Former chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Sam Amadi has criticized the First Lady, Remi Tinubu, over her advice to Nigerians to take up small-scale businesses like selling akara, roasting corn, and making kulikuli.
Reports online in a video showed Tinubu explaining the incumbent administration’s support for small businesses through grants instead of loans.
She said, “To start akara business, you don’t need much money. It doesn’t take much to get to roast corn or kuli-kuli. We didn’t lend them money, we gave them a grant. “We have been encouraging Nigerians in all ways possible. I gave to some others also.”
Reacting in a post on 𝕏 on Friday, Amadi argued that the First Lady’s approach was political calculation and not good governance.
The First Lady is a smart politician like her husband @officialABAT She knows what works in Nigerian politics: brand new cars for party leaders, and akara money for captive voters who will still vote for you on the basis of inducement, ethnicity and religion. I admire their adroitness,” he wrote.
However, he held that political skill does not always guarantee competent governance.
The only problem is that the competences necessary to be a clever politician are not necessarily the competences necessary to govern well. “Nigeria will continue to be stagnant, the poor will be poorer and astuteness will continue,” Amadi added.
