Buhari’s wife, our first lady 

BY ABDULRAFIU LAWAL

It is cheering for many Nigerians that Aisha Buhari is coming as country’s seventh first lady,  three decades after the Maryam Babangida brought glamour and prestige to the office through her Better  Life for Rural Women program. She (Maryam) was the first to operate from Aso Rock after her husband officially moved the seat of power from Lagos  to Abuja  December 12,1991. Maryam made many women to dream of being married to a president in the way she carried herself. The present occupant of the office, Patience Jonathan, has in the last five years reduced the office to  “two for one naira” or what the Hausa trader calls ‘’Biyu shabiyar’’.

Whether General Buhari accepts the office of first lady or not, Nigerians are confident that she can represent them anywhere in the world without people “taking cover” when she speaks. It is a big a relief, but, with high expectations. Goggo, as she is fondly called by family members, is coming with a rich credential; good education, urbane, ravishing beauty, eloquence and a husband who is  a good brand – Muhammadu Buhari.

Out of all the democratically elected presidents in Nigeria, only Shehu Shagari never presented anyone as first lady. He had a wife, but the exigencies of the time did not permit such. Advocates of women rights also did not have a strong voice as they have today. Maryam Babangida, Maryam Abacha, Fati Abubakar, Stella Obasanjo, Turai Yar’Adua to Patience Jonathan, have all written “books” in the minds of Nigerians. Each of them means different things to different people. Some cut the image of a loyal wife supporting their husband to withstand the daily rigours of office synonymous with presiding over the affairs of one of the most diverse and difficult country to govern. For others, greed, power and lust for primitive accumulation became their middle name. For this reason, Aisha will not need to go far in deciding what manner of first lady she wants to be. Examples are abound at the state and national levels.

Starting from the state level, two states in the north-east,  namely Taraba and Borno, have shown how not to be a first lady. Nigerians have not forgotten how Fati Ali Sheriff used state resources every May 29 to invite female musicians from all over West Africa to sing for her and her friends for eight years. This is a state rated as one of the lowest in the Central Bank of Nigeria poverty index.

In Taraba state, like a scene from a Nollywood movie, Hauwa Suntai has continued to play on the intelligence of Nigerians since her husband became brain-damaged after an air crash in 2012. Acting in concert with a cabal, she almost created a constitutional crisis in the state when she dissolved the state executive council shortly after returning to Nigeria with her sick husband. She reduced her husband to a mere laughing stock telling the world he had come back to assume duties.

Luckily for Goggo, she is coming on the Buhari brand that is synonymous with integrity, discipline, perseverance and patriotism. It is said that one is not considered successful until one is able to manage success. Aisha Buhari’s conduct will make or mar her husband’s presidency. His image which looms large will be subjected to series of test by politicians and Nigerians within the next four years. She will become a mirror through which the people  see the other side of Buhari, that is the husband, father and a grandfather.  Stella Obasanjo went for cosmetic surgery at the age of sixty and lost her life in the process. This incident spoke volumes about the kind of wife she is and remained a major stain on the Obasanjo presidency despite his sterling performance.

Late Umaru Yar’Adua  meant well for Nigeria, though not perfect like anyone of us. Turai exposed his weaknesses within the first year in office. She took advantage of his health challenge, rubbished his presidency and tarnished the  image the Yar’Adua family had built over five decades. She did not act alone. Greedy politicians who wanted petrodollars and power at all cost found a willing tool in her. Some may argue that the cabal manipulated Turai to do their bidding, but I disagree. This is based on a simple analogy that one who has never tasted cigarette before, cannot wake up one day to be a smoker. It just meant that “a blind self” apologies to psychologists had always wanted to smoke.  This means  that a part of Turai  allegedly loved power and corruption and an ailing husband provided her a good opportunity to harness her potentials.

“I am Aisha Buhari” is a promising  brand that if well nurtured by herself and media managers can go places that successive first ladies will see as a role model. She is also wearing four caps, the wife of Nigeria’s most trusted leader, our first lady and a grandmother. After all, a popular Hausa proverb says ‘’Mutunci madara ne”, which can be translated to mean she should distance herself  from things that  will bring the “Buhari brand” to disrepute. She must be conscious of the murky waters of Nigerian politics. Many politicians with different interests, patriotic and selfish will approach her  with ideas some of which in their wildest imagination they cannot present before Buhari. Most Nigerians know what the president will or will not accept. The Nigerian political scene is a sleepy slope that if one knows how to navigate it, one will have a smooth ride or else go down the banana peel.

If she cares to listen, Justice Fati Abubakar has set the pace as one first lady who left Aso Rock without a single scandal. Thus, she holds the gold medal for performance even though she was in the office for just eleven months. Some may argue  that  her calling as a judge from a very conservative institution made her  conduct herself with dignity. This may not be totally correct. It takes a lot of self discipline and maturity to avoid abusing the office. Nigeria’s faulty federalism confers so much powers on the president and by extension his wife that either of them can easily get power drunk. No doubt, the constitution does not recognize the office of first lady, the power the spouse of the president wields as the custodian of the home gives her some leverage. An instance worthy of mention here is the case of President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife. Patience like other Nigerians saw in her husband a president who did not realize the kind of powers he had. Hence, she helped him exercise some in a wrong way.

Apart from individual character, Aso Rock, Nigeria’s equivalent of the white house is an architectural masterpiece whose comfort can make one forget that some go to bed hungry and cannot even afford a room to pass the night. In other words, it is a mini paradise on earth. The number of important dignitaries that thronged there on daily basis either for private or official reasons can make one play God. This probably accounts for why  previous occupants did not want to leave the Villa as seen from the Babangida, Abacha, Obasanjo, Yar’Adua and Jonathan experience. They came up with different tricks like endless transition program, self succession bid,  aborted third term agenda, fake doctor’s report and desperation for a second term in office. Aisha’s actions and utterances must always be guided by good judgment. She cannot to disappoint many of us who have confidence in her.

General Muhammadu Buhari must realize that it is not only him that has a say on whether there will be an office of first lady. His mandate came through a democratic process and he will need to feel the pulse of the people in arriving at a decision. Goggo is his wife and pillar of support, but also our first lady. She can be a source of inspiration to the girl child all over Northern Nigeria still struggling to stave off the barrier of culture. Nigerians are in dire need of a first lady who will show the world that “Na only you waka come” episode is an isolated case and not a reflection of our brilliant, enterprising and beautiful women.

Being the wife of a president who came  to power after four attempts, sixteen years after the locusts have eaten and one whose name symbolizes integrity and hope for a better Nigeria is indeed a herculean task. Many Nigerians will continue to pray for her and the president as they start the journey on  May 29.  Like the Fulanis will say at the beginning of every human endeavour, I say ‘’Goggo, Allah hokke sa’a.”

Lawal, a public commentator writes from Boston, United States. He can be reached at [email protected]