It must take more than a stroke of luck and tremendous goodwill for
none of the mud thrown at Mrs Aisha Buhari, wife of the President, not
to stick.
Only an impeccable character anchored on sound moral value
would place someone with her position above the reach of the hands
eagerly clutching to tear her down.
Mrs Buhari’s position opens
her to attacks, it is to be expected. The others before her, who used
the title of “First Lady” anyway, were easily sucked in by the leeches
of our political sphere. For a woman whose husband rode into power on
the strength of his abhorrence of corruption, the demand for Mrs Buhari
to be above board was unequivocal. Thankfully, she has not disappointed
since Mr President entered office. While this should be something that
should be commended, it only made those who are desperate to see her
falter intensify and proliferate the traps they are setting for the
woman.
They actually didn’t give Mrs Buhari any breather, as the
first
salvo was fired right from the day of inauguration. The then
N25,750 Cartier watch she wore to stand by her husband at the event was
trumpeted as being worth N10million. The hullaballoo was apparently a
barb aimed at her husband, in the attempt to accuse him of double
standard and discredit the austere lifestyle that endeared him to
Nigerians. Painfully, the plot to continually attempt to discredit
President Muhammadu Buhari’s person and government has not stopped but
has only taken on a stridency that is as pedestal as it is illogical.
Since
the wrist watch hubbub, all other attempts made to raise doubts about
the wife of the President have commonalities. They are usually targeted
at raising dissent in the populace with the consequence that the stories
whipped up to draw public ire against her are often not researched,
which makes them defy logic and common sense. The stories are usually
anchored by groups that fizzle out ,once their so called facts fall flat
upon the slightest interrogation. Such campaign of calumny mostly ran
in the online media where political opponents that are still smarting
can hide behind anonymity to spew bile.
The most recent being the
lame bid to accuse her of brokering N1.5billion bribe for members of the
Kogi State Election Petition Tribunal. There is no point dissecting the
baseless allegation since its shallowness is self-evident. What it
proved was that detractors continue to see Mr President’s family as the
point to attack in the plot to weaken the anti-corruption fight.
Mrs
Buhari’s involvement in healthcare has proven useful through the
‘Future Assured Initiative’ in Nasarawa State that caters for women and
children with various health challenges. She has equally done advocacy
by canvassing collective action on tuberculosis.
When it comes to
wives of presidents, Nigeria has never had it this good. Here is a wife
of the President that is making impacts without being intrusive in the
national political space. This is why those who think using Mr
President’s spouse as an attack spot must have a rethink. True, they are
fighting a lost battle but it is more than that. While there is no
constitutional provision for Mrs Buhari’s role, as was the case with her
predecessor, there is nevertheless the need to accord her all the
respect befitting the wife of our number one citizen. More than her
predecessors, she has brought class to being the spouse of the President
and she has proven that it is possible to be in that lofty height and
still be in touch with the everyday woman.
This is the Mrs Buhari I
see and not the victim of political machinations that some want her to
be. Like an eagle, she soars above the storm that opponents stir up for
her. Apparently, all efforts to intimidate, compromise or demonise her
only make her excel better
No comments:
Post a Comment