Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, on Friday, said in Abuja, that although Nigeria had people who could pray, they lacked commitment to righteousness.
The Vice President made the remark at a Special Banquet to mark the 20th anniversary of Nigeria Prays, the pet project of former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon.
Osinbajo said that if the citizens truly believed in and walked in the ways of Jesus Christ whom they profess to adore and stood up for the truth, righteousness and justice, the country would clearly witness a turn-around.
According to him, there is the need to pray to God always but it is more important that Christians turn away from evil in order to make the country great.
“If we want to be a nation that can feed its people, we must turn from evil ways and work for righteousness. “When our pulpits preach righteousness, our people will rise up and become salts of the earth; Christians will stand up and be honest if we preach righteousness in the pulpit,’’ he said.
Osinbajo said that preachers had failed to tell the people that it was wrong to take bribe or accept money from government official, adding that nations that followed the principles of scripture had emerged great.
He said prayer and fasting were good, but that they were not enough to lift the country except the citizens turned away from evil.
“The principles of hard work, integrity and innovation are things that made other countries great and they are all in the gospel and if we follow the principles, we can be great,’’ he stressed. The vice president extolled the virtues of honesty, integrity and hard work of Gowon and urged Nigerians, especially leaders to emulate him.
Rhythm and Blues singer, Adele is reported to be earning around £84,000 (29 million naira) each passing following the massive success of her last album, 25.
The star made an incredible comeback to the music industry with her album, 25 last year, with it becoming the fastest selling in UK history.
Now it’s reported that she raked in around £30million last year through her company Melted Stone Limited, according to newly-released accounts equalling a huge £84,000 a day.
Her company Melted Stone Limited turned over £30.7million. It’s claimed the company made a £15.9million net profit, as well as holding £13.7million in funds for the star, 28.
Her other company, Melted Stone Publishing Ltd, is claimed to have held £5.2million, and together they had reported turnover of more than £103million in the last five years.
The proud father has finally showed us what his new born baby girl looks like and the infant is every shade of adorable! The comedian shared the lovely photo collage along with a lovely caption.
He wrote:
Guess who is the prettiest?
You guessed right.
There you have her.
She is our God given product from THE OTHER ROOM.
Our very own PRINCESS.
TIWALOLUWA OLUWADEMILADEOLA CHIDERA AVIELLA.
My Joy, My Blessing, My Strength.
My Newest Baby.
My wife is still the number One baby sha.
To God be all the glory.
SEYILAW
#DaddyOluwademiladeola #DaddyChidera #DaddyAviella #DaddyTiwa
Top Kannywood actress, Rahama Sadau was expelled from the Hausa film industry by the Motion Pictures Practitioners Association of Nigeria after featuring in a romantic musical video.
The association after her expulsion also warned other actors and actresses to henceforth follow the rules binding their participation in the Kannywood film industry.
This caused outrage on social media and many supported her, advising her to excel even more in more successful movie industries in the world (Hollywood, Nollywood), etc.
Well Rahama has now revealed that Filmmaker Jeta Amata and music star Akon have invited her to visit the set of their new film in Hollywood – Los Angeles, California. Congrats to her!
“Los Angeles calling..so excited about @jeta_amata mata and@akon invitation to visit the set of their new film in Hollywood!!
Nollywood actress, Ebube Nwagbo is fast adding the title, movie producer, to her curriculum vitae with her new movie, Not Enough. The film would be the actress’ second encounter with movie production.
In a chat with Saturday Beats, the actress stated that she is using the movie to pass a message across to youths and top on the list is the fact that a lady does not need to tie a man down with pregnancy.
She emphasised that marriage should be a gradual love process between two people and it should not be something one is coerced into.
She said, “When you see my movie, Not Enough, you would agree with me that marriage is not something one needs to force and pregnancy will not make a man love you. I am not here to judge anyone but I think the world needs to see the downside of this trend. I think youths of today need to set their priorities right because our life today affects our tomorrow. A lot of people make mistakes, but they do not learn from them.”
The actress said that with her recent project, she wants youths to know that they ought to live their lives in the right manner because today’s choice would have its consequences tomorrow.
