Muhammadu Buhari Vs Aisha Buhari

By Julius Oweh
The relationship between a husband and a wife is so iron clad that no person or matter can come between them especially in a blissful atmosphere.  Wives are known to protect the interest of their husbands especially in the public domain and the stakes are even higher should the husband be a politician and a president at that. Aisha Buhari, the spouse of President Muhammadu Buhari cuts a perfect picture of a dutiful and obedient spouse.

*President Buhari and wife, Aisha

The highly urbane and articulate Aisha was initially not involved in the soap box oratory and campaigns until Madame Patience Jonathan drew her into the arena. Since then, she has continued to distinguished herself as a proud wife and mother both to her children and husband. She has brought intellectualism and dignity to the office of the First Lady even though she has refused to bear the title and preferred to be to as the wife of the president. A case of six and half a dozen!

Courting the mass media is a dangerous terrain to those not aware of its enormous power and influence. The mass media can make or mar any personality depending on the level of interaction. That is why those who know the power and influence of the mass media tread carefully. It is one civics lesson Aisha Buhari may learn rather too late. Speaking to the Hausa service of the BBC, Aisha Buhari lamented that the government of her spouse has been hijacked by a cabal, adding that those who worked for her husband’s victory have been left in the cold.

Listen to part of that interview: "He is yet to tell me but I have decided as his wife that if things continue like this up to 2019. I will not go out and campaign again and ask any woman to vote like I did before. I will never do it again… The president does not know 45 out of 50.I don't know them either despite been his wife for 27 years. Some of them don't even have voters card and those who made sacrifice have been reduced to nothing and certainly, I ‘m not happy with the way things are going."

The Aisha Buhari assessment is full of candour and the best description yet of the Buhari administration. It has nothing to do with the partisan views of Peoples  Democratic Party, PDP, or that of Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State. Coming from a better half of the president, it is really on the mark. It is more of a struggle between spouse obligations and the spirit of patriotism. In this case, patriotism seems to have the upper hand.

Aisha Buhari: We All Know Where We Belong

By Paul John  

For some time now, our electronic and print media have been awash with news items about a recent interview granted to the BBC by the wife of the President Muhammadu Buhari, Aisha. Following the aftermath of that interview, the President while fielding questions in far away Germany, described his wife as belonging to his kitchen, his living room and ‘the other room.’ This happened in a country where a woman is the Chancellor and in a year when a woman became the British Prime Minister not mentioning the fact the United States is about to have its first woman President. Shortly, after this presidential faux pas, Garba Shehu lamely attempted to disabuse the minds of Nigerians as to the innocuous import and purport of that statement by attributing it to Mr. President’s sense of humour.

*President Buhari and wife, Aisha

However, need one remind Garba Shehu that of an Igbo adage: ‘Ebe a na-ama njakiri ka a na-agwa mmadu eziokwu’ –  one is told the truth through jokes? In other words, it is in the midst of friendly banter that the greatest truth emerges. Even if as Garba Shehu wants the whole world to believe that Mr. President was only joking when he said that his wife belongs to his kitchen, his living room and ‘the other room,’ the import and dimension of that message cannot be easily or merely dismissed offhandedly as he wishes to do.

The question is: How many women have been appointed by the President to head Federal establishments or to be part of his cabinet? This is unlike the last administration where many women were given some key positions and allowed to do their jobs without fear or favour. A case in point happened to be the appointment of the first ever female Chief Justice of the Federation by the last administration. What is the President doing currently about the much touted 35% affirmation? Nigerians voted for change. Nigerians wanted to do things right or even better which was why some people opted for President Buhari against former President Goodluck Jonathan. But what are they getting now?

The worst of it all is that the President made the statement in a continent that never plays with women’s rights and in a country where a mother of eight is the Minister of Defence, superintending over one of the strongest military forces in the world. Thus, some feminist groups in Germany immediately called it a hate speech and demanded the immediate exit of the President from their territory. Did we not see how visibly angry Mrs. Merkel ended the press conference to save the President further embarrassment?

