By Umar Muhammad Puma
Wife of the President Aisha Buhari deserves commendation in her bid to set up a university that would cater for the education of women and girls, especially in the educationally disadvantaged North Eastern region of Nigeria.
The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) believes the negative comments on the initiative could only have resulted from poor perception and mis-understanding of the objective behind the planned institution.
In a statement signed by Niyi Akinsiju and Cassidy Madueke, its Chairman and Secretary respectively, BMO noted that those “persons and groups making derisive comments against the initiative of the Wife of the President, do not understand her motive, the concept of the university and the personality of the Wife of the President; and thus were spilling uninformed comments on a matter that required simple common sense.
“The Wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari chose to set up a University which she has said would be named after her husband, Muhammadu Buhari. Some have mistaken this charitable venture to be as previous non-charitable endeavours by a former President and his Vice“.
“It is important to note that Mrs Aisha Buhari is embarking on this as a private citizen as she has no official capacity constitutionally recognised. She is using the goodwill of her position to pool resources to invest in education that would be affordable to Nigerians.
“Mrs Aisha Buhari would not be exploiting state resources to set up this university, she has no such funds as well to set it up. It would be funded, according to her, by donations.
“The Wife of the President is motivated to set this up by her innate charitable nature and selflessness. She is well known to be a philanthropist. Her pet project, the Future Assured has touched the lives of thousands of Nigerians across the country.”
BMO noted that this university, which targets women and the girl child, would be specialised in Science and Technology, and would, unlike those established by a former President and his Vice, be affordable and accessible to the everyday Nigerian.
The group noted that the Mrs Aisha Buhari has always been an independent minded woman, with a strong will and passion for what she believes in, and if she believes that an intervention in Education is necessary, and she is willing to pool resources to improve the lives of poor Nigerians, she should be encouraged.
