THE FEMINIST VOICES OF THE VILLA- By Dr Terhemba Shija

I just saw a newsflash on the BBC this night in which President Buhari uttered the most phallocentric statement ever given by a Nigerian leader that: "my wife belongs to the kitchen and my living room" He was reacting to a critical statement made by his wife in London to the effect that she was not happy with the kind of people around her husband as her husband was not really in charge and that she might consider not supporting him again for a second term.


Buhari's response in far away Germany is quite uncharacteristic or even very uncharitable of the taciturn general. He is not known to be chatty over family affairs, let alone discussing his wife's seeming revolt with foreign journalists.

But from the huge outrage in the social media over Aisha Buhari's revolutionary consciousness, it appears many people either misunderstand or undermine the resolve of the 21st century African woman to challenge the status quo.

I dare to differ in that opinion. She strikes me as a woman whose delicate beauty, soft disposition towards people and her flashy hijabs have conspired to belie a determined politician beneath.

I see in her the fiery defiance of Winnie Mandela, the hidden genius of Michelle Obama and the dogged determination of Hilary Clinton. If my guess is right, then I wonder how far the seat of power in Nigeria which has steadily nurtured the strong female voices could silence her.

Let's give it to the late Mrs Maryam Babangida, the delectable former 1st lady that really introduced glamor, glitz and political relevance to the hitherto unknown office of the First Lady of Nigeria.

She had introduced her pet project, Better Life program, which became the rallying point of women across the nation. Her activities raised the political consciousness of Nigerian women and later became a befitting prelude for the ground breaking Women Beijing Conference in China.

It is also symbolic that Mrs Babangida was the first wife of the president to occupy the Aso Villa residence where it appears a new energy of feminist liberty inspires.

Before her, presidents' wives lived in Lagos where there was no hill for them to stand and call fellow women to battle. A certain bully by the name of patriarchy reigned supreme over them, directing the men to clip their butterfly wings, forcing them to labor in smoky kitchens, sending them to seductive beds and forbidding them from openly expressing themselves sartorially and romantically.

It was as if either being a beautiful woman or getting married to a powerful man was a curse and not a blessing.
With the advent of democracy in 1999, however, the women have launched a comeback with vengeance.

They have found a new voice, changed into 21st century globalism and deftly taken control of "oval" office of the villa as they audaciously announce a different political agenda from their difficult husbands.

The late Mrs Stella Obasanjo was evidently a very shrewd personality that inherited the general's rank after the inauguration of 1999. Noone else could have tactfully controlled the irrepressible polygamist like she did and got the women sing hosannas across the nation.

The image of her audacious successor, Turai YarAdua had even loomed larger across government houses in Nigeria as she got her daughters married to two powerful governors. Her grasp of the infamous cabal in the village of which she was said to be leader, caused our country untold anxiety just before the demise of the amiable YarAdua. A few years after her exit from the villa, she was rumored to have battled to a standstill her successor, Madam Patience Jonathan over a piece of land in Abuja. It is believed that political power must be oiled with excessive wealth in Nigeria, and it appears the 1st ladies of the villa embrace this creed more than any other Nigerian. Wealth also comes with excessive freedom or even unbelievable recklessness.
How else could you explain the daring gumption of the next queen of the villa, who now looks the dreaded EFFC in the face and claims she owes the various dollar bank accounts that bear her name and those of surrogates that don't bear her name? During her time in the villa, she really grabbed the scrotum of the presidency and squeezed it so hard that it yelled a miserable swansong. The country became poorer than the 1st lady snd her family. Her chain of hotels, her fat bank accounts and her countless aircrafts bearing the ensign of an uneasy "peace", perpetually sign a signature of feminist conquest in the Nigerian skyline.
Now, here comes Her Excellency, Aisha Buhari, the beautiful beautician is howrver forbidden by her spartan husband from officially calling herself 1st lady. But unknown to Buhari, his wife of 27 years may have learnt more survival tactics than he expects of a woman in hijab. It is certainly harsh decision to refuse a woman who anxiously stood by her husband through 3 times of unsuccessful bids for the presidency, her right to have a piece of the action, now that victory has finally come. Worse of all, not when she knows and hears about participants of her husband's government only through the radio and television.
Her voice for now may appear shrill, but something tells me, that just like the other voices that persistently rang from Aso Villa, we have not yet heard the real Aisha Buhari. The few others we have seen don't have the finesse of this mother of half a dozen models.This feminist voice vibrating from the hills of power in Abuja now, has its origins from the royalty of Adamawa and has had significantly chosen the Bush house in London to reverberate her message in Western Europe and America. I recall her warm reception in Washington by Mrs Obama 3 weeks ago. I see in her the determinatiion of a liberated woman ready to join the ranks of Theresa May, Hilary Clinton Angela Merkel and the host of other amazons rocking the digital politics of the 21st century.