Tinubu calls First Lady ‘Iya Alakara’ at press dinner, sends room into laughter

President Bola Tinubu drew laughter at the Presidential Press Corps Dinner in Abuja on Thursday when he playfully addressed First Lady Senator Oluremi Tinubu as “Iya Alakara” — a humorous nod to the public controversy sparked by her recent remarks encouraging women to sell akara and other small-scale food items.

President Bola Tinubu just turned Nigeria’s most talked-about economic controversy into a punchline — and the room loved it.

At the Presidential Press Corps Dinner held at the State House in Abuja on Thursday, Tinubu injected a moment of levity into his opening remarks by greeting his wife with a nickname that instantly referenced the storm she had recently weathered online.

“Good evening, gentlemen of the press, ladies and gentlemen, my dear wife, the First Lady, Iya Alakara,” the President said, as captured in a video published by Aso Rock TV on YouTube.

The audience erupted in laughter.

The nickname was a direct callback to remarks First Lady Senator Oluremi Tinubu made under the Renewed Hope Initiative empowerment programme, where she encouraged women to consider small business ventures including selling akara, roasted maize and kuli-kuli, noting that such businesses required only modest start-up capital.

PM News reported that the comments triggered sharp reactions across social media, with many Nigerians arguing they were tone-deaf to the harsh economic realities facing millions of households.

The First Lady subsequently responded to the backlash, clarifying that her remarks had been misunderstood and stressing that the Federal Government’s empowerment efforts covered a broad range of small-scale traders — not akara sellers alone.

Tinubu’s “Iya Alakara” quip at Thursday’s dinner, however, signalled that the first family was willing to lean into the moment with humour rather than further deflection, drawing laughter from an audience of press corps members and dignitaries at the State House.

The nickname — which loosely translates to “Mother of Akara Sellers” in Yoruba — landed as the evening’s standout moment and has since circulated widely across Nigerian social media platforms following its broadcast on Aso Rock TV.