #50 but today it is #600 to #700. Fuel 1 litre was #97 now it is over #1000. So the maths is very simple. Whatever you have in 2016, multiply it by 10. That's the worth of your 2016 money now. So 30k of 2016 is 300k of now.

I'm glad you mentioned 2016, it is narrowed down. But mentioning transport fare is not a good yardstick and mentioning petrol price is equally not a good yardstick because fuel subsidy removal was responsible for that. And fuel subsidy removal that affected petrol cost is also the one that directly affected transport cost. And that doesn't mean the prices of all goods and services in Nigeria have also jumped by multiple of 10 between 2016 and 2026.
That's being said, many roadside and traffic traders will tell you that they don't need more than 50k unless we're discussing shops and all that

maasoap:
I'm glad you mentioned 2016, it is narrowed down. But mentioning transport fare is not a good yardstick and mentioning petrol price is equally not a good yardstick because fuel subsidy was responsible. And fuel subsidy removal that affected petrol cost is also the one that directly affected transport cost. And that doesn't mean the prices of all goods and services in Nigeria have also jumped by multiple of 10 between 2016 and 2026.
That's being said, many roadside and traffic traders will tell you that they don't need more than 50k unless we're discussing shops and all that

I'm a living witness. I tried selling something by the roadside. Everyday agbero come to collect different kinds of money, just same as the ones they collect from bus drivers. They collect owo chairman, owo council, owo Ile. If you don't have they will take some of your goods away. When you calculate the amount you have given them daily, you discover you have run into a loss. 50k cannot sustain you by the roadside, I swear. Pls can you just go and do real investigation rather than relying on people who for one reason or the other want to tell you what they want you to believe?

Price of food in 2016, I remembered vividly I was using #200 to eat satisfactorily. Now 2k food na manage. That's another times ten. It's only an APC member that will play down all these realities and settle for straws.

henrybomb:
Use your head too
Ask that woman and come back here to tell us that it is 50k she use to start that business.

The space is free right?
She stole cylinder right?
The frying pan is free too?
The beans she planted in her backyard?

Abeg talk another thing

how much are all these things for a low level woman?

Congratulations to me, so I be part of the elites in Tulumbu regime...

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.

Dear Author,

Your post makes an emotional case, but it misses the larger economic issue.

No one is disputing that ₦30,000 or ₦50,000 can help a widow restock her goods or keep a small business afloat.

That has never been the point. The concern is the attempt to redefine economic survival as economic progress.

There is dignity in selling akara, roasted corn, or kuli-kuli. Honest labour should always be respected, I myself, have been there and I speak as a graduate as well.

What is unacceptable is presenting these subsistence businesses as the standard of hope in Africa's largest economy.

Nigeria has over 130 million people living in multidimensional poverty, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. The World Bank has also warned that millions more Nigerians have slipped into poverty in recent years as inflation and the cost of living have risen.

Against this backdrop, the aspiration of government should be to move citizens beyond survival—not simply make survival slightly easier.

You argue that "not everyone needs a laptop."

That is true but neither should everyone be expected to settle for roadside trading because the economy has failed to create enough productive jobs.

A nation develops when it expands manufacturing, agriculture, technology, healthcare, education, and industry—not when it celebrates the growth of subsistence enterprises born out of hardship.

Your example of helping five widows is commendable. It demonstrates compassion at a personal level. But public policy must be judged by a different standard.

Permit me to ask a few honest questions as follows

If roadside trading is the model of economic hope, why are political leaders not encouraging their own children to pursue it?

Why do those in government invest heavily in elite education, professional careers, and large-scale businesses for their families
while telling ordinary Nigerians that selling akara is enough?

Why has government revenue increased significantly since subsidy removal, yet millions still struggle with inflation,
insecurity, poor electricity, and declining purchasing power?

The issue has never been about looking down on akara sellers.

It is about refusing to lower the aspirations of over 200 million Nigerians.

There is a profound difference between helping people survive and creating conditions for them to prosper. Nigerians deserve policies that enable them to build businesses, create jobs, accumulate wealth, and improve their standard of living—not merely survive another day.

That is the debate. And that is the standard by which any serious economic policy should be judged.

BATified2023:
how much are all these things for a low level woman?

Can one pay 50k for all this things I mentioned above?

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.