Let the truth be told, as far as this administration is concerned women are meant for the kitchen, the living room and ‘the other room.’ I may not bother to ask the DSS, EFCC or any of their sister agencies to investigate the meaning of the ‘other room’ rather I will assume that ‘the other room’ means the bedroom. But taking the President’s speech to a wider context, one would remember that immediately he assumed office in 2015, there was an interview equally credited to him where he said it would be unfair giving the same degree of attention he is giving to those who gave him 97% votes to those who gave him only 5% votes.

Is it not absurd that the region classified under 5% is the region that sustains the Nigerian economy through its oil production? The President said this as a cryptic reference to those from the South-southern and the South-eastern states whom the President believed did not give enough support to his presidential bid. Will the presidential spokesperson also come out to tell us that it was equally part of Mr. President’s numerous humours? But then Nigerians do not need jesters, else they would not have opted for the President, neither do they need a male chauvinist in a country that has more than 43% of its population to be women and girls else they would not have voted him into power.

e-Learning Africa: African Union Warns Of Threat To Skills Revolution

Joint Press Release

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 21^st May 2015:
African leaders are warning that the continent’s lofty dreams may not be realized without a determined focus on information and communication technology (ICT), skills development and innovation.

Speaking during the opening session of the 10^th edition of eLearning Africaconference, H.E. Mr. Erastus Mwencha, Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission, emphasized that the African Union’s dreams of catalyzing an education and skills revolution are not going to be easily realized, unless the current creative and innovative capacities are properly harnessed. “There is an abiding imperative for Africa to foster innovation and creative technologies as the basis for advancements in ICT and sustainable economic development. It is the duty of our governments, the private sector and all segments of our society, to participate actively in maximizing the use and application of ICTs to create competitive, knowledge economies, as well as economies of impetus. Such is the foundation of gainful capital in human resource development," Mr. Mwencha said.

The Deputy Chair also made reference to the African Union’s Pan African University Program which demonstrates the practical efforts being undertaken by the Commission, to facilitate and implement Africa’s collective aspiration for meaningful development underpinned by rapid transformations in science, innovation, research and technology-driven education. “Such initiatives, firmly anchored on the Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA), represent hope and potential for the future generation of Africans. Under the STISA, the Commission will continue to pursue the elevation of Africa’s role in global research, technology development and transfer, innovation and knowledge production,” he said.

2015 Presidential Election: Where Are The Women?

By Banji Ojewale

In politics if you want anything said ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman – Margret Hilda Thatcher, ex-British Prime Minister

Last year the government in Romania heeded this counsel from the late British leader, Baroness Thatcher. The authorities, gravely worried by high profile corruption slowly killing the country, appointed a woman, Laura Codruta Kovesi, to man the nation’s National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA). Within a very short time this 41-year-old 1995 law graduate has turned the  formerly  quiescent agency into a viable attack dog mauling down those who had themselves been bringing down the economy and politics of Romania with their corrupt practices.

*Laura Codruta Kovesi

She has become the most feared public office holder on account of her exploits in an attempt to do what was thought to be impossible: battling graft in high places to a standstill and arresting its spread. Although as in Nigeria, she is horrified that the citizens have expressed  distaste for corruption, they still keep voting for politicians suspected or convicted of larceny.  “ It is extremely difficult to explain this contrast,” Kovesi laments.

But according to an international news magazine report last week, this depressing situation has not discouraged  the woman. A New York Times writer, Andrew Higgins, says: “Since Ms. Kovesi took over D.N.A last year, what was a trickle of high-profile arrests and prosecutions has become a flood. Nearly all have ended in convictions, with her prosecutors recording a success rate of over 90 percent.

Deconstructing The Weaker Gender Stereotype

Nnaemeka Oruh

Over the past century, the position of women in human affairs has received lots of attention. There has been delineation into several camps and several groups, each with different ideologies. No matter which camp one belongs, it seems that the point of convergence remains the belief that women are different. I use different here both in its pejorative and, of course, edifying form.

*Michelle Obama

While some see women as deserving of equal (or semi equal) status with men, most see the woman as an appendage of man hence she should be subservient and controlled. Whichever way one panders to, all sides in one way or the other denigrate women. For, what more is denigrating than when women ask for special treatments through hand-outs? I will not delve into this issue here as I have already given it special attention in another essay.