An All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, Joe Igbokwe, has reacted to attacks directed at First Lady, Remi Tinubu, after she encouraged Nigerians to consider small-scale businesses such as selling akara, roasted corn, and kuli-kuli.
Mrs Tinubu made the remarks while speaking with journalists following the second-quarter meeting of the Renewed Hope Initiative with wives of state governors at the State House in Abuja on Wednesday.
Speaking on the activities of the Renewed Hope Initiative, the First Lady said the programme had been providing grants, rather than loans, to vulnerable Nigerians to help them start businesses and improve their livelihoods.
She said, “We’re trying to give hope, and to start Akara business doesn’t take a lot of money. To start roasting corn, or somebody even said kuli kuli doesn’t take much. We didn’t give them a loan; we gave it to them as a grant.
“So we’ve encouraged Nigerians as best as we could. What is within our hands, I have given, and I keep giving.”
However, many Nigerians considered the advice an insult and took to social media to blast Remi Tinubu.
Reacting to the backlash, Igbokwe, in a post on his Facebook page on Saturday, slammed members of the public. He asked why the First Lady is being attacked for offering an honest advice.
He wrote, “This generation frightens me to the marrows. An honest advice HE Oluremi Tinubu gave to young Nigerians on how to help themselves has become a tool to abuse and to pour invectives.
“Social Media has become a tool to unleash scurrilous drivels even when the truth is spoken.
“We will learn las las. See the empty heads and headless mobs dancing naked in the public space left and right. Awon werey everywhere. Shame has enveloped me”.
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