Has Aisha Buhari Gone Missing?

In Nigeria, during campaigns, we are used to First Ladies, that’s the wives of Presidents, campaigning for their husbands rigourously for reelections. Prior to 2015 election, we saw Aisha Buhari frying ‘akara’ in the street in support of her husband but forward to 2018, some months to the presidential election, we have hardly noticed this strong willed woman who has been defiling all odds, even shackling religious odds, to speak against her disappointment over her husband’s administration.

Ok let’s say we have not been noticing her disappearance because we are not accustomed to the unusual situations of this administration, people ordinarily talk about things that ail them. But should we have totally forgotten about the first lady that is almost on the side of the suffering masses?

There are some dangerous conspiracy theories concerning her being incommunicado recently but one cannot vouch for such theories. But in 2016, if we can jolt our memory, she said in a BBC interview that her husband has been “held hostage by a cabal” to which the president reacted by sending her to ‘the kitchen and the other room.’ Feminists kicked against his primitive comment all over the world, especially when he was being hosted by a female Chancellor, Angela Merkel of Germany.

Aisha then took to her tweeter handle retweeting both senators Misau and Ben Bruce criticizing her husband’s administration’s lackluster. As if that internalized criticism was not enough, last year, she declared openly that there were no syringes and other items in the Aso Rock Clinic in spite of the huge budgetary allocations for the past two years. And this administration claimed it was fighting corruption. And to this criticisms she was awarded the Vanguard Personality for speaking truth to power even in her difficult condition to do so. She said her position concerning her criticism was not necessarily about confrontation but her sense of justice.

Is it that Aisha, who has apparently shown distaste for her husband’s incompetence has finally been silenced? Who knows, perhaps she has.

Well, the reason behind her lack of many public appearances campaigning for her husband is shrouded in secrecy but might not be unconnected with her perception of her husband’s led administration which had not lived up to expectations. It has rather been bizarre, lackluster and out-of-bound in most cases. We should be interested, especially the women folks to whom she dedicated her last year award, feminists and anti-sexist organizations to know what’s happening to her. Its certain things are not normal, and it will get more abnormal if unchallenged.

#WhereIsAishaBuhari

Elempe Dele