Mimiko faults critics of first lady’s SME remarks

By Boye Oyeyemi

The governorship candidate of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) in the 2024 Ondo State governorship election, Dr. Abass Mimiko, has defended the recent remarks by Oluremi Tinubu encouraging Nigerians to embrace small-scale businesses.

The first lady recently advised Nigerians, particularly women, to consider small businesses such as selling akara, groundnuts and kulikuli as viable sources of income. Her remarks generated mixed reactions, with some critics describing them as insensitive to the country’s economic realities.

Speaking with members of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Akure on Thursday, Mimiko dismissed Tinubu’s critics as detractors, insisting that the first lady’s message had been taken out of context.

According to him, the backlash was being driven by members of the political opposition and sections of the elite seeking to discredit the president’s administration. He maintained that Mrs. Tinubu was not an elected public office holder but was supporting her husband’s administration through the Renewed Hope Initiative.

“The whole idea is the elite and the opposition to her husband trying to make a mountain out of this. There is a lot of mischief going on. Oluremi Tinubu is not an elected public office holder. She is simply supporting her husband’s Renewed Hope agenda through the Renewed Hope Initiative,” Mimiko said.

The younger brother of former Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko also commended the first lady’s interventions, describing her contributions as impactful. He also accused some sections of the media of amplifying the controversy surrounding her remarks to attract public attention.

Mimiko further defended the Tinubu administration’s economic reforms, including the removal of fuel subsidy and measures introduced to improve transparency in crude oil revenue management. He argued that the reforms had unsettled vested interests that benefitted from the previous system, resulting in sustained criticism of the government.

He further praised the Renewed Hope Initiative for its programmes in healthcare, women’s empowerment, breast cancer awareness, tuberculosis control and humanitarian support for widows, orphans and vulnerable groups. According to him, those interventions have made a positive impact on Nigerians and deserve greater public recognition than the controversy surrounding the first lady’s comments.