AISHA is the name of my immediate younger sister. She is like every Aishat that I know: exquisite but temperamental. Every Aishat may be kindhearted but you can’t elude their rages when you mess with them.
Aishat bint Abubakar, the choicest wife of the Prophet (pbuh) is not even excluded.The story of her feud with Shahīd Alli when she was alleged of adultery is indelible in the history of Islam. Vendetta; typical of virtually all Aishats—so to say!
Of course, this is how I see our optimal first lady too, Aishat Buhari. In the Act 3 of my new publication The New Normal, I portray Aishat Buhari (I christen her Adewunmi in the book because that’s other name of my blood sister) as a caring but termagant queen. I crave this due to her past actions as I do to other characters in the Play. Remember her fight with her husband’s cousin, Mamman Daura and some other inmates in Aso Rock. This is what her character represents in The New Normal.
So, when the news broke out that she arrested one Aminu Adamu, a Final Year Student of Bauchi University, for alleging her on getting fat by feeding on the masses’ money, I was indifferent to the report. I thought the first lady would not stoop low to be chasing after an “e-diot” on Twitter. But, when the news was confirmed to be real, I wasn’t surprised. It is what Madam Aishat could do.
The onus of this writing actually, is for those who have been going after the first lady for arresting the guy. She was alleged of maltreating him before she sent him to prison too. If this is true, nothing could be more ignominious than that from the Mother of the Nation.
But then, I must say it’s becoming unbecoming of our society to always victimise a victim. We would take off our eyes, at worst laugh, when a person turns himself to an housefly feeding on other people’s sores and we will start crying wolves when the victim reacts to the housefly in the like manner. Hypocrisy!
Contrary to those backing Aminu’s inaction, I believe the guy goofed big time. How would you be alleging without proofs and body-shaming the first lady from your tribe with the best language she understands? It’s uncalled for. Those who are supporting his idiosyncrasy should put Aisha in place of their mother. Would they advise their parents to be caressing an housefly eating deep their sores?
Aisha Buhari is a public figure who is liable to different kind of criticisms, I agree. But we should also remember these personalities also have families who care for their reputations. They have emotions too and their reactions to the Publics’ actions could not be predicted.
There are ways of alluding to someone without necessarily referring to the person. Aminu has chosen a way otherwise for passing his message—even though he knows how grave is the punishment of sort of his statement in the North, he should damn the consequence then.
Am I saying he should still be remanded in the Correctional Centre? Far may that be from me! From the place I come from, my people believe that when you chastised a kid with a right hand for his wrongdoings, you should draw him closer affectionately with your left hand. This is what I expect our first lady to do.
This, however, should be a lesson to those of us who believe out of our hedonistic perspective that we own our space on social media and we could do and/or say what we like. Anyway, Idi Amin, a former president of Ugandan has borrowed us some sense when he says: “There is freedom of speech, but I cannot guarantee freedom after speech.”
