Burna Boy, Davido, others help the poor with your Afrobeats money, First Lady stirs up another controversy

By our reporter 11.7.2026
Afrobeats stars Burna Boy, Davido, Asake, Tems and others making global waves have been called up to set up foundations to help poor Nigerians.
First Lady Oluremi Tinubu fresh from her “Akara and Kuli Kuli” controversy made the call while speaking during a Renewed Hope programme in Lokoja, Kogi State on Saturday. She said it was about time rich Nigerians come to the aide of poor Nigerians as the government alone cannot bear the burden.
“Nigeria is a great country. We have a lot of wealthy people. But our priorities are different. And I think it’s high time we started helping those who need help in the country.
“I want to appeal to our young ones in the entertainment industry. I’ve mentioned it before, and I will use Akon, a music icon who does a lot of great charity work.
“The Burna Boys of this world, Asake, all of them, Davido. We want to see you with one foundation or the other, helping the poor with your money.
“Good cars are good; a Maybach is good. Rolls-Royce is good, but still, you can still help. The burden on the government is huge.
“You can still help. There are pepper sellers. There are vegetable sellers. There are okra sellers, melon sellers, akara kulikuli. Ankara is delicious. I can tell you that,” Mrs. Tinubu stated.
She reiterated her call to Nigerians to embrace small scale entrepreneurship.
“And there was once I read an article about a young graduate who said he didn’t get a job. And he said he sells Zakara because he couldn’t get a job and he’s in Abuja.
“We approached him, but I didn’t put my name to it. We equipped him more. He now has 12 workers working under him, and he’s doing very, very well. So our people should never despise jobs,” she said.
Speaking on empowerment programmes in Kogi, Tinubu announced the donation of ₦100,000 to empower another 2,000 petty traders in the state.
“Today in that same spirit, the Renewed Hope Initiative has donated ₦100 million to the First Lady of Kogi State and RHI coordinator to empower another 2,000 petty traders in Kogi State with the sum of ₦50,000 each to recapitalise their existing businesses.”