Wednesday 22 June 2016

Dear Aisha Buhari, please visit the United States to clear the air once and for all


Nigeria's first lady, Aisha Buhari pictured at her husband's inauguration on May 29, 2015.


So the wife of Nigeria’s president and the country’s first lady, Mrs. Aisha Buhari is embroiled in a hot scandal concerning her alleged role in the Halliburton bribery scandal that took down a US congressman, William Jefferson. You can read up on the scandal HERE and her husband’s response HERE.


Well, the best way to deal with false accusation of any kind is to just prove them wrong. Trading insults won’t work.

Take a cue from former President Goodluck Jonathan. News floated into Nigeria that the global statesman had run away to Ivory Coast on self exile to avoid being arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

What did Dr. Jonathan do? He directly denied the allegation. Then, he came back home to Nigeria to prove that he wasn’t running from anything. He even went to Aso Rock and met with Aisha’s husband, President Muhammadu Buhari. Sources say that Buhari pleaded with Jonathan to help him resolve the renewed restiveness in the Niger Delta.


Guess what? The rumour died a natural death.

Today, Mrs. Aisha Buhari is being accused of being the same Aisha Buhari named in United States Government court documents as playing a role in passing around bribes to convicted and jailed former US lawmaker. And by virtue of the American law enforcement records, she is wanted in the United States, along with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and others mentioned in the corruption scandal.

What does she need to do? Simple get on a plane and land in the United States, announce her arrival, fly around and move around freely. Given that her husband’s government is one of photography, take a lot of photos of herself at the White House and all over Washington DC meeting with women and leaders in the country.

Mrs. Buhari could also throw in a bomb and pay a courtesy visit to the headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Investigations, FBI, and lament how she was impersonated in the Halliburton scandal and urge them to put in more effort in catching the ‘fake Aisha Buhari’.

Finally, Aisha Buhari should get and an airplane and make a triumphant return. That way, she doesn’t need to get on Twitter and call anybody a mad dog… The rumour will die a natural death.

This is a simple problem and it has a simple solution. Insult-filled press releases won’t do. No matter how many insults Buhari’s media aides concoct and throw at Ekiti Governor Ayo Fayose, this problem won’t go away. Fayose didn’t start this. She was named way back in 2006 by the US’s Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Madam, please don’t complicate something so simple.

Good luck.

- Afam B. C. Nnaji is a social and political analyst. Connect with him on Facebook.

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