“Most parents do not know what their kids do when they are not under their care. I am letting people know that life is about second chances but only a few have the luxury of getting another opportunity. Some people mess up and get a second chance while others get caught up in the web,” she said.
The beautiful Nollywood actress, who starred on the just released movie, “It’s her day”, has said she has not given up on marriage despite her experiences.
The single mum of two who spoke with Saturday Beats in a new interview, said:
“I haven’t ruled out marriage. I am a big sucker for love. With the things I have experienced in the past, you may think I would give up on love but I am a big sucker for love. At this moment, I am just taking my time. I am just focusing on myself and my kids and my career. But I can never say never to love and marriage.”
With two lovely kids, nine and five, Adunni said the youngsters have adapted to their lives in Nigeria.
“I brought my kids back from the States. Who carried them? Was I not the one? I can’t leave my kids in the States. I might be mixed but when it comes to my kids, I think the Naija part of me. Their dad has no problem with it. They have been here with me for almost three years and they love it.”
Adunni Ade was with ex-boyfriend, Michael Boyd who is also her children’s father, for eight years. They were never married, things didn’t work out and they called it quits.
Weight loss expert and Life Style coach on IG, Askdamz, shared this amazing testimony of how her sister-in-law welcomed a set of twin after ten years of marriage.
She wrote:
10 years later ! ! ! Remember I said I would share my testimony with @beibeihaven and you all last week Friday for pregnancy and miscarriage awareness week … we waited TEN YEARS !!! Our babies finally came two hours ago after many years of prayers and tears … My sister !!! …Yup she’s my husbands sister (same mum and same dad too)…I needed our testimony to be full before sharing today.
God gave us DOUBLE for all our TROUBLES! ! ! Won’t he do it??? !!! Ten years later with two beautiful babies. Don’t lose hope. Just TRUST GOD ! ! !
So when you hear me talking about Jesus all the time, it’s things like this that make me go mad for God. He’s amazing! ! !
She also shared a photo of the new mum who was heavily weighed before and how she lost the weight even while she was pregnant. Below:
Comedian, MC Rasky, excitedly shared this photo of himself and Tonto Dikeh on his IG page and fans couldn’t help but go gaga after seeing the state of the actress.
Most of them were surprised to see how she looks now… See below:
Just days after the singer was spotted with a mystery girl, OBO has come out to say that he is currently single and he does not have time for any relationship.
During an interview with BeatFM on Friday, the “how long” crooner blamed his busy schedule for the reason he has no time for relationship.
He is quoted as saying:
“I don’t have a girlfriend. “Right now, I’m all over the place, I don’t think am ready for a relationship. “I don’t know where I will be in 10 years, but I know I’ll be chilling,” he quipped.
According to Uju Patricia who shared the photos, the man in the photos was on top of a bike when his alleged Samsung Note 3, (a minor of the Note 7 which was released years before it) exploded, caught fire and injured him severely.
Uju is claiming the device that exploded is a Samsung Note 3. But it looks like a counterfeit.
More photos below:
This is what the back of an Original Samsung Note 3 looks like (Take note of where the camera is)
Now take a look at the back of the device that exploded Uju claimed is a Samsung Note 3.
If you have lived in Abuja for more than a year, you should understand the term “fake Abuja big girl” or FABB.
These are the girls who are usually very attractive, own all the Apple products in this world, live in N1million flats in Maitama, but if you check their background, their parents are struggling in their various villages.
Enough said, let me educate you
12. She Is A Tease
Go on her instagram page number one her name is either Janethebosschick or firstadyzainab or priciliathegoddess or one kind of funny looking name like that, then she is always posting suggestive photos teasing all these horny small boys on the gram who are always commenting telling her how beautiful she is.
Its either she is stylishly showing of bum bum or it will be her bobby.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has filed fresh money laundering charges against former Minister of Aviation, Mr. Femi Fani- Kayode – the fresh charges were filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Fani-Kayode, Director of Media and Publicity in the campaign organisation of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, is already standing trial before the Lagos Division of the Federal High Court, PUNCH reports.
He is facing 17 counts of money laundering before the Lagos Division of the court along with a former Finance Minister, Nenadi Usman, Danjuma Yusuf and a firm, Joint Trust Dimension Nig. Ltd.
