Chika:
What do you think they call Mrs Biya in Cameroon, and Grace, the Guchi woman?
I was once at a state dinner in Uganda, and no one was standing up to even speak with the First Lady. You were on your knees.
I am not justifying this, to be sure, but to understand the subtext.
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Chika Okeke-Agulu <okekeagulu@gmail.com>
Date: Sunday, December 4, 2022 at 3:43 AM
To: USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - AISHAGATE: WE ARE BETTER THAN THISOga Falola,
But Adamu called Mrs. Buhari "Mama"? Is that not a sign of respect--of the African kind? I can see why "African culture" would frown at a child calling out his parent/Mama for subjecting him to infernal starvation, but I also see nothing wrong if the child did just that. The elder respect that African cultures expected from the youth, I'd like to think, is predicated on the assumption that the elders have a fundamental responsibility to take care of their young, the embodiment of society's future. What I am saying is that African postcolonial autocrats have often hidden behind the curtain of tradition/culture and "respect for elders" to sell their children's tomorrow and expect no dissension from the youth. I am saying that neither Mrs. Buhari nor any of these public-office elders, that continue to live decadent lives despite that 130 Million citizens live in "multidimensional" poverty, deserve any apology from any upset Nigerian youth. It is not just Aishah Buhari that is the issue; it is also the government she represents. We can see how Qatar has deployed "culture" to stifle criticism. But at least they do not pretend to run a democracy, and they indeed do take care of their own citizens, especially their young!
On Sunday, December 4, 2022 at 3:37:24 AM UTC-5 toyinfalola wrote:
Chika:
I am enjoying this thread.
The debate is being mis-focused. Adamu does not disagree with you or Adeshina Afolayan with respect to the core issue: abuse of power. Indeed, my reading is far more complicated: I see a maniac behavior. The First Lady needs medication.
The refocusing by you and Adeshina Afolayan is on the cultural ingredient of criticism. I can assure you that a father in Japan, Malaysia, Qatar, China, etc. will say the same. I have been to Japan and you will see how criticisms and culture are connected. Parenting cannot be divorced from safety and survivalism. I joined in anti-military protests as a young man. Most parents told their sons and daughters not to join, as they also did with #Endsars.
Aisah is the issue here, not Adamu.
PS: Nothing makes me happier more than polite arguments.
From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Chika Okeke-Agulu <okeke...@gmail.com>
Date: Sunday, December 4, 2022 at 2:15 AM
To: USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - AISHAGATE: WE ARE BETTER THAN THISWhat right does the Nigerian elder political class have to tell me about the bad behavior of their youth? Prof. Adamu's diplomacy is misplaced. The Nigerian youth, including Aminu Adamu have every reason to be mad about the state of their country. Respect for elders does not work here. If my son wrote that tweet, I would be worried for his safety as a parent, but support his courage to say what I am sure many among his generation feel. Mrs. Buhari is a political figure who indeed has been feeding fat on the future of our young. If Adamu was referring to some private citizen then we can talk about manners. If the young cannot speak truth to power, is it the compromised parents that will do it? I am sorry, apologies by the President for his wife's tyranny are not enough.
On Saturday, December 3, 2022 at 12:36:34 PM UTC-5 toyinfalola wrote:
Can one not scold and endorse a message?
I thought he is separating bad manners from brutal political reaction. The way I read it:
My son, what the professor did to you is terrible but you should not have slapped him.
He is claiming a higher moral ground to escalate his condemnation of the First Lady, a strategy of saying
What my son said is bad but you are satanic
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From: 'Adeshina Afolayan' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, December 3, 2022 6:35:48 AM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - AISHAGATE: WE ARE BETTER THAN THIS
"As a parent, I will be the first to admit that Aminu's behavior was absolutely wrong. If God forbid, any of my children were to do what he did, I would be the first to call him to order by asking him to pull down the tweet and offer an immediate apology to the First Lady through the same medium. I would also have extended my apologies to her as a father because insulting any elder does not represent our upbringing."
"It is time to move on to the serious task of rebuilding our nation for our children and grandchildren."
And what is more serious than calling out the terrible behavior of those elected to govern us? I am shocked that this last sentence reads like this, given the context of the entire event that led to the arrest of Adamu. We should let go of a democratic outrage (i wrote that without any belief in the democratic credentials of the Nigerian state). Hábà!
And Prof. Yusuf deemed it fit to appeal to elements of anachronistic culture of silence that would make us all lick the boot of our oppressors in the name of cultural correctness? Adamu's behavior was "absolutely wrong"? The guy even called her "mama" or "mother" in the tweet; a remnant of cultural respectability in his outraged sensibility.
That tweet embodies a contextual disaffection not only with Aisha Buhari but with the entire Buhari administration. And what Adamu said about her could be said about all the political class that are feeding fat on the commonwealth. The other day, someone recorded the obscene wealth of Dino Melaye. The video reveals he has over 200 wristwatche! And he was strutting from room to room, showing off his collections of shoes and all sorts, and the bootlicker was following obsequiously. According to Prof. Yusuf, cultural correctness should prevent me from calling this dude a thief who fed fat on what belonged to Nigerians. If Aisha Buhari felt maligned, democratic imperative demands she should have sued the young man, or any citizen for that matter, to court, or write to correct any wrong impression. But to arbitrarily arrest and torture him?
