The First Lady, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, had shocked not a few people in October 2016 with the warning that her support for President Muhammadu Buhari reelection rested on his readiness to shake up his cabinet.
She had cried that the administration had been hijacked by some individuals, who did not contribute to the success of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the 2015 presidential poll but had constituted themselves into a cabal, usurping the president’s powers.
The president’s wife lamented that most of those appointed into office by President Buhari were unknown to him and the first family.
Although the president’s first reaction was to dismiss his wife’s lamentation, as “her business”, he was later to confirm after his reelection that, “the last cabinet, which I headed, most of them, the majority of them I didn’t know them. I had to accept the names and recommendations from the party and other individuals.”
It was not the only time Mrs. Buhari had expressed concerns about the goings-on in her husband’s administration.
In May 2019, she complained that the Buhari administration’s N500 billion social investment programme has had a limited impact in the North, with most of the local governments not benefiting from the money.
Also in November, at an event of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs in Abuja, the president’s wife berated state governors for failing to provide basic social amenities and infrastructure for the people.
She said, “We should either fasten our seat belt or do the needful or we will all regret it very soon because, at the rate things are going, things are getting completely out of hand. The VP (Professor Yemi Osinbajo) is here, some ministers are here, they are supposed to do justice to the situation.
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“People cannot afford potable water in this country while we have governors. Since this is the highest decision-making body of Islamic affairs, for those that are listening, we should fear God, and we should know that one day, we will return to God and account for our deeds here on earth.”
These interventions resonate positively with people. They portray Mrs. Buhari as a dutiful wife, who desires the success of her husband, as the leader of the country; an advocate for the good of the people. But that is where it ends.
The flip side is that the first lady is gaining notoriety, as an angry matriarch, spewing fire and brimstone over family squabbles and ridiculing the first family. It is becoming very glaring that her concerns about government hijackers were really not about certain extended family members, who she perceives as wielding powers in her husband’s government and undermining her and husband’s authority.
If the struggle for control and relevance in the Buhari family had been underground, the lid was blown in October when Fatima Daura, daughter of the president’s nephew, Mamman Daura, accused Mrs. Buhari of verbally insulting her and attacking her family. An unfitting video of the First Lady, yelling inside the presidential villa about being denied access to some areas was leaked and went viral in the social media. Fatima said she recorded the video because no one would have believed if she made the claim of being insulted by Mrs. Buhari without evidence.
The president’s wife later confirmed she was the one in the video, allegedly being mocked by Fatima while recording her. She apologised to her family and Nigerians over the video content, saying she was pushed to anger because Mamman Daura and his family denied her access to some parts of the Presidential Villa after the president had ordered his nephew and his family to move to another part of the villa.
In a statement released last week, the president’s wife accused Buhari’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, of taking orders from her husband’s nephew, Mamman Daura, and undermining her and her family. She asked Shehu to resign.
We are disturbed by the unending rift between the president’s wife and his nephew’s family and the deterioration to the level of Mrs. Buhari openly reprimanding and demanding the resignation of the presidential aide. Does she have the powers to call for the resignation of a presidential aide? Is there a disconnect between the president and his wife on this family feud?
The unresolved squabbling sustains the view that the president is not fully in charge of affairs, as it is obvious he cannot put his family in order. This is a minus for President Buhari’s image and capability to make a positive difference in the lives of Nigerians.
We urge for a responsible intervention to redeem the situation now. Nigerians, the majority of whom are suffering socioeconomic crises, expect to see the Buhari administration, working to better their lot and not to be treated to an unending drama of a squabbling first family. In her own interest, Mrs. Buhari should spare Nigerians further self-serving rantings and concentrate more on advocacy to improve the conditions of the suffering Nigerian women and children or risk being indexed for a tenure in pursuit of personal relevance and control. Enough of the boring Buhari family drama series.
