Akwa Ibom State Governor, Umo Eno, has revealed that he once made not less than N10m monthly from his akara and bread business before venturing into politics.

Eno made the disclosure during the state’s monthly covenant prayer service on Tuesday, which started trending on Wednesday.

The governor said he started the business by selling akara and bread, which he packaged as “Akara Burger”, before expanding into a coffee shop.

“We still have that shop there. I started selling Akara and bread. Back then, I was doing Akara Burger. We open the bread and put it inside for you. People going to Exxon Mobil will buy it in the morning, take coffee.

“We started coffee shop and then they will take it. Every month, that Akara business used to give me nothing less than ₦10 million in a month.”

Eno said customers, particularly workers heading to ExxonMobil in the mornings, patronised the business.

He said the experience taught him lessons about entrepreneurship and building businesses from small beginnings.

The governor’s comment comes months after First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, sparked reactions when she encouraged Nigerians to explore small businesses such as akara and kuli-kuli as part of efforts to improve their livelihoods.

Speaking after a Renewed Hope Initiative meeting with wives of state governors in Abuja in June, the First Lady said such businesses could be started with relatively little capital.

“We’re trying to give hope, and to start Akara business doesn’t take a lot of money. To start roasting corn, or somebody even said kuli kuli doesn’t take much. We didn’t give them a loan; we gave it to them as a grant.”

Her comments attracted criticism on social media, with some Nigerians accusing her of being out of touch with the economic realities facing citizens.

She later defended the initiative, saying the empowerment programme was not limited to akara sellers but also covered tomato sellers, roasted plantain sellers, pepper and vegetable traders.

The First Lady also announced a N100m intervention for 2,000 petty traders in Jigawa State, with each beneficiary receiving N50,000 to recapitalise their businesses.

President Bola Tinubu subsequently joined the conversation by jokingly referring to his wife as “Iya Alakara” during a Presidential Press Corps Dinner.

Eno’s account of his own experience in the akara business has now renewed attention on the potential of small-scale enterprises as a means of building sustainable livelihoods.