Why blame Aisha Buhari?

The outburst of the First Lady, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, on those working closely with her husband, President Muhammadu Buhari, continues to elicit series of reactions across the country. While some felt it was patriotic for her doing so, many other people are of the opinion that the woman is simply going beyond her bounds for venturing into politics, which they believe should not be so. A few days ago, Mrs. Buhari had accused the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, of disloyalty and insubordination.

She blamed the presidential aide for rather being loyal to the president’s nephew and confidant, Malam Mamman Daura, saying Shehu had shifted his loyalty from the president to others who have no stake in the official contract that the president signed with Nigerians. Before now, she had publicly said that ministers and officers close to the presidency were not doing enough to defend the president and the federal government, for unnecessarily keeping mute while fake news merchants attempted to take over the government. Also, is her statement, at a Muslim religious function, whereby she slammed some state governors and ministers for reportedly failing to provide basic social amenities and infrastructure.

Back to Shehu, the wife of the president’s main accusations against the presidential spokesman can be subsumed as working against the presidential family, for abandoning his responsibility because Shehu shifted his loyalty to some personalities within the corridors of power and presented himself to the power brokers as a willing tool and executioner of their antics, for blatantly meddling in the affairs of a first lady of the country, and sacking the media crew working in the office of the first lady on the orders of Daura. Mrs. Buhari further claimed that Shehu had boasted that the government would not allow the office of the first lady to run, for embarking on an orchestrated media campaign of calumny by sponsoring pseudo accounts to write and defame her personality and those of her children.

Mrs. Buhari had alleged that the N500 billion Social Investment Programme (SIP) had “failed woefully” in the North. She said SIP implementation in Adamawa state was pathetic and that despite the huge funds the federal government had budgeted for it, it was not successful too in Kano state. While granting a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Hausa Service interview in October 2016, she accused unnamed persons of hijacking the Buhari government. The first lady had been steadfast in waging internal opposition against the so-called cabal, such that while the president was away on medical vacation in the United Kingdom, she was barred from seeing him. Aisha Buhari had expressed her displeasure in the Buhari government, saying that the president does not know most of the appointees in his cabinet, suggesting that the president’s government had been hijacked by a few people.

No doubt, the Buhari administration is battling with credibility problems due to the allegations of human rights violations such as those regarding Col. Sambo Dasuki (red.); Ibrahim El-Zakzaky and wife; and Omoyele Sowore, who are just few cases of the many rights violations. Recent re-arrest of Sowore and the desecration of the court by the DSS is another serious case. Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the Federal High Court in Abuja had ordered the release of the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) and his wife from the DSS custody. Former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd.), is still in custody, despite several courts ordering his release. Navy Captain Dada Labinjo is another Nigerian languishing in jail for allegedly being detained by the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) in Abuja since September 2018.

Even though, the president’s wife is not part of government, she is entitled to her comments and opinions by virtue of the Nigerian constitution and her marriage to Mr President, as she naturally becomes a stakeholder. She should be concerned with happenings in the country. Why blame her for incurring into public affairs? She is merely an activist in the Aso Rock Villa. She should certainly share in either the pain or accolades extended to her husband in the passion towards a better Nigeria. At least, her alarm would send a strong signal to Nigerians that all is not going well in the power house. Rather than seeing her as an enemy within, we should go beyond the messenger and look into the message.

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