Amidst criticism of what some commentators see as disrespectful comment towards his wife and women generally, President Muhammadu Buhari has reiterated his stand that his wife, Mrs Aisha Buhari, is meant to be in the kitchen and other parts of the house to take care of him.
The President told a German broadcaster over the weekend that his wife’s function was solely to look after him and the house.
He added that he wanted his wife to stay out of politics completely.
The Deutsche Welle broadcaster had asked the President to clarify his earlier statement which has been generating heated debate across the media in the country.
President Buhari had on Friday told reporters in the company of German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, that his wife belonged to his kitchen, living room and ‘the other room’.
Merkel, who was hosting the President, was said to have glanced at him in shock and laughed.
“I don’t know which party my wife belongs to, but she belongs to my kitchen and my living room and the other room,” the President had said in response to his wife’s widely publicised criticism where she accused him of appointing strangers into the government and ignoring those who helped him to win election.
She had equally threatened not to support his second term ambition if things don’t change.
While many Nigerians criticised the President for seemingly reducing his wife to kitchen and bedroom roles, his spokesman, Mallam Garba Shehu, had tweeted that President Buhari was merely joking as he believed women were far more useful to the nation than just cooking for their husbands.
Shehu had reminded Nigerians that women like Mrs Kemi Adeosun, Minister of Finance, were playing key roles in the President’s change agenda.
Responding to the German broadcaster who asked him to explain himself further, the President said: “I am sure you have a house. … You know where your kitchen is, you know where your living room is, and I believe your wife looks after all of that, even if she is working.
“Is that your wife’s function?” the reporter asked again
“Yes to look after me”, the President replied.
“And she should stay out of politics?”, the President said: “I think so.”
The reporter also sought the President’s view on the Gender Equality Bill, which failed to get the nod of lawmakers recently.
The President said anytime the bill is passed by the National Assembly, it will be considered for passage by the Presidency within the framework of what is acceptable by Nigeria’s cultural peculiarities.
