Nigerians are a special breed.

ON AISHA

Dr.  Doyin Odebowale writes:

I have read so much on Aisha since yesterday. Nigerians are a special breed. Suddenly, this woman is not wanted in America! Buhari did not marry a child again. Her gold, diamond and platinum bracelets are not topics for discussion. We are moving out of recession indeed!

Many of the hypocrites on Facebook beat their wives. Many are so useless that they establish pepper soup joints for some useless dogs called women while their children cannot feed at home. Many don't care about how their children school fees are paid.

Aisha is the CEO of a thriving company. One of Buhari's daughters is a lawyer. His girls are graduates. I have read posts from some of my friends who, surprisingly, failed to see the statement credited to Buhari as a joke. I have followed some of them on Facebook. I know most of them will not tolerate any dissenting view from their wives.

Aisha is not in purdah. She is not confined to the kitchen, literally. I doubt if she still cooks. I would have expected the new supporters of Aisha to ask Buhari about the location of the kitchen. Is it Aso Villa where there exists a culinary complex? Look at Aisha and tell us if she belongs to the category of oppressed women. The fact that she granted the controversial interview bears eloquent testimony to Buhari's character. She just returned from the US. That trip generated another kind of controversy. That seems not important now.

Many of these hypocrites are not proud of their wives. Many of them pretend to love women but will work against them. Politicians abuse women sexually. They are play things. They only allow them when their unscrupulous godfathers impose them and direct political slaves to vote. Academics talk of "conference materials". These are people's wives, daughters, sisters, cousins, who belong to everybody while pretending to be in some dubious relationships. Lucky is she whose husband can proudly assert that she has a place in his bedroom. She is not sharing this space with any woman to our knowledge. Buhari's religion allows him to marry four women.

If the president attempted to douse tension generated by the wife's interview, and we fail to appreciate his joke, then our sense of humour appears morbid. Nigerians did not elect Aisha. She has no official role in the constitution. She cannot decide on who gets appointed into the government. If she complains that she does not know those in government, it means Buhari cannot be accused of nepotism. If she is pained that she is not involved in governance, that is a big plus for him. She was not on the ballot during the last election. She should not pick ministers and heads of agencies for us.

Is this not part of the change we crave? Hypocrisy is not a virtue.

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