27/06/2026
Today, I want to speak from my heart.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with selling akara, roasted corn, kuli-kuli, or running any honest small business. Every legitimate hustle deserves respect because it puts food on the table and supports families.
But my concern is this: Is this the highest level of empowerment we can offer Nigerian women and young graduates? A young lady spends four or five years in the university, enduring strikes, financial hardship, sleepless nights, and countless sacrifices. She graduates with dreams of becoming an engineer, a software developer, a scientist, a manufacturer, a researcher, or the founder of a thriving company. After all that, should our national vision for her be limited to giving her capital to sell akara or roasted corn?
Nigeria has brilliant women. We have ministries, agencies, universities, and institutions that can equip women with digital skills, technology, manufacturing, agriculture, healthcare, renewable energy, and other industries that create lasting wealth and jobs.
Empowerment should not only be about helping people survive,it should also be about helping them grow, innovate, create employment, and compete on the global stage.
Our women are capable of building businesses that employ hundreds of people, not just businesses that help them get by. Our graduates deserve opportunities that match their education, talents, and ambitions.
This is not about looking down on small businesses. It is about asking for a bigger vision for Nigeria's future.
Our daughters deserve more.
Our graduates deserve more.
Nigeria deserves more.
May we become a nation that empowers its people to dream bigger, achieve more, and compete with the very best in the world.
What are your thoughts?
