THE POWER BEHIND THE THRONE

THE POWER BEHIND THE THRONE

Saturday comment2

Chukwudi Enekwechi writes that the wife of the President, Aisha Buhari, is a woman of substance

Mrs Aisha Buhari, wife of Nigeria’s president and commander- in- chief Muhammadu Buhari, is acknowledged nationwide as not only a beauty, but endowed with brain and brawn. She periodically steps into the national consciousness when it appears there exists a yawning gap between the powers that be and the Nigerian people. Oftentimes she takes sides with the people and insists that the president should not lose sight of the mammoth support of Nigerians that propelled him to the highest office in the land.

 Most times her interventions have helped to crystallise any fogginess as far as her husband’s leadership is concerned. She is famous for telling truth to power with a view to impacting on the lives of most Nigerians.

Aisha Buhari is not only sound academically but urbane, sophisticated, caring and able to read the signs of the times politically. Until she joined the political fray by setting up the Women and Youth Presidential Campaign Team, the second term bid of President Buhari was tottering on the shenanigans of powerful political forces who had one axe to grind with the system or the other, yet she was able to discern the shady and unclear horizon and immediately stepped in to bridge the gap.

This singular act helped to galvanise the entire gamut of the All Progressives Congress political hierarchy to key in and align, seeing and realising that victory was possible. She did not only take the gauntlet but she led the way to mobilise Nigerians towards supporting her husband to serve Nigeria for the next four years. In the end both the Presidential Campaign Council and the Women and Youth Campaign Team complimented themselves towards the realisation of the ultimate goal- re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari for a second term.

Apart from her regular interactions with the masses across the country, she exhibited uncommon leadership by interfacing with different political leaders who at the nick of time pitched their tent with the ruling party despite the opposition they faced from their past political allies.

Perhaps it can be said that the tone for her future political role in the Buhari presidency was set when the governor of Imo State Rochas Okorocha rolled out the red carpet and galvanised Imo women to march for her at the Dan Anyiam stadium in Owerri. That was the first and last mammoth show of support by a state government for Aisha Buhari, until recently when she stepped into the political arena to lead the re-election campaign of her husband.

Today her efforts in seeing to the realisation of the president’s second term have come to fruition and she deserves adequate recognition.  Aisha is not only a leader of men, women and materials but she is an asset to the president and Nigeria as a whole. We as a people cannot afford to relegate such an important woman in the scheme of things especially as she remains unassuming, simple, loyal to her husband and Nigeria, and is committed to using her elevated position to improve the lives of ordinary Nigerians.

Therefore as we celebrate the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari, Nigerians owe it an obligation to give honour to whom it is due. Lest we forget, she played a significant role in drawing the attention of the country to the many ills ailing our country, among them infrastructural deficit in the South East and this has enabled the president to look inwards and seek permanent and endurable solutions to the boiling issues.

Aisha Buhari is reputed for telling truth to power and this has largely contributed to the success of her husband’s administration, and enabled Nigerians to reap the dividends of democracy as in infrastructure, fight against corruption and the revolution we now witness in the agricultural sector. The latest news is that Nigeria now leads Egypt in rice production and nobody can doubt that Nigeria is witnessing food security.

It is pertinent to remark that this is the first time a wife of the president is being applauded by all and sundry and across the political spectrum and the reason is not farfetched – her altruism, courage and commitment to equity and justice. In the weeks and months ahead Nigerians are expectant that her past interventions will influence the choices of the Buhari administration in appointments and governance generally for the greater good of Nigerians. We recall that she was the advocate of compensation to those who worked assiduously towards the election of President Buhari in 2015.

Gladly, President Buhari has laid the necessary foundation for the repositioning of the country and the next four years offer a window of opportunity for inclusiveness and even distribution of infrastructural amenities across the country.

  Enekwechi is member, Women and Youth Presidential Campaign Team

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