Why Aisha Buhari was upset with my cartoon – Bulama
AREWA AGENDA – Renowned cartoonist, Mustapha Bulama Bukarti has revealed that Nigeria’s first lady, Aisha Buhari got upset with his cartoon because she has explained that it was not her intention to rub the pictures of her daughter’s wedding on the face of Nigerians.
Bukarti who is an Editorial Cartoonist for Daily Trust Newspaper, stating this in an interview with Daily Trust online TV, monitored by Arewa Agenda..
He said that when the first lady’s special assistant called him on the matter, he had explained that Aisha was very sensitive about the mood of the country that was why three weeks to the event, she issued directives to all the people around her that the event should be made low key
Bulama explained that he was inspired to do the cartoon by the response of the people after seeing the photographs the first lady posted
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“After seeing the beauty, affluence and comfort, alot of people were upset and angry given the state of the Nation.
“You know we just had a fuel price increase, electricity tarrif increase, so much hardship, cost of living has been going up and going up and all of that so when they saw those pictures people started commenting showing their disapproval, saying the first lady was insensitive to have shown them those pictures at that moment in time. So seeing all those comments and having a conversation with people here and there, I felt I needed to send a message to them that they need to be more sensitive to the plight of Nigerians.” He said.
He stated that he was surprised that the cartoon actually generated such reaction because in the past, he had done far more important cartoons that didn’t generate response from government and what he expected from them was to just take the message and see how they can improve on their public relations but he was delighted at the same time because it showed to him and the rest of the world that these people are actually seeing commentaries, observations and opinions being raised by Nigerians.
He said that made him happy because it is one thing to send a message and another to know that the message has been delivered.
Recall that the First Lady, Aisha Buhari, had reacted to a cartoon by Bulama over a cartoon the lavish wedding of her daughter, Hanan.
The elaborate wedding ceremony held at a time many Nigerians were complaining of hardship as a result of President Muhammadu Buhari government’s harsh economic policies.
Following the reaction, Daily Trust published a cartoon showing the President’s wife holding pictures of the wedding on her hands and displaying them in the faces of Nigerians struggling to find their balance in life.
In reaction to the cartoon, Mrs Buhari said children of Nigerian leaders had the right to get married whether they were performing or not.
Aisha’s spokesperson, Aliyu Abdullahi, told BBC Pidgin that Hanan’s wedding was a low key ceremony.
Arewa Agenda is a Publication of Young Writers from Northern Nigeria towards Peaceful Coexistence and National Development through positive narratives.
