The Wedding that Never Was

The Wedding that Never Was

Saturday letter2

First Lady, Aisha Buhari was in the news- thanks to the fake news industry, politics and power play. Love her or hate her, Aisha Buhari has now become a phenomenon in her own right.

While Aisha was away in London, the fake news industry was at work with the ‘news’ that President Muhammadu Buhari will take a second wife -Sadiya Umar Farouq, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development.

In fact, the ‘e-wedding’ took place via Facebook, twitter, Instagram and other social media platforms; but the real wedding never happened – the rumour mill, the planters of the ‘event’ and the opposition were disappointed. It seems that the whole issue was a kind of politics taken too far- in fact, the people behind it, were unfair to Aisha and Buhari- family is sacrosanct. It was an intrusion into their personal lives.

Well, Aisha wasn’t shaken in face appearance, but as a woman, her heart may have been shaken. The first lady said she was back fully rejuvenated to continue her work of improving the health and general wellbeing of women, children and other vulnerable Nigerians. However, she said, Minister Sadiya Umar Farouq never debunked the rumour of the wedding until it was obvious that no marriage will take place. Was Minister Sadiya scammed? Or she was also a victim of politics, power play and fake news?

Aisha is always blunt with words notwithstanding being a first lady. Though, she towers in elegance and sophisticated appearance, a kind of a fashionista with flawless dress sense including a gift of graceful physique. People see first lady, Aisha Buhari from different perspectives. Some people see her through the image of her husband, President Muhammadu Buhari and a traditional Nigerian Fulani housewife, who simply echoes the voice of her husband. Others see her through the prism of a neo-political activism and expect her to choose a different ideo-political path from her husband and thus, markedly different from previous Nigerian first ladies. The people who see her through the image of Buhari expect her to behave and go along with the conservative Buhari politically and publicly- to just be the wife of the president. Others, who expect Aisha to choose a different path want her to be a classic first lady– be humble, elegant and be the masses’ voice in the corridors of power.

Being first lady in the Muhammadu Buhari’s APC regime may continue to be challenging and interesting for Aisha because the road is full of extreme power play, politics and very ambitious political actors.

Welcome back, First Lady Aisha Buhari.

Zayyad I. Muhammad, Jimeta, Adamawa State

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