*I’ll not support you in 2019 if you fail to rejig your cabinet –Aisha
Says: some people have hijacked government
Buhari replies wife, says: 'You belong to my kitchen'
*President was only joking--FG
NIGERIANS Friday closed ranks in their
condemnation of President Muhammadu Buhari over his statement to the
effect that his wife,Mrs. Aisha Buhari, who lamented that the All
Progressives Congress,APC-led Federal Government had been hijacked,
lacked knowledge of the workings of his administration.
Made up of women activists, party
leaders, and socio-political organisations among others, the angry
Nigerians did not take the President’s response lightly.
In faulting the inability of the first
family to be on the same page on the way the country is being
governed, those who spoke to Saturday Vanguard and others, who aired
their opinions on the social media said the development portends
danger for the polity.
They, however, urged President Buhari
to heed his wife’s suggestion, noting that being the wife of the
President placed her in a position to make informed statements.
The development which indicated that
the crisis in APC may have come to a head resulted in the President
and his wife disagreeing on call by the later for the restructuring
of the former's cabinet in order to put an end to claims of
non-performance against his ministers.
The wife of the President had in an
interview with the BBC lamented that the crisis in the ruling party
was provoked by the hijack of the party by those, who contributed
nothing to its ascension to power.
Mrs. Buhari said a restructuring
of the President’s team would assuage the anger of aggrieved party
members.
She said: “He
is yet to tell me if he will seek re-election but I have decided as
his wife, 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.”
Buhari, while briefing newsmen in Germany, said: ““I don’t know which party my wife
belongs to, but she belongs to my kitchen and my living room and the
other room,”
President Buhari who stood beside
Merkel when he made the comment, was reported to have made it amidst a
chuckle, a hint that it was a mere sarcastic comment during a joint press
conference with German Chancellor, Angela Merkel in Berlin.
Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant
to the President on the media, has described as a joke President
Muhammadu Buhari’s statement that his wife, Aisha belongs to the
kitchen.
“My friends, can’t a leader get a
sense of humour anymore? Mr. President laughed before that statement was
made. He was obviously throwing a banter”, Shehu tweeted in reaction to
the negative comments that greeted the president’s comment.
The President, however, said his
knowledge of the workings of the government surpassed the
understanding of his wife and the opposition.
Some of those who reacted to this development include
the Spokesperson of the Peoples Democratic Party,PDP, Prof Dayo
Adeyeye; a former Minster of Women Affairs, Mrs. Josephine Anenih;
Second Republic lawmaker, Dr. Junaid Muhammed; retired Police
Commissioner, Alhaji Abubakar Tsav; National Publicity Secretary of
Pan-Yoruba socio-political organistaion, Afefenifere, Mr. Yinka
Odumakin; Executive Director of Women Advocates Research and
Documentation Centre,WARDC, Dr. Biola Akiyode- Afolabi; Acting
National Publicity Secretary of APC, Mr. Timi Frank; former Secretary
of PDP in Benue State, Mr. Tertsea Gbise and Publicity Secretary of
the APC in Lagos State, Mr. Joe Igbokwe, who made his position known
on his Facebook page.
The statement has taken us
backward--Afolabi
Reacting to the issue, Afolabi, a woman
activist, said: ‘’The statement has actually taken us backward
and I think it is an affirmation of his position on gender equality.
Such statement was not expected. The fact that he made the statement
in Germany where he was beside a female President, made the statement
very unfortunate. It was indeed an unfortunate statement. There is a
need for Nigerian women to reaffirm themselves beyond the
stereotyping of their position in the society. The wife’s statement
which he responded to showed that the role of women goes beyond the
kitchen.
‘’He has drawn us back to ancient
days. With the wave around the world including Germany with a female
leadership and the US which is preparing for another, the President
has only spoken his mind. Unfortunately, this cannot be tolerated in
this generation. We will join his wife to resist any second attempt
to introduce patriarchy except he retracts the statement. His
statement is condemnable.’’
