By Comrade Kunle Sodipo anipr
_Ogun State, Nigeria based Public Affairs Analyst and Security Strategist_
kdrexafricanchild@gmail.com
_22 July, 2026_
A few weeks ago, Nigeria’s First Lady, *Senator Oluremi Tinubu*, said something simple.
She asked Nigerians to embrace small businesses. She mentioned *frying and selling akara*, and other jobs many of us call “low class.”
The internet exploded.
“Is this what she wants for us?”
“Can she and her family do akara business?”
Memes flew. Insults flew. Even the President joined in at an Aso Villa dinner, calling her *“Iya Alakara”* with a smile.
But in the noise, we missed the message.
I decided to wait. Because Nigerians are often too emotional, too political, and too myopic to hear truth when it first comes.
Now, let’s talk honestly.
*1. NOT EVERYONE WILL WEAR SUIT AND TIE*
Let’s face reality.
Not everybody will work in a bank.
Not everybody will treat patients in a hospital.
Not everybody will fly an airplane.
Not everybody will become a politician.
And that is not failure. That is design.
Life is a circle. It needs the low, the middle, and the high class to function.
The doctor needs the woman who sells him akara and pap before morning duty.
The banker needs the vulcanizer to fix his tire.
The politician needs the tailor to sew his agbada.
Remove one part, the whole system collapses.
So why do we mock the parts we think are “beneath” us?
*2. AKARA IS NOT POVERTY. DISRESPECT FOR WORK IS.*
Selling akara may look degrading to some on Instagram.
But to others, it is tuition fees. It is rent. It is capital to open a restaurant chain in 5 years.
Dangote started with cement.
Ibeto started with spare parts.
Most billionaires today started with something “small” that people laughed at.
The problem in Nigeria is not akara.
The problem is our mindset that says: _“If it is not a government job or white collar, then it is useless.”_
That mindset has created millions of graduates with certificates and zero income, all waiting for a job that does not exist.
*3. WHAT THE FIRST LADY WAS REALLY SAYING*
Senator Oluremi Tinubu was not saying “everybody should fry akara tomorrow.”
She was saying: *“Start where you are. Dignify work. Stop waiting.”*
In countries we admire, nobody calls a baker or a plumber “low class.”
In Europe and America, small businesses are the engine of the economy. The owner is respected. The work is taxed. The business grows.
Here, we prefer to sit, complain on Twitter, and wait for government, while calling honest hustle “shameful.”
That is the real shame.
*4. THE BIGGER LESSON FOR NIGERIA*
If we must build a new Nigeria, we must kill 3 things:
1. *Class Shaming*: No job that feeds a family and pays tax is useless. Period.
2. *Get-Rich-Quick Mentality*: We must teach our youths that gradual growth from humble beginnings is still growth.
3. *Government Dependency*: Government cannot employ 200 million people. But 200 million people can employ themselves if we support small business with loans, power, and markets.
*CONCLUSION: LET US CALL HER “IYA ALAKARA” WITH PRIDE*
Yes, call her *Iya Alakara*.
But let it be a title of honor, not mockery.
Because the woman frying akara at 4am is not lazy. She is building a nation.
The boy learning vulcanizing is not a failure. He is creating jobs.
The girl selling okrika online is not “suffering.” She is an entrepreneur.
Nigeria will not be fixed by grammar or big titles.
It will be fixed when we respect every honest work, no matter how small it looks.
So the next time you see akara, don’t laugh. Buy it.
The next time you hear “small business,” don’t scorn it. Support it.
Because today’s akara stand can be tomorrow’s food company.
And that, is the truth we refused to hear.
_Let’s build, not belittle._
Feedback: kdrexafricanchild@gmail.com
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