If our elders are stealing from our commonweal, and traumatizing our citizenship, i don't think cultural respectability demands that we keep quiet. What happened to Citizen Adamu means that the Aisha Buhari who used to damn political correctness has compromised her critical stand, and the Buhari administration remains, no surprise here, draconian.
Forget about the apologies to Adamu. We all have been traumatized. Democracy is a travesty in Nigeria.
Adeshina
Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhoneOn Saturday, December 3, 2022, 12:14 PM, Toyin Falola <toyin...@austin.utexas.edu> wrote:
AISHAGATE: WE ARE BETTER THAN THIS
By: Prof. Usman Yusuf
2nd December 2022
Whereas our elected representatives are fair game for criticisms while in office, I have always considered commenting on or criticising their families as no go areas. But, recent actions by the First Lady Mrs. Aisha Buhari required a review of this self censorship.
It is no longer news that Mrs. Buhari ordered the illegal abduction, transportation to Abuja, detention and torture of a 23 year old young man called Aminu Mohammed Adamu who is a final year student at the department of Environmental Management of the Federal University of Dutse in Jigawa State. He is said to have been brought to Mrs. Buhari at the Presidential Villa where he was allegedly beaten by the First Lady before handing him over to her "Gestapo".
He was then detained and tortured at an undisclosed location where he was kept incommunicado for days with no access to his family or Lawyers. He was secretly arraigned before a Court in Abuja without legal representation and remanded in prison.
Did Aminu kill someone to deserve such lethal force of the state on him, one might ask? His only offense was that he bruised the First Lady's ego by posting a tweet in Hausa language saying that she has gained so much weight because she has fed fat on people's commonwealth.
As a parent, I will be the first to admit that Aminu's behavior was absolutely wrong. If God forbid, any of my children were to do what he did, I would be the first to call him to order by asking him to pull down the tweet and offer an immediate apology to the First Lady through the same medium. I would also have extended my apologies to her as a father because insulting any elder does not represent our upbringing.
I have repeatedly said that elders all across the country are losing control of their youths. Social media is providing our youth a medium to say and do things that are in complete contradiction to their upbringing and faiths. I am sure Aminu's parents are not proud of his actions.
However, the First Lady's response was way out of proportion to the perceived insult. It is no exaggeration to say that Mrs. Buhari has not lived up to the dignity of the office she occupies. In the almost 8 years in the office, she has not really warmed herself into the hearts of Nigerians particularly women and the youth who are the largest demographics.
Being married to a President that prides himself with doing things according to the rules of Law, the First Lady's behavior must be a big blow to him especially in the twilight years of his Administration. His tenure and family will forever be remembered for this shameful blatant abuse of human rights. This is certainly not the proudest moment for the President's family.
The First Lady's action has unfortunately starred the hornet's nest by igniting the fury of Nigerian youth against her person and her family. She has now become an object of ridicule on social media. A First Lady is usually looked up to as the mother of the nation and an ambassador for women but alas, Mrs. Buhari has not lived up to such expectations.
Whichever arm of our security services the First Lady used for such inhumane and illegal act of abducting and torturing a citizen, should be ashamed of itself. At a time when Nigerians see these security services as falling short in their responsibilities of protecting and securing their lives and property against marauding bandits and Boko Haram terrorists, these same security services could track down the calls of this young student and send operatives hundred of kilometers away to abduct him gestapo style while unable to do same to rescue hundreds of our children who have been in captivity some for years in the hands of terrorists all across Northern Nigeria.
There are more sensible and dignified ways for the First Lady and her handlers to have handled the situation if she could not ignore it as she should have. Even though Nigerians have lost faith and confidence in their political leaders, with good reasons too, I might add, they still hold their elders, traditional and religious leaders in high esteem.
Aminu and his father could have discretely been invited by either the Emir of Azare in Bauchi state where he hails from or the Emir of Dutse where he resides. Any of these respected Emirs would have handled this by expressing their strong displeasure with his action, asking him to immediately take down the tweet, offer the First Lady an apology through the same medium and undertake not to do any such thing again. If he repeats it again, he will then face the full force of the law.
I am glad the President has finally stepped in and Aminu has been released, I also heard that the President will meet with him at the Villa on Saturday 3rd December, 2022. I am sure the President will do the right thing by apologising to him on behalf of his wife and family. I have read the belated and seemingly forced apology from the First Lady on social media.
I hope and pray that Aminu and his family will accept the President's reachout in good faith and resist any attempt by mischief makers to drag this any further.
There is no place in our democracy for such impunity and abuse of office. The President has done the right thing and I hope lessons have been learnt.
It is time to move on to the serious task of rebuilding our nation for our children and grandchildren.
Usman Yusuf is a Professor of Haematology-Oncology and
Bone Marrow Transplantation.
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