They were charged with unlawful retention, unlawful use and unlawful payment of money to the tune of N4.9bn.
But in the fresh charges numbered, ‘FHC/ABJ/CR/140/2016’, Fani-Kayode is the sole defendant.
The EFCC filed five counts in the fresh case, in which it accused the defendant of diverting N26m allegedly received from the Office of the National Security Adviser, while Sambo Dasuki was in office.
The EFCC also accused him of using the said N26m without going through financial institution as required under the Money Laundering Act. The case was mentioned before Justice John Tsoho,of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday. The prosecution team was absent at the proceedings.
Although Fani-Kayode was absent, he was represented by a team of lawyers led by Mr. Wale Balogun. Balogun wondered why the prosecution, who filed the charges, was not aware of the proceedings.
He complained that his client had yet to be served with the charges as required. He sought an adjournment and the judge adjourned till November 10 for arraignment. The judge also ordered that hearing notice be served on the EFCC.
A business woman, identified as Mrs. Florence Bamidele, has accused one of the kingmakers of Odo-Owa community in Oke-Ero Local Government Area of Kwara State, High Chief Bunmi Popoola, of raping her 27-year-old daughter, Joke, many times under the guise of curing her of an ailment.
According to Saturday PUNCH, Joke, who was brought to Popoola for traditional treatment, later succumbed to the strange disease.
One might have concluded that it was a case of just rape but when Bamidele delved into the details of what transpired and how her daughter died, it sounded like one from a Hollywood movie.
The woman accused the chief, said to be a traditional healer in his community, of using a handkerchief to wipe the private part of Joke any time he had sex with her and threatening her with death if she should reveal what he did.
Joke, an Agricultural Science graduate of the Kwara State College of Education, Lafiagi, in her 20s, was afflicted with a strange disease in 2014 which defied all medical diagnosis.
According to Bamidele, her daughter was treated by doctors in many hospitals within and outside of the state, but the ailment could not be cured.
She stated that the family spent a lot of money trying to get the sick girl treated.
“Despite medical treatment, her health condition deteriorated. Popoola, who is my cousin, then said he could handle the case and get her cured. Five days after he admitted Joke into his house, he told us he would need to perform rituals that would solve her health problem. He collected N50,000, one bag of rice, three big fowls,” Bamidele said.
According to the woman, around that time, the backache and stomach pains her daughter was experiencing before then disappeared.
“After about five months, her condition became stable and she returned home. She even reopened her foodstuff business in Omu-Aran,”
Bamidele said Joke later became sick again and also complained of severe pain in her private part but refused to go back to Popoola for treatment.
Her mother said she received a phone call from Popoola that Joke had to perform one last ritual for a permanent cure for her illness and said there was a dire consequence for refusing to do it.
Bamidele said she tried her best to persuade Joke to go back to Popoola to conclude her treatment but she still refused flatly.
She said,
“When my daughter’s condition became life threatening, we consulted another herbalist in Egbe, Kogi State who told us Popoola was the source of my daughter’s problem. He told us that Popoola was a powerful herbalist and instantly washed his hands off her matter.
“When Joke was about to reveal what transpired between her and Popoola, she became dumb. We then gave her a pen and paper to write what was wrong with her but her right hand became paralysed.
“We later took her to a pastor for a prayer session. Then she was able to explain everything that happened to her in the house of Popoola. She said the herbalist had warned her that she would die if she ever told anyone about the sexual harassment.”
Joke later died.
Saturday PUNCH learnt that before Joke died, Bamidele had reported the matter to the Olowa of Odo-Owa, Oba Joshua Adimula. When he was contacted, the monarch said that Popoola had admitted to the crime while being interrogated in his palace. He said:
“Some weeks ago, Gbemisola Bamidele came to me that the victim was about to reveal what Popoola, one my chiefs did to her, but that she suddenly became dumb.
“I gave her water which my fore-father used and I also use for morning prayers and she talked again. She narrated how the chief slept with her when she was in his custody receiving treatment.
Oba Adimula said he summoned Popoola and instructed him to cure the deceased. According to him, the victim also repeated the allegations in the presence of Popoola, but the high chief did not deny it.