Grant of 100k is more than enough to start or empower those into akara or kulikuli business.
I don't think she's asking graduates to go into the business. 60% Nigerians don't need millions to make it in life. Most of them just need a little raise to pick up, but you won't realize how much 100k is worth if you've not given it to those who actually need it (I'm not talking about those who use iPhones but unemployed).

mactoni91:
Mention 100 Nigerians out of over 200m Nigerian that has built a house with 50k Akara business.

Sometimes, you guys just vomit rubbish

How many Nigerians earning 500k monthly today do you think can buy a house?
The business won't grow to be able to build a house from the proceeds if not started.
You want to start something and see returns immediately and that's why many of you will continue to fall victim to MMM-like Ponzi schemes.
Do you think we have people making a living from these businesses? I do because I know many people who have trained graduates doing these businesses you think it's worthless.

chidiokay:
You get it, Federal police from abuja are escort to sunday igboho, a knoen tout in ibadan that who fedejral govt place the responsibility of security

y9u read book, you burn candle finally you graduate with 1st class nd if you are luck someone reward you with 100k on a big billboard post dated chequed
after Nysc you enter labour market, nd you realize 1st is no longer a big deal, una plenty .. then you start looking for underpaying jobs cos the good pay jobs are reserved for the connected and influencials

Do you know the present unemployment rate admidst companies are folding up or down sizing ... Thank God for the era of mnetize social media, a lot of youth have found solace in these opportunity to feed n hold body together iF not crime ratr eould have hit the roof cos no job

Have we not seen Govt reward this so called olodo even than peanut cash price they give to excellence
did APC not use Portable to sell campaign, chief priest look like person wey fit know book but they are the face of city boy.

We must acknowledge our society craves and reward mediocrity than excellence thats why ekiti vote out Fayemi for a Fayose than year
thats why osun voted Micheal jackson, they prefer dance to better governance.
People must survive nd its better to have olodo uprise making elon musk money than have a high criminal society were people cant sleep at night

You couldn't have said it better. Government and the society rewards vagabonds. If the government manage to give N100k to a first class graduate we would say that they tried unfortunately the will give the likes of Sunday Igboho and Asari Dokubo hundreds of Millions for their activities.

So, we find ourselves in this terrible mess

Dynamicboss:
Go ahead

henrybomb:
Please do
I am curious

Here, type these prompts on Google or ChatGPT and have fun

1. Give me a plan to start akara frying business with a grant of N50,000.
2. Give me a plan to start akara frying business with a grant of N50,000 (I already have space to use where I live. I'll also be getting utensils free from my mother. I won’t be paying transport either, as the shop to buy and mill beans is nearby.)

CodeTemplar:
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.

The reactions would have been the same.
If I was to give same speech as madam Remi based on my personal experience, I would cited a different example, but the reaction would have been that I should tell my children to start it first. Are my children unemployed and looking for a means of living? No!
I started pig farming after school. I used the proceeds to fund my software engineering training in Bulgaria 3 years later.
The price of a used iPhone XR is more than what you need to start the same business today. It's about getting your priorities right in life, which I see most people don't seems to get.

This is interesting, coming from someone who hates deploying funds to infrastructure, prefering government rather share the money to citizens in the name of them starting small businesses.

Now, the wife of the president gave cash grands to very SME and suggested little things that they can do that such an amount can cover, suddenly, the same folks who only expertise in economics is container corner shop econony now suddenly become harvard trained economics.

This particular guy I quoted once said Nigeria should not have built 3rd mainland bridge. His proposed alternative was that commuters should use ferries instead.

His logic is one of the strangest things I have ever heard. If you think I am lying against him, here is the thread again where he was called out.

https://www.nairaland.com/8078084/popular-obi-supporter-questions-benefit

mrvitalis:
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

DeOTR:
The reactions would have been the same.
If I was to give same speech as madam Remi based on my personal experience, I would cited a different example, but the reaction would have been that I should tell my children to start it first. Are my children unemployed and looking for a means of living? No!
I started pig farming after school. I used the proceeds to fund my software engineering training in Bulgaria 3 years later.
The price of a used iPhone XR is more than what you need to start the same business today. It's about getting your priorities right in life, which I see most people don't seems to get.

So if you give SMEs power or Solar systems, they will reject it and ask you to dash your children instead?
Your sense is paining you. Walahi.