Aisha Buhari, Nigeria’s First
Lady spoke from London on Thursday and
declared that she cannot be stopped from voicing out her opinion on issues in
the country, because she has the constitutional right to free expression.
She was speaking as a guest
caller on the popular TVC Programme, Journalists’ Hangout .
Some of the controversies she
stirred with her comment on the need to
regulate social media, the state of insecurity and poverty, her carpeting
governors and ministers for not doing
enough for the people were the issues in focus on the forum on Thursday.
Asked whether she has been told
to stop talking. She retorted: “Who will stop me? Everybody is talking in the
country. Everybody should talk. It is freedom of speech”, she said.
Does she engage in pillow talk
with her husband, President Buhari about
the state of the nation, she joked: “There is no pillow in the Villa”,
including the “other room”.
She clarified that she did not
specifically blame the governors when she spoke last week at the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic
Affairs General Assembly and National Executive Council Meeting held at the
National Mosque in Abuja, because she is aware the problems the country is going
through have piled up as a result of total long-term neglect.
“We are all suffering from it.
Whether you are an executive or ordinary
citizen. We can’t go to our villages and
sleep with two eyes closed. It cuts
across”.
She also clarified her position
on social media regulation. She said at the NSCIA forum, the Minister of Communications shared a story where someone had called
Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo to confirm whether Osinbajo had resigned as
published in the social media. She said she was surprised that people laughed
over it.
To her, it was a serious matter
that officials would be indifferent to the spreading of fake news. And she told
the audience that it was not a laughing matter. She expected action to be taken by those in charge of such
matters, to bring an end to fake news.
“There are no consequences for
offenders. You say anything you like and get away with it. We cannot have peace
in such a society. Once there are no consequences, everybody does whatever he
likes. Everything will be in disarray. ”
She also criticised government’s
response to issues it should not bother itself about, while keeping mute on
very important ones. She cited the reaction from the Presidency over a PDP
statement that former President Goodluck Jonathan would be sanctioned over the
loss of Bayelsa to the All Progressives Congress. Aisha Buhari said this was
strictly a PDP affair that ought not to have warranted a statement from the
presidency.
In contrast, she noted, the
Presidency spin doctors did not move
swiftly to kill the rumours that President Buhari was marrying a second wife.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com