According to him, the matter was later reported to the Divisional Police Officer in Oke-Ero.
The traditional ruler said he later suspended Popoola from the Owa Olota-in-council as this was not the first time he allegedly engaged in gross misconduct. He said,
“I ordered him to treat the girl and he promised to do so, but he later refused when he left the palace. The youth in the community took the girl to his house. Unfortunately, the girl died in his custody. He was then arrested.
“This is not the first time Popoola would be suspended over such an issue. He was suspended last year for six months over a similar allegation levelled against him by one Gbemisola Amile of Oke Esi Compound in Odo-Owa but I was able to save the victim.
“During his suspension, he committed another crime, which was reported by one Titilayo Kolawole of Ikotun Compound. I couldn’t do anything about it because he was under suspension.”
Efforts to get Popoola’s response proved abortive as he was still in police custody, Punch reports.
But the Police Public Relations Officer, Kwara State Command, Mr. Ajayi Okasanmi, said he had been informed of the allegation against Popoola of having sexual relationship with Joke, who came to him for treatment.
He stated that the police was investigating the matter.
“I was told that the herbalist had been having an affair with the lady. But after sometime, the woman failed to continue with the relationship and she died. We are still investigating the case to know if it is one that can be handled by police as the law does not believe in juju. But we are still investigating,” he said.
Where would the fun be if not on Twitter with the most hilarious tweets?! Twitter Nigeria made “The Other Room” a trending topic on Friday after PMB gave response to his first lady wife.
The tweets are quite hilarious as most tweeps make jest of the President’s statement… See below:
A Facebook user who shared the photos, reveals that the young men in these photos were caught at Obollo Road Nsukka after series of terrorizing students at the University of Nigeria campus and its immediate environs.
Ex-spokesman of the PDP Presidential campaign, Femi Fani-Kayode has among other Nigerian politicians reacted to PMB’s statement in response to his wife’s BBC interview.
He tweeted that the demons are speaking through the president, he can kill his own children, and that he needs a lot of prayer. He wrote…
“When our President can get up and tell the whole world all the way from distant Germany that his wife “belongs to the kitchen, the living room and the other room” simply because she dared to speak her mind to the BBC then you know that he is in the grip of something evil and that demons are speaking through him.
It is all part of the spiritual dimension of living in the Villa that Abati was referring to in his essay.
The President’s mind has become twisted and he is now posessed by strange and powerful entities. A man that can say that about his own wife publicly can kill his own children. He needs a lot of prayer.”
Obviously slaying in a photo showing off her legs, she wrote:
“To everyone with K-legs, Bow legs or what ever legs you have, pls wear whatever you wanna wear, be comfortable in your skin, don’t let anyone make you feel less, you were created for a reason. If I listened to all I was told growing up, I would have killed myself tey tey, look at me, now living my dream. Love your body the best way you can and of course join the gang hehe”
Well, to be fair, the President did chuckle before he made the statement which has now become a humourous sensation to the whole nation.
PMB has been trending on Social media ever since he made a statement in response to his wife, Aisha Buhari… Watch him as he make his comment with a subtle smile on his face:
The stylish Nigerian singer and father of two, shared this dapper photo of his, as he does occasionally and gave a piece of advice to men on their women.
He shared the stylish photo alongside the caption:
GUY’S Make Sure U Take Care Of Your Woman… PLEASE don’t be a SCRUB!!!
The President blessed the Friday of so many Nigerians after he made a statement about his wife’s position to him. (Read here), Nigerians couldn’t help the humour of the President saying the First Lady belongs to his Kitchen and his “Other room”.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, has now come out to speak on the matter saying PMB was only being humorous about his statement… See what he shared in a series of tweets below:
This beautiful and innocent looking self-proclaimed “Muscle Barbie” and Instagram fitness star, is Julia Vins, who has over 325,000 followers thanks to her ‘doll-like‘ facial features and an extraordinary, muscle-popping body.
At just 20, Julia has broken records at the World Powerlifting Congress, squatting 215kg, bench pressing 120kg and dead-lifting 190kg, all with a bow in her hair.
The pro-powerlifter said it has been far from easy to reject society’s expectations of her in Russia to become fully independent as an athlete so young.
