‘It’s very unfair’ — Aisha Buhari’s aide condemns cartoon on Hanan’s wedding

Aliyu Abdullahi, spokesman to Aisha Buhari, has condemned a recent cartoon critical of the first lady over her daughter’s wedding.

Hanan, one of the daughters of President Muhammadu Buhari, tied the knot with Mohammed Turad, son to Mahmud Sani Sha’aban, a former lawmaker, last Friday.

The event had, however, elicited mixed reactions from Nigerians on social media.

The reactions were not unconnected to fact that the wedding had come at about the same time when citizens in the country are grappling with the economic hardships brought about by the coronavirus pandemic.

Critics of the event had alleged that the wedding was indicative of the president’s insensitivity to the plights of Nigerians.

Amid the dusts trailing the occasion, Bulama Mustapha, a cartoonist with Daily Trust newspaper, had shared a cartoon that seemingly juxtaposed the president daughter’s wedding with the struggles of Nigerians.

In the cartoon, Aisha was captured flaunting pictures from Hanan’s wedding to several Nigerians struggling to escape being drowned in a river and telling them “at least you can enjoy the pictures.”

My Cartoon Today pic.twitter.com/No1bxzRZ4k

— Mustapha Bulama (@Bulamacartoons) September 6, 2020

The now-viral cartoon has continued to generate heated discussions on social media platforms, with many Nigerians sharing their different views.

But reacting to the development in an interview with BBC, Abdullahi said claims that Buhari’s wife was not sensitive to the happenings in the country as depicted by the cartoon were not true.

The spokesman also added that the situation in the country had informed her earlier directive that the wedding should be held without fanfare.

“The cartoon was very unfair, as the wedding was very low-key, all thanks to madam [Mrs Buhari] who called a meeting a month ago telling her staff she wants a low-key wedding to gauge the mood of the nation and also the threat of COVID-19,” he said.

“The pictures of the couple she posted on social media was just to thank well-wishers after the celebrations, and not to rub it in the faces of Nigerians.”