The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) stated that Micro-enterprises are said to constitute about 99.8 percent of Nigeria’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). They are, without question, the backbone of the country’s productive economy.
Operating predominantly within the informal sector, they comprise market women, artisans, food vendors, hairdressers, fashion designers, mechanics, tailors, transport operators, neighbourhood pharmacies, cybercafés, POS operators, agro-processors and thousands of home-based businesses. They are found in virtually every community, providing essential goods and services while sustaining millions of households across the country.
Ironically, the debate surrounding the First Lady’s N50,000 grants to women has generated more heat than light. While critics have dismissed the initiative as tokenism or even disguised vote-buying, others have defended it as a compassionate intervention designed to cushion the harsh economic realities confronting millions of low-income women—the akara seller, the kulikuli
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