We are stunned--Anenih
Similarly, Anenih said: "The First
Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria cannot belong to his kitchen.
When we first read it we were stunned. Then we did not believe he
could have said it. But watching him on a video we cannot believe
that the gentleman who promised to take Nigerian women higher in
public service was serious about what he was saying. If he meant it,
then he is definitely on his own because Nigerian women will kick
hard against it.
"I think he was trying to make
light and downplay the seriousness and import of Mrs. Aisha Buhari's
BBC interview. Unfortunately, he came out with the wrong words. The
First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria cannot belong to his
kitchen. "
President’s statement is
scandalous—Junaid Muhammed
On his part, Junaid Muhammed said: ‘’
Mrs. Buhari has just stated what is obvious to everybody but Buhari's
reaction to the interview is scandalous. The statement by Buhari that
she belongs to the kitchen is scandalous and for any man to think at
this age and time that women are only meant for the kitchen, is a
very bad thinking.
"I think the person that asked Mr.
President to react has done him a great disservice and for him to say
such a thing when he was beside one of the most powerful women in the
world was wrong.’’
Aisha Buhari was right--Tsav
Commenting, Tsav said: ‘’The
response is very unfortunate because the President and his wife are
not supposed to disagree in public. But she was actually telling him
the truth that those, who helped the party, had been left out. The
advice is very useful but she should not have made that known to the
public. The wife should talk less and not constitute and opposition
to the president. She can advice him privately but not in the public
because that is not good enough.’’
Adeyeye said: “What Aisha said is not
worth responding to because she was talking to her husband.”
There is a power struggle--Afenifere
Odumakin said: "It is a weighty
statement from someone that cannot by any stretch of imagination be
among the "wailing wailers".It shows that there is some
crack within which may be unhealthy for the polity. It was definitely
prompted by unhealthy power play in the seat of power but our concern
is about the direction our country is headed."
I stand with Aisha Buhari--Igbokwe
Igbokwe said: ‘’ I stand with Aisha
Buhari on her BBC interview 120 percent. Nancy Reagan, the wife of a
former President of the United States, Ronald Reagan was once asked
by the press why she is so powerful and unimaginably influential. She
told them she was powerful and influential because she sleeps with
the most powerful President on earth. Aisha Buhari is with Africa's
most powerful President. She is an amazing beauty, very educated and
can hold her head high anywhere in the world. She is influential and
focused. President Buhari must listen to her and do the needful. This
great woman is doing what any sensible wife and mother can do when
there is a need to do so and even at a time like this. President
Buhari needs our support including that of his jewel of inestimable
value, Aisha.’’
Buhari should consider rejiging him
team a must—Timi Frank
On his part, Timi Frank said: ‘’I
think Mrs. Buhari deserve commendation because she was actually
speaking the minds of not only the party members but Nigerians.
"What Mrs. Buhari has said is not
different from what some of us have been saying that it is high time
the President restructured his cabinet and bring in people who
understand the manifestoe of the party and could help deliver on its
change mantra, especially, the economy of the country which needs
urgent attention.
"Some of our leaders like the
Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, had made this same observation
in the past and I think they meant well for the administration and
the country. I will also join them in appealing to the President to
do the needful.
"Nigerian women in politics and
other wives of presidents in the world have a lot to learn from what
Mrs. Buhari has done. We should not forget in a hurry that this is
what the former first lady Mrs. Patience Jonathan failed to do to her
husband when a few people hijacked his government and brought the
government down."
Aisha Buhari said the obvious--Gbise
Similarly, Gbise stated thus: ‘'What
the President's wife has said has put blind followers of Buhari to
shame, she has only stated the obvious by voicing out what millions
of Nigerians have been saying since the inception of this government.
She has acknowledged that her husband's
government visited unbearable hardship on Nigerians, who voted him
into power erroneously. She has agreed with us that the APC has not
kept a single campaign promise, but have rather plunged the country
into an economic quagmire.’’
