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Aisha And Aminu: The Valley Between Victory And Vengeance, By Bala Ibrahim

AS Nigeria, the biggest democracy in Africa, is warming up for the general elections that would hold in February next year, the general concern of observers is the issue of physical insecurity. The coming general election is the seventh successive election in Nigeria’s 23 years of unbroken democratic rule. But while almost everyone is worried about the threats of Boko Haram, thuggery, banditry and kidnappings, my fears are inclined more to the issue of abuse of power, by the powers that be. And their psychological effects.

President Muhammadu Buhari has said, times without number, that his ambition is to leave behind a legacy of credible election in Nigeria. I believe him and believe in his sincerity to the course of this course. But how far this ambition would be fulfilled, depends on the extent of departure from the old practice, and the kind of cooperation given to the ambition by the members of his team, particularly his family members, who are the closest to him.

According to the records, an estimated 95 million registered voters will go to the polls in 176,846 polling units across 774 local government areas of Nigeria. That shows that the election will be a massive operation. Of this number, the records also mentioned the youths as taking the bulk of the participants in the exercise, among whom is Aminu Adamu Muhammed, the student of the Federal University Dutse, Jigawa State, that was arrested and briefly imprisoned on the orders of Aisha Buhari, Nigeria’s First Lady.

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Although Aminu was reportedly released yesterday, according to sources, after the intervention of some influential people, it took a lot of pressure before the tears of sorrow were turned into the tears of joy. And that is one act that can mar the actualization of the ambition of the President. Yes, when Human Wrongs obliterate Human Rights, and the orders to do so are allegedly originating from the “other room”, the chances of successfully fulfilling a Human Rights-inclined ambition, are as slim as they are unlikely.

Two things came as relief, with the first being the news that Aisha Buhari had withdrawn the case against Aminu, the 23-year-old student. The second is the reported news that President Muhammadu Buhari would meet the boy at the Villa. I have no information as to whether the meeting had taken place, but whether or not it happened, there is a valley between victory and vengeance, in the squabble between Aminu and Aisha.

From the accounts of those close to Aminu, he is a final-year student in the Department of Environmental Management and Toxicology, that is billed to start his exams on Monday, 05/12/2022. I don’t want to go into the effects of trauma, which is a deeply distressing and disturbing condition, and how such experience can affect one’s ability to read in preparation for exams, but I know, no matter how brilliant the boy may be, the best of him would not be gotten in this particular exam. And the reason is simple-he would be writing the exams with the apprehension of what is between the valley of victory and vengeance.

If victory stands for the act of defeating an opponent in a battle, game, or competition, then we can say Yes, Aisha has won here. She had won in the legal court, through the illegal use of the powers of association. But she has woefully lost in the public court, where the misfortune visited on Aminu, attracted an unquantifiable condemnation to her, and pity and sorrow to Aminu, who is viewed as a victim of vengeance.

Indeed under the norms of the north, rudeness to elders is the height of discourteousness, which attracts severe rebuke or censure. But it may be instructive to refer to the aptness, and the intended negative connotation of the saying that, What Goes Around, Comes Around.

What Aminu did to Aisha, is exactly what Aisha did to Mallam Mamman Daura, with a little difference. Aisha had accused Mallam Mamman, a man old enough to be her grandfather, a nephew and old ally of her husband, of undeservedly coming to parasite on the seat of power, hence, as the legal owner of the seat, she kicked his property out, and sent her shameful hysteric action viral on the social media.

Similarly, Aminu, sometimes in July this year, out of the frustration of a student, whose dream of graduating from the university was being halted by an unending lecturer’s strike, disrespectfully posted on Twitter, impliedly saying that, Aisha Buhari had suddenly added weight, after taking part in plundering the nation’s meagre resources, while the masses are enduring hardship under her husband’s regime. The tweet was posted in Hausa, thus : “Su mama anchi kudin talakawa an koshi.” At least, unlike her, Aminu had admitted Aisha is old enough to be his mother.

Certainly that is wrong, very wrong. But if I were Aisha, I would behave like President Muhammadu Buhari, who on daily basis, is being mimicked by a comedian called MC Tagwaye, who has even bagged an international appointment, for ridiculing the President of his country.

If my words would count. And if the President would take my advise, I would suggest he silently offsets the psychological difficulty suffered by Aminu. That would cajole the youth to the course of his intended legacy and console the boy to write his exams relatively comfortably, without recourse to the valley between victory and vengeance.

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