Julia is grateful to her boyfriend of four years for getting her to where she is now through his training and support but not all men have been as encouraging or even agree with her profession.
Julia said:
“My boyfriend, is my coach and it is because of him that I have achieved significant success in power-lifting already.”
Uncle Charly Boy has taken to his Instagram to say that 89% of women in Abuja are Commercial Sex workers…or to put it in a literally form – Runs Girls.
He posted the below photo with the caption:
Pussyfication. About 89% of dem. Some dey carry invoice, receipt book, some Na pay as you go, high classones go send you bills or account details. I lie? ashawo full abuja.
Following President Buhari’s controversial statements about his wife, Aisha Buhari, TV personality/entrepreneur Stephanie Coker is expressing her views on the matter. She took to Instagram the below:
I feel so privileged to be growing up in an era where women are presidents of countries, women are running conglomerates, women are effortlessly juggling child bearing whilst running billion dollar companies, discovering cures to treating diseases and so many other extraordinary things. No woman should be confined to a kitchen, living room or any “other room”. My country has progressed so much in encouraging young girls to pursue their dreams. To be hearing this in 2016 breaks me and I will speak against it till it is finished. #RespectAWomanAndBeRespected
Kcee’s Fice Star Music Boss, E-Money today surprised his beautiful wife, Juliet Okonkwo with an early ‘Christmas’ gift.
He bought her a 2016 customized Range Rover Sport SUV in London and she gushed over it via her Instagram page. According to her:
“Santa came early ???? I guess we all know why I call him my SupperMan. So he just said I should accompany him to pick up some documents from his business partner and here we are ? a surprise early Christmas present. My very own Customised Range Rover Super Sport 2016 ??? all hail @iam_emoney1? for blessing me with my new toy. Thanks baby you are the best ?❤???. l Love you Boo You are my Angel My Santa ? God bless u for me @LandRover#HarwoodsCroydonLandRover#RangeRover #Whitechristmas#Emoney”
Reacting to Aisha Buhari’s controversial BBC interview, former Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Rowland Owie today said if his wife went public to criticize him the way Aisha Buhari did to her husband, in her BBC Hausa interview, he would send her packing from his house.
In an interview with Vanguard, Owie said although what Aisha Buhari said was right, it could have been said in the bedroom when she had some private time with her husband.
“Aisha is right in criticism of President Buhari’s appointments, but the medium she adopted is very wrong. Such advice from a wife to a husband should be given at Bed time and not to the hearing of anybody. If a wife does that to me, the woman will return to her parent’s house within 24 hours of that statement. A Benin Parable says- Only one’s enemy that will advise one in the presence of The Oba in council.” he said
A real estate agent (names withheld) on Friday narrated how her Irish lover, James Turner, 64, deliberately infected her with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).
According to the Nation newspaper, the woman who claimed she met Turner eight years ago in Jos, Plateau State, alleged that the man was also willfully infecting other Nigerian women with the virus.
She stated that she reported the Irish national to the police because she wanted him to be stopped from the wicked action.
According to her, they were live-in partners until she decided to investigate on the drugs he usually took only to find out it was anti-retroviral.
She said:
“I met James Turner eight years ago. He told me to move to his apartment. I started living with him. We were living like husband and wife. I later observed that he was falling sick.
“I even followed him to the hospital. He was complaining of internal heat and he was sweating profusely. The hospital subjected him to some medical tests. I did not know the result initially as he didn’t allow me hear what the doctor told him.
“Well, I later discovered that he was taking a particular kind of drug and he was not getting better. I ‘googled’ the drug and discovered that it was for HIV patients. I was shocked with the discovery.
“I confronted him but he denied that he has HIV positive. He told me that the drug was for the sore on his leg. I was not comfortable with the answer. I told him that if I must believe him, he should avail me with the doctor’s phone number, but he refused.
“While he was sleeping, I searched the phone and I saw the doctor’s number. I called him and he said I should come to the hospital. When I went to the hospital, the doctor told me that my boyfriend is HIV positive.
“My world crumbled, I fell down and started crying. I regretted ever meeting the man.
