Loading ...ABUJA — The Obidient Movement has launched a fierce rhetorical counter-offensive against Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, following her recent public comments suggesting that university graduates could resort to selling akara (bean cakes) or roasting corn to survive the current economic climate.
Featuring on Arise Television’s Prime Time programme on Wednesday, July 1, 2026, the National Coordinator of the Obidient Movement, Comrade Yunusa Tanko, blasted the First Lady’s remarks as deeply insensitive, discouraging, and completely disconnected from the painful realities of millions of Nigerian youths battling unprecedented unemployment, soaring living costs, and macroeconomic hardship.
“A Spectacular Failure of Leadership”
Tanko argued that the First Lady’s commentary diminishes the fundamental value of education and devalues the immense sacrifices made by Nigerian families to send their children through higher institutions.
While clarifying that the movement does not look down on small, informal businesses, Tanko maintained that forcing individuals with hard-earned degrees into survival-level roadside trading is a direct consequence of poor economic planning and leadership failure.
“You cannot reduce people who have studied at the university to akara and corn sellers. The real issue is not about whether small businesses are honorable, but about the failure of leadership to create an environment where graduates can fully apply their skills and training. Years spent in higher institutions should lead to better opportunities and decent livelihoods, not a future forced by government neglect.”
— Comrade Yunusa Tanko, National Coordinator, Obidient Movement
The Vision Contrast: Rebuilding the Knowledge Economy
The group used the platform to contrast the current administration’s survivalist rhetoric with the core economic philosophy of the Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi.
| Leadership Philosophies | Policy Direction & Economic Outlook | Expected Outcome for Youths |
| The Tinubu Administration’s Stance | Emphasizes informal, baseline micro-survival activities (e.g., petty trading) amidst harsh structural adjustments. | Graduates forced into low-yield, survivalist jobs far below their technical training. |
| Peter Obi’s Economic Vision | Focuses heavily on shifting Nigeria from a consumption-based economy to a production-driven powerhouse. | Rebuilding education and the economy so that academic achievement translates directly into high-paying job opportunities. |
Tanko noted that under a Peter Obi-led administration, the primary goal would be to ensure that when citizens invest time and resources into schooling, they earn a living that directly matches their qualifications and expertise.
Leveraging the Anambra Record
Defending the feasibility of their vision, the Obidient leader pointed back to Peter Obi’s tenure as the Governor of Anambra State. He claimed that Obi’s administration offered a blueprint for national redemption, having engineered massive, verifiable upgrades in education, internal security, and transparent fiscal governance across the state.
The movement concluded by warning that trying to normalize underemployment and poverty as “honorable hustles” is an unacceptable governance strategy. They asserted that Nigerian graduates deserve a modern, industrialized economy that utilizes their intellect to drive national development, rather than a system that systematically forces them onto the streets.
