Delta nursing student queried over video of peers rejecting Remi Tinubu as ‘national mother’

A student at the Delta State College of Nursing Sciences has been issued a disciplinary query over footage showing her colleagues rejecting Remi Tinubu, the first lady, as a symbolic mother figure.

The student, identified as Osato Edobor, is being accused of “recording and sharing an unauthorised” video.

Remi Tinubu, on March 27, was at the Dome Event Centre in Asaba for a solidarity programme targeted at healthcare workers in Delta.

At the programme, spearheaded by the first lady, 10,000 kits were to be distributed to midwives in the south-south geopolitical zone.

During the ceremony, the event’s MC introduced the first lady using a customary title that referred to her in Pidgin as “our mama”.

Instead of agreeing, the students responded in unison by singing, “na your mama be this,” which translates to “this is your mother”.

In successive social media discourse, this was understood as implying that they did not personally accept the first lady in that role.

Many have since interpreted the event as a reflection of public frustration over economic hardships Nigeria’s governance issue.

The nursing college, in response, queried Edobor, who was identified as the student who filmed and shared the video.

A copy of the query surfaced online, showing that the institution accused Edobor of engaging in a “malicious act” by “recording herself singing” and posting an “unofficial response” to a song during the first lady’s arrival.

The letter, dated March 27 and signed by the college provost Evbodaghe Rita Ogonne, cited a violation of the student handbook.

Ogonne asked Edobor to submit a written explanation within 24 hours.

Present at the event was Sheriff Oborevwori, the Delta state governor, who acknowledged the first lady’s contributions to the health sector.