The doctor advised that I should do test first to know my health status before complaining as I might not be infected. I did the test and it was positive. The doctor took my blood sample to another hospital for confirmation test and the result was positive. I was totally down even though I had no symptoms.
“Well, to kill anger and boredom, I followed some of my friends to a party. He kept calling me whether I was coming home, I became suspicious and lied to him that I won’t come back that night. I was shocked that when I arrived home, I caught him pants down, sleeping with my very good friend. I got angry and told him he was wicked.
“It was at that time that I knew he deliberately infected me with HIV as he started shouting down at me. He told me that I should go to hell, that he has infected many girls and that he was just beginning. He told me that I was a fool. He told me that he sent his wife home immediately he tested positive to HIV.
“He told me to hang myself. He said he’s over 60 years and that he has lived almost his life span, but that I was still 31 and no one would marry an HIV positive person. He told me to go and report anywhere I wished as I would be subjected to ridicule and stigmatisation.
“After listening to his humiliation,I attempted suicide, but I was rescued by my friend. I went back to the doctor, who invited him and advised him to set up a business for me, so that I would be able to raise money for anti-retroviral drugs. He promised to give me N2.5 million to set up business.
“Each time I reminded him of the money, he would start shouting me down. He would start boasting that I was not the only person that he has infected. He would tell me that he has just started, that he would finish Nigerians before he leaves the country.
“I decided that before he succeeds in finishing young Nigerian girls, I should expose him. That is the reason I reported him to the Police. I want the police to stop him as he has gone berserk infecting people and boasting about it.”
However, Turner denied the allegation, insisting it was the complainant who infected him with the virus.
The Irish national was very rebellious and attacked reporters who wanted to take his photograph. He also threw aside midgets and other recording devices that were placed before him for his side of the story.
According to him, he was not going to talk about the issue because the complainant wanted to extort him.
He said: “Bullshit! The girl and others love money. They want to extort me. I am HIV positive, I know, but she infected me. Ask her what happened in 2013 when she travelled to Kaduna. It was at that time that she got it and infected me. Let her get away. I told her that we should settle the matter, but she decided to embarrass me. I won’t take it.
“I don’t understand why she is bringing all these things up. I did not rape her. We were friends and we will remain friends. I repeat, she was the person who infected me with HIV.”
Briefing reporters on the issue, the command’s spokesperson, Dolapo Badmos, a Superintendent of Police (SP) confirmed that the suspect was arrested following a compliant by his lover.
Badmos said:
“On October 13, the Ikeja Division of the command got report from a lady that a friend of hers deliberately infected her with HIV. There seems to be counter allegations. We discovered that one of them infected the other and this is a crime under Section 24 of the Criminal Act. If there is a deliberate act, the law will take its full course.
Mr Oladele Adelakun, a 41-year-old motor parts dealer, has dragged his wife to court.
The man took his wife to the Akure Customary Court where he revealed that his wife’s misdemeanour lured him to alcoholism.
Vanguard reports that the man disclosed this while asking the court to put an end to his 16-year-old marriage with Mrs Kike Adelakun.
According to him, the respondent has been engaging in mischievous behaviours ranging from ritualism to promiscuity.
He said that he caught his wife twice in extra marital activities with a man named Felix which was settled by his pastor. The complainant said that he was taking alcohol to keep away from tension caused by the respondent.
He said that the respondent’s harsh treatment of their three children also caused their constant rift which made the respondent to rain curses on him and tore his clothes severally.
Responding, Kike Adelakun denied other allegations, but confessed that the she once had sexual relationship with Felix before her marriage to the complainant.
She said that the complainant packed out three times during the marriage without her notice, but she later found out that he actually went to his mistress house which led to a secret wedding.
The respondent said that her husband’s allegation of not having sexual intercourse with her in the last three years was a lie, citing different instances when the complainant would secretly come to her apartment to make love with her.
Ruling on the case, Chief Rotimi Olusanya, the court’s President, said that peace should be restored to the two parties and adjourned the case till Nov.2 for judgment.
The BBC has reported a reverberating interview given by the first lady, Aisha Buhari. The first lady was brutally honest, unequivocal and stunningly objective about her husband’s administration and the need for Buhari to focus on his legacy.
