Dubai Trip Was Not Meant To Celebrate First Lady’s Birthday – Governors Wives

By Ayodele Oni

Nigeria Governors’ Wives Forum, (NGWF), has reacted to social media report insinuating that some of them travelled to Dubai, United Arabs Emirate, to present birthday cake to the wife of the President, Aisha Buhari, last month.

The report, with pictures of some wives of State Governors went viral early in the week where they were heard singing ‘happy birthday’ at the same time presenting a birthday cake to Aisha Buhari.

A statement signed by Erelu Bisi Fayemi, Chairperson of NGWF on Wednesday, explained that the Dubai trip was not meant solely to celebrate the birthday of the First Lady.