OPINION: My Advice to Hajia Aisha Buhari | By Bakare Oluwatobi

Aisha, Aisha, Aisha, how many times did I call you? Be careful! Don’t embark on a battle you cannot win. Some battles are not worth fighting. It is better not to fight, at all, than to fight and lose. Losing such a battle would have unravelled your invincibility.

Mamman Daura is your husband’s nephew. In Yorubaland, we call them ‘baba oko’. Fatima Mamman, no matter how young she is, she remains your iya oko. They are your in-laws. Show some respect. They are your husband’s family. They are an integral part of your family. They are not strangers.

Mamman Daura and Abba Kyari (Chief of Staff) are two personalities you cannot push away from President Buhari, your husband. Fine, you’re his wife; however, what these two have contributed in the life of your husband is inestimable and unquantifiable. Buhari is Abba Kyari. Abba Kyari is Mamman Daura. Mamman Daura is Buhari. They are inseparable.

L’ojo ririje, l’ojo airije (through thick and thin), Mamman Daura and Abba Kyari were there for your husband. They staked everything for the success of your husband. Your husband knows and appreciates their contributions. No matter what anyone says, Buhari will not leave them.

I don’t know of any individual who has contributed, financially, morally, spiritually and physically to the success of your husband more than them. The journey among the trio of Buhari, Mamman Daura and Abba Kyari is a journey of more than 40 years, even before you came in as a wife. After all, you just came in 1989.

In 2003, 2007, 2011 presidential campaigns, Abba Kyari was your husband’s chief financier. They risked everything for your husband. It is the outcome of that risk you are enjoying today, as the First lady. Indeed, God has used them for you also.

That your husband wants them around him is a sign of gratefulness. It is a clear manifestation that Buhari is not an ingrate. He appreciates favour. Thus, he will not pay favour with ingratitude. One thing is certain, the Buhari we all know will not trade his trusted allies for anything or anyone.

Aso Villa is a temporary residence. In the next four years, you will pack out. Life in the Presidential Villa is transient, ephemeral and short-lived. Don’t be overwhelmingly obsessed with it. The Villa is not a family house and it’s not your husband’s house. Soldier go, soldier come. I was a bit emotional the day Goodluck Jonathan visited Buhari in the Villa. Many changes have been effected. Buhari was the one showing Jonathan the way. Imagine. A place Jonathan just left in 2015.

Hajia Aisha, if anything is wrong, which you don’t feel comfortable with; amicable resolution is the way-out . You need not fight anyone or take anyone as a foe. Show love. Show respect. Show tolerance. Mamman Daura’s children are your children. Show no discrimination or animosity. What goes around comes around. No one knows tomorrow. Those we meet in the course of climbing the ladder of life are the same people we will meet while coming down.