The public opprobrium between President Buhari and his wife must be of interest to any student of politics for three reasons. If I am not too young, this is possibly the first time a first lady is not “protecting†her husband in harsh times in an African country.
Usually the first lady will stand by the husband and even canvas for support without acknowledging the feelings of citizens. Some have suggested Aisha Buhari's public outburst has underlying interest-I shall revert to this subsequently.
Secondly, can it be interpreted to mean the Buhari’s are very democratic? The third one is about deflated expectation of the Buhari administration, two years in office.
Buhari came to power on the back of a CHANGE campaign-to alleviate the sufferings of the masses and get Nigeria working again. However, all over Nigeria, there are cries of suffering. The naira has taken a nose-dive, prices of goods and services have climbed sharply.
So why will Mrs Buhari, the only wife of the president rebuke the husband publicly?
One theory suggests, she is speaking for the masses, the hardest hit by the management of the economy so far. She is afraid that her husband may “fail†and the backlash that may follow her family.
The other conspiracy theory is that Aisha may be speaking for “friends†who have been left out of Buhari’s cabinet and those who are cut out from contracts.
President Buhari’s response to the wife that she belongs to the kitchen fortifies two out of the three points raised above. He might be fed-up with her wife’s persistent demand for contracts for her powerful “friends†who may have helped bring Buhari into power overtly or covertly.
That, he does not think the wife’s fear about him not doing enough to alleviate the sufferings of the masses is well grounded- that he Buhari is in control and knows what he is about.
The use of the words “rooms†and “kitchen†by the president is a familiar voice-the voice from the past-the masculinity voice that thinks a woman’s place is in the kitchen and bedroom. It also cross petition the earlier suggestion that the Buhari’s are very democratic.