Ex-Osun Lawmaker Splashes Cash Grants on Widows to Prove First Lady’s ‘Akara’ Advice Actually Works

The fierce national debate over First Lady Oluremi Tinubu’s recommendation for vulnerable women to embrace micro-businesses has received a major practical boost after a prominent politician in Osun State distributed direct cash grants to grassroots traders.

The empowerment project was launched by Hon. Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and a former member of the Osun State House of Assembly. To mark his birthday, Oyintiloye turned his personal celebration into an economic lifesaver for vulnerable women in his hometown of Ibokun, located within the Obokun Local Government Area, by handing out business grants ranging between ₦30,000 and ₦50,000 to local widows.

Rather than just doling out the cash, the former lawmaker used the gathering to forcefully defend the First Lady’s Renewed Hope Initiative. Senator Oluremi Tinubu recently faced a wave of intense social media backlash after suggesting that low-income women could use small government grants to kickstart highly accessible, low-capital street trades like frying akara, selling tomatoes, or roasting corn.

While internet critics labeled the First Lady’s advice as overly simplistic or small-minded for a struggling economy, Oyintiloye argued that those mocking the concept are completely out of touch with the financial realities of rural households. He insisted that starting small with honest trading provides an undeniable dignity of labor that sustains millions of Nigerian homes.

“Those who are attacking the wife of the President for telling women to start small are simply looking for political relevance,” Hon. Olatunbosun Oyintiloye fired back during his address. “They are failing to acknowledge the massive long-term benefits of encouraging entrepreneurship at the absolute grassroots. Many incredibly successful business icons in this country started their journeys by selling basic items like tomatoes and roasted corn. Starting small, exactly as the First Lady has encouraged, keeps people independent and is infinitely better than falling into illegal activities or desperation.”

The former legislator explained that his personal donation to the widows was a deliberate attempt to put the First Lady’s economic philosophy into visible action. He maintained that macro-economic growth does not rely solely on multi-million naira contracts or high-tech corporations, but is instead built heavily on the collective strength of millions of petty traders who keep money circulating within the local informal economy.

By providing immediate operational capital directly to these indigent merchants, the intervention highlights how small funds can dramatically secure a family’s daily survival. As more political and community figures step up to fund these micro-enterprises, the ongoing national conversation is shifting from mocking roadside trades to recognizing them as a crucial, reliable shield against poverty during difficult times.