If a President cannot address a family problem before it goes public,
\nhow can he address the herculean task of governance and nation-building?
\nThis has been my concern since the rumour mongers went to town with
\nmarriage speculation in the Presidency.<\/p>\n
Frankly speaking, the media handlers of President Muhammadu Buhari did
\nnot manage the rumour on his purported wedding plan with his
\nHumanitarian Affairs Minister, Sadiya Umar Farouq.<\/p>\n
Before the return of the First Lady, Aisha Buhari to Nigeria, various
\nsocial media platforms were flooded with congratulatory messages and
\npurported pre-wedding pictures of the President and his minister. The
\ncaptivating images of the couple, set tongues wagging on what could be
\nthe fate of the First Lady, Mrs Aisha Buhari who was then abroad.<\/p>\n
Some media reports gossiped that the First Lady had a running battle
\nwith her husband on the activities of the overbearing influence of the
\nso-called Cabals who are alleged to be calling the shots in the Villa
\nand the Presidency.<\/p>\n
As a matter of fact, Aisha\u2019s long stay for more than two months in
\nSaudi Arabia and London, further fuelled the speculation that she must
\nhave been side-lined in the scheme of things in her husband\u2019s
\ngovernment which she played prominent roles to its electoral successes.<\/p>\n
Most of state and diplomatic functions, she was invited to grace, her
\nSenior Special Assistant, Dr Hajo Sani, performed the roles on her
\nbehalf especially at the UN High-Level Meeting on Tuberculosis, at the
\nGlobal Empowerment Movement and at the Organization of African First
\nLadies for Development (OAFLAD) meeting in New York.<\/p>\n
However, in an attempt to clear the air and debunk all speculations on
\nthe absence of the first lady, her Director of Information, Mr Suleiman
\nHaruna, said the President\u2019s wife has the freedom to travel to
\nwherever she wanted, as a free citizen.<\/p>\n
Haruna said, Aisha as a free Nigerian, who is not a government official,
\ncould travel for private engagements both within and outside the
\ncountry, adding that the reasons for such trips must not be tied to
\n\u201cneedless speculation or rumours.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a dramatic twist, on her return to Nigeria, Aisha triggered a
\ncontroversy in an interview she granted the BBC when she commented on
\nthe purported marriage arrangement.<\/p>\n
When asked about the rumour, she said: \u201cI\u2019m not the one who was
\ngetting married. It was the president. So, you should have asked him
\nwhether it is true or not. But the person who was told the president
\nwill marry her, the people that told her the president will marry her,
\nshe never thought the wedding will not hold, because she waited and when
\nit never held she came out to dispute it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Aisha\u2019s comment merely insinuate that members of the cabal could
\nbe behind the rumoured marriage.<\/p>\n
In an immediate reaction to the First Lady\u2019s interview, Fatima
\nAbdulmutallab, the daughter of Buhari’s nephew, Mamman Daura, absolved
\nher family from the marriage saga.<\/p>\n
Fatima whose father was fingered as allegedly being the brain behind the
\nplan for the marriage, said: \u201cWallahi, it is a lie. It is all part of
\nwhat I am saying about the false allegations against our father. He is
\nnot even aware of the rumours about the marriage issue because he
\ndoesn\u2019t use the social media.<\/p>\n
“They (Buhari and Daura) are both monogamous. Both my dad and the
\npresident practice monogamy. They are all lies aimed at blackmailing
\nhim. They keep falsely accusing him. It does not tally with reason,\u201d
\nshe said.<\/p>\n
Another altercation within the First Family are allegations and
\ncounter-allegations over allocations of rooms in the Aso Villa to
\nextended family members. Disturbed by the allegations, the opposition
\nPeoples Democratic Party (PDP) asked the National Assembly to
\ninvestigate and sanction President Buhari for assigning official
\nfacilities in the Presidential villa to unauthorised persons that have
\nno official roles in governance.<\/p>\n
The Party also described the fight between the First Lady, Aisha Buhari
\nand the President\u2019s cousins, over rooms in the Presidential villa, as
\ndistasteful, saying the development further underlined the managerial
\nineptitude and leadership failures of the Buhari Presidency.<\/p>\n
In view of the melodrama, some concerned citizens continue to ask the
\nfollowing questions: What is the current relationship between the
\nPresident and his wife? Are extended family involved in the fracas? What
\nare the levels of their involvements? Could the seeming division within
\nthe First Family affect governance? Is the crisis a deliberate ploy for
\ndistractions to achieve some ulterior motives?<\/p>\n
In a country where rumours have a way of shaping future events, one
\nwould have expected an official statement to clear the air on all these
\nworrisome developments.<\/p>\n
My take in all these, is the fact that the President has a right to his
\npersonal life, but not at the nation\u2019s expenses when the country is
\nyet to resolve national maladies\u00a0 including rampant cases of kidnapping,
\narmed banditry, terrorism, economic challenges and incessant strike of
\nlabour and academic staffs.<\/p>\n
Rather than washing their dirty linens in the public, the family members
\nof President Buhari should resolve their domestic squabbles within the
\nconfine of their homes without inundating Nigerians with tales akin to
\nreality show of Big Brother.<\/p>\n