Below is the full text from the
interview of First Lady of Nigeria, Aisha Buhari, with BBC Hausa
Service:
BBC Hausa: It has been One and a
half years since President Muhammadu Buhari came into power, a lot of
people are expressing their unhappiness over the way few acquaintance
of the President have hijacked power while neglecting people that
work for his success. Like we have promised, here is how the
interview with Aisha Buhari and Naziru Maka’ilu from Abuja goes.
BBC Hausa: People have
goodwill towards President Muhammadu Buhari, especially looking at
the things he did before, but since coming into power things have not
been working the way they should, what do you thing is the cause?
Aisha Buhari: I am not a
government official, but in my opinion as a woman, a mother, what I
think is it is well known that the first 4 years are not going to be
easy. Firstly, it was people that brought the government into power.
More than half of those people are not appointed into the government.
Some people that are not politicians, not professionals were brought
into the government. They don’t even know what we said we want and
what we don’t during the campaign. They even come out and say to
people we are not politicians, but they are occupying the offices
meant for politicians. Some have parted with their wives, some lost
their children lost, some women too have parted with their husbands
because of politics, a lot happened during the time. The way things
are going I too I am not happy. We are just starting, we have not
finished. Some people that worked for the government have been
appointed. But those heading government agencies you can find one
fighting his state governor, they contested together during election
one in APC while in PDP.
BBC Hausa: Who are those
doing these kind of things?
Aisha Buhari: Everybody knows
them. Those people should know that people voted singly. Even Buhari
too had one vote. Nobody voted 5 times. 15.429 Million People. That
one that people are thinking too, he had only some 2 or 3 people. I
am pleading to them to have the people at heart and embrace everybody
so that we can all move together. Not even now in 2016 or 17, lot of
people are creating divisions within the APC, which is our source of
concern. They think they have worked for the government while those
appointed some of them had no voter’s card. What I fear is uprising
of 15.4 million people.
BBC Hausa: Is the President
aware some people are subverting his government?
Aisha Buhari: Whether he knows
or he does not, those that voted for him know.
BBC Hausa: But you are the
most closest to him, did you tell him?
Aisha Buhari: There is nothing I
can tell him, he is seeing things himself. Out of the people he has
appointed, take 50, 45 of them, I don’t know them. Perhaps he
doesn’t know them too. I have been living with him for 27 years.
BBC Hausa: Do you think there
are some people that are dictating to the President things to do, not
him?
Aisha Buhari: That is what I am
saying, those that know they don’t have voters card, they should
give chance to those that have, they are the ones that struggled and
know what we want to do. Some of them if you go to a meeting with
them they will tell you, we are not politicians, if they are wise,
they will not accept to take any political office. They didn’t even
work for it. Even if you are asked to, you should say it is not my
profession. Those places not headed by politicians will cause people's
discontent.
BBC Hausa: One would wonder
to hear you say some people have hijacked the government without him
knowing, but who do you think are those people?
Aisha Buhari: I don’t know
them, I don’t know them. I don’t know them
BBC Hausa: But some people
are calling names, saying 2 or 3 are the ones, do you know that as well?
Aisha Buhari: Yes I agree.
Because of those appointed apart from Fashola, Ameachi and some
others, not much, I don’t know them, most of us too don’t know
them, and he too does not know them
BBC Hausa: One
would wonder that Buhari is not the one in charge knowing him as a
person who had leadership experiences, people would not believe
Aisha Buhari: Yes, it is
surprising; nobody thought it is going to be like this. But now that
it is so…sometimes when one is doing something wrong without him
knowing, but when people talk to them, they should listen. Because in
the future, whether he is going to contest or not, it is that same
people that will vote for APC. We hope these people don’t come
back, and everybody don’t hope so too.
BBC Hausa: You said “Whether
he is going to contest in the future or not”, has he disclose it to
you whether he is standing or not?
Aisha Buhari: He didn’t tell
me, but I have made up my mind.
Translated by www.nishadi.tv
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