PRESIDENT BUHARI’S REMARKS ABOUT HIS WIFE: PLUS OR MINUS?
PLUS PLUS PLUS! ~ Kúnlé Adébàjò
If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other ~ Mother Teresa
The past couple of days have been drenched in mixed feelings. Many armchair critics, good for them, have just found a pinch of inebriating news to get high and while away time on. Yes! President Muhammadu Buhari has done it again. He uttered words which many consider a diplomatic gaffe, a sexist sin and an national embarrassment all in one. Others who argue that it was merely a joke or another of his senior moments were soon shut up by Baba himself after he stood by his words only days later. Milords, considering the market noise of the social media, you must have difficulty placing the president’s remarks within the rightful ambit of plausible positivity. But wait while I take you on a tour to the other side.
Back in December 2014, General Buhari (as he then was) declared that “the office of the First Lady is not in the constitution, so there’s no official role for them.” And since he ascended to the peak of Aso Rock, Mrs Aisha Buhari has only been known as Wife to the President. Thus officially, she is not even a politician (i.e. a member of government) and Baba was right. He has superior knowledge and she should stay out of a field whose depths she can only imagine. She should stop heating up the polity. And of course, this is only a sign of a campaign promise kept – tucking wives of public officials where they belong.
From the President’s bluntness, we just have to realise that the days of impatience patience are gone. The days when dames – women who the dictionary says are in charge of the household – took charge of the steering wheels of affairs and held an entire nation to ransom. The days when all of Lagos stood at attention because Mrs Jonathan had somewhere to go. A time which necessitated Chief Olusegun Obasanjo to write thus in his autobiography: “[There are] five presidents in Nigeria, these were his wife, Deziani, Oduah, Ngozi, Goodluck Jonathan and that he was the weakest of the five.”
Besides milords, why is everyone crying more than the bereaved? Mrs Buhari has never herself complained about wife duties. What is more, she has even been reported to excuse herself from a programme because “nobody is at home, only my husband. So, I want to go back home to be with him and also cook dinner for him.” What then are we saying?
The fact that a thing belongs to a place only means it must long for that place and should, at intervals, return thereto. It does not mean it has got no business elsewhere. This is just as the fact that a book belongs to the library will not deter the librarian from lending it to users. It is a good thing Mr President, despite his incessant globetrotting, has not become lost in the 21st century craze of gender dysphoria. I personally thank him for reminding the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the growing army of Chimamandesque Amazons, that the woman’s primary duty is the care of the home. No matter how powerful you are as a man, the care of your family and wife is paramount. Ditto for the woman.
There is certainly a reason why the law provides for “spousal testimonial privilege” to protect spouses from having to testify against their beloved. President Buhari’s utterance was merely his own way of telling his wife this. Mrs Buhari of all people should never have come out to ridicule her husband. By so doing, she attempted to climb the tree of criticism beyond the branches of reasonableness. As the wife of the President, she should be his greatest confidante and his most special ‘Special Adviser’. Milords, though I may have never been to the other room with an ‘other person’, I know for certain that no better advice may come other than from this place. Especially not from BBC.
DEFINITELY A MINUS ~ Kanyinsola Olorunnisola
“A leader should always be open to criticism, not silencing dissent” – Suzzy Kassem, Seasoned Writer
When you think about the many sins of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, you perhaps allow your mind to reflect upon the fact that pure water was not always ten naira, a dollar did not always equate to half a thousand naira and the EFCC has never been an institutionalized tool for hunting down opponents. You think of these things but what you never expect is to add poor family management skills, lack of diplomacy and absent sense of political correctness to the ever-growing list of errings.
Before I go on vilifying the President with secondary allegations, permit me to address the elephant in the room – sexism. Just when we were all discussing ways the girl-child can be educated and allowed to make something meaningful of herself in the society, beyond the strictures of the kitchen, here is our President, with his agbada and octogenarian hair, declaring that the job of his wife – and womenfolk, by expansion – is to heat things up in the living-room, kitchen and the “other room”. My Lords, do not ask me what that means. I have a clean mind. Apart from the fact that this has created a hashtag craze for online fanatics, it has also successfully put an obscene middle-finger in the dignified faces of education rights activists the world over. Here is the leader of nearly two hundred million people, the quintessential role model, (mis)leading by example, telling all husbands to objectify our women as housewives and sex machines. Call me a feminist. I would rather be a feminist than a misogynistic bigot.
My opposing counsel might go ahead to paint Aisha Buhari in the light of negativity. Truly, she is no politician. She has no business dictating what should be done. However, as a citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, she possesses the right to express her displeasure with the government, even if the head of said government is her husband. That takes bravery. Moreover, the debate is not on her comments but Buhari’s response. It is particularly ridiculous and disheartening that he chose to spew this hate and low regard for women right beside Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose ascendancy to the peak echelon in the German government has shown that women can be more than dolls to be appreciated only when they look sexually attractive.
Some may argue that Buhari merely expressed his subjective views and a man has the rights to his religious or cultural principles. As interesting as this sounds, it is totally irrelevant. If any other Taye, Dolapo or Hammed had made such comments, it would not be so opprobrious. The man in question is the President. My God, he represents the entirety of a nation! Diplomacy should be his language. Whatever makes him or his country appear negative must be shunned, even if it contrasts with his own beliefs and accretions. Whatever he says, he does as President Buhari and not Mr. Buhari. There is a difference. If we were all given the freedom to speak or minds without censoring our words to avoid displeasing a demographic, the society would be anarchic.
The whole nation had lost faith in him. Now, even his wife has apparently followed suit. Looks like the economy and his tongue are not the only things he cannot keep in order. Perhaps, our Octogenarian of Change believes spitting out controversial words will gain him a strong followership and increase his dwindling approval ratings. But My Lords and the Nigerian populace cannot be swayed by such profligate remarks. I hereby urge you to castigate mediocrity and bury sexism. Join me in making it clear that it is not okay for the President to reduce any woman to an object. I rest my case.
