Aisha Buhari has come under fire from the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) for attending her daughter-in-graduation law’s from a university in the United Kingdom while the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is still on strike.
HURIWA asserts that the First Lady’s actions were insensitive and heartless, and that she ought to apologize to the parents and pupils of Nigeria.
According to HURIWA, Aisha Buhari was celebrating her daughter-in-graduation law’s from a British university in front of the helpless Nigerian university students who had been absent from their classes for more than seven months due to the President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s failure to address the needs of lecturers at public universities when ASUU members began their strike on February 14, 2022.
Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, the National Coordinator of HURIWA, called Mrs. Buhari’s action “insensitive and profane” in a statement and demanded that she apologize to the millions of Nigerian students and helpless parents because her action was a slap in the face and showed disregard for their feelings and circumstances.
I’d like to congratulate Mrs. Zahra B. Buhari on receiving First Class Honors in Architectural Science at graduation. I’m sending you my best wishes! On Tuesday, the wife of the president posted pictures of her son’s wife with captions on social media.
“Her remarks come in the midst of ASUU’s seven-month strike over FG’s flagrant breach of its contract with the poorly paid academics.
“Of note, lecturers in universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education have gone on strike for more than 900 days since May 29, when Buhari took office.
However, despite the ongoing strikes by ASUU, lawmakers and government officials travel abroad and send their kids to attend prominent schools abroad. As if that were not enough, they will flaunt their images on social media, putting a frown on the faces of the underprivileged and abandoned. Speaker of the House of Representatives Femi Gbajabiamila uploaded a photo of himself in class at Harvard University in July of this year.
Besides the most recent incident, all of Buhari’s children went to study overseas. According to HURIWA’s Onwubiko, Nana-Hadiza graduated from the University of Buckingham, Safinatu from the University of Plymouth, Halima from Bellerby’s College in Brighton, and Yusuf from the University of Surrey in the UK.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, former Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, ex-Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria Muhammad Sanusi, Rochas Okorocha, Bukola Saraki, Nasir el-Rufai, Badaru Abubakar, Nyesom Wike, and hundreds of other politicians are among those whose children have recently graduated from tertiary institutions abroad, primarily from the United Kingdom.
“Recently, Adamu Adamu, the minister of education, declared that if Nigerians can afford it, there is nothing wrong with them attending universities abroad.
But with the seven-month ASUU strike, how many Nigerian parents can afford to send their stranded wards and kids to a foreign school? Onwubiko enquired.
“With her tweet celebrating her daughter-in-graduation, law’s Mrs. Aisha Buhari showed the highest degree of insensitivity and blatant disrespect for the Nigerian student. She should not have taken this action at this time, when students are protesting the ASUU strike and obstructing roads and airports across the nation because they are staying home, and the government, led by Mrs. Buhari’s husband, has been distant and hasn’t shown a commitment to resolving the crisis. Mrs. Buhari ought to immediately apologize to parents and pupils in Nigeria for making such a careless comment.
“It is clear that Nigeria’s main issue is the elite. Even though they have the responsibility and means to prevent the catastrophe and strengthen the sector, it is puzzling that the President’s family and other elite members are fleeing Nigeria to send their children to school overseas.
“In March 2022, the House of Representatives once more rejected a bill that would have made it illegal for public officials to send their wards and children to study abroad without the minister of education’s consent.”
Legislators initially submitted the bill in 2018, which was supported by Sergius Ogun (PDP, Ogun), but rejected it. This law needs to be reintroduced in order to put an end to the elite’s abhorrent and reckless behavior.