Aisha Buhari stated that: “Many people have been coming to tell him that things are not going the way they should. That when it comes to putting people in certain positions, most of these people that are occupying some agencies number (1) nobody knows them; number (2) they don’t know our party manifesto; they don’t know what we campaigned for…They don’t have a mission. They don’t have a vision.”
These are remarkably strong words from unusual quarters. Our patriarchal system dictates that a woman must support her husband even when he is heading to the abyss. Therefore, a woman’s opinions, if she is given the space to have any, can only be articulated in the private cocoons of the marital home. First ladies are expected to simply look beautiful, wear the latest fashions and take up a non-controversial cause. Therefore, Aisha’s comments must be a huge but refreshing shock.
Aisha Buhari’s admonition is the definition of home-truth. It says a lot about the first family, and the Buhari administration. The first lady has done Nigeria a huge service by making it clear that things are not going well in the Buhari government. There are those who argue that Aisha is displeased with her husband’s appointments because she could not get “her own people” into the administration. I have no evidence at my disposal to confirm or refute that. However, those who think that Aisha is wrong to publicly criticize her husband should kindly ask themselves a few questions: How long have you known Buhari? What was your level of involvement in his campaign during the four presidential elections he contested? Do you know what it feels like to be married to Buhari for 27 years? Do you love Buhari more than his wife?
I can understand why the current governing elite may defend the administration’s appointments and performance. However, anyone who means well for Buhari and genuinely wants him to succeed must concede that he has elevated cronyism and nepotism to a whole new level in Nigeria. He continues to risk our country’s fragile unity by his lopsided appointments, non-systematic approach to governance and the lack of thoughtful, coherent, and sophisticated vision for our country. Aisha Buhari has just confirmed that those of us who are critical of President Buhari are not his enemies. We criticize him precisely because we mean well for him and our country.
Aisha Buhari recognizes that the Buhari family name is at stake. The president can write the Buhari name in immortality or simply have the name scorned for generations to come. The state of affairs in Nigeria at the moment is the worst that I have seen in my lifetime. The president’s arguably mediocre cabinet has been further undermined by a tiny clique at the presidency. This clique almost exclusively speaks Fulfulde. That in and of itself is not a problem. The problem is that the clique or “kitchen cabinet” is not made up of the best brains among the Fulfulde-speaking people of Nigeria. Consequently, the president is not drawing on the best brains in Nigeria. He is fighting with one hand tied to his back. This partly explains the routine and elementary blunders that have plagued his administration.
Aisha Buhari has kept a relatively low profile when juxtaposed with the last two first ladies. Many would recall the rather overbearing attitude of Patience Jonathan and the quest of Turai Yar’Adua to cling to power as her husband neared an unfortunate end. Aisha indicated in the interview that the president was aware of her concerns. The first lady stated that “if things continue like this up to 2019, I will not go out and campaign again and ask any woman to vote like I did before. I will never do it again.” I have argued in the last several months that President Buhari should concentrate on his current term and abandon any thoughts about running for a second term. It is worth reiterating that Buhari cannot win a second term in a free and fair atmosphere. I know that he now holds the levers of power and has engaged in favouritist purges that could help him hang on to power. However, unless he performs an economic miracle akin to the Wirtschaftswunder, or the German economic miracle, he stands to ruin what is left of his reputation.
The first lady’s candid assessment of her husband’s administration sends the right signals to the Nigerian society, particularly young girls and women. It redefines the supranational contours of the roles of a first lady. It also demonstrates that at least one person at the presidency has not lost touch with reality. The masses have a voice in Aso Rock who believes the president must focus on leaving a solid legacy.
Finally, I would like to congratulate President Mohammadu Buhari for the choice he made 27 years or so ago. You married a woman who is not content with merely enjoying the privileges of power. The interview granted by Aisha Buhari demonstrates that she expects that your years of running for office must not go to waste. Your government must fulfill its promise to the Nigerian people. I hope that it also means that the first couple has got a healthy, and mutually respectful relationship. We now have a contender for “Person of the Year”. Thank you, Aisha Buhari.
– ‘Tope Oriola is professor of criminology at the University of Alberta, Canada. Twitter: @topeoriola
