Nigeria’s Presidency has defended First Lady Senator Remi Tinubu’s call for citizens to embrace small-scale entrepreneurship, arguing that many of the country’s most successful business leaders began with humble ventures.
Responding to criticism that followed the First Lady’s remarks, the Presidency said encouraging entrepreneurship should not be interpreted as lowering expectations for economic opportunities but rather as promoting self-reliance and resilience in difficult times.
As an example, presidential aides pointed to Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, noting that the billionaire businessman started his journey as a trader before building one of the continent’s largest industrial empires.
The defence comes amid growing public debate over the government’s economic policies, with many Nigerians grappling with soaring inflation, rising living costs and declining purchasing power. Critics have argued that promoting small businesses alone is insufficient to address the country’s broader economic challenges.
However, the Presidency maintained that entrepreneurship remains a vital pathway to wealth creation, job generation and long-term economic growth, insisting that countless successful entrepreneurs began with modest enterprises before expanding into large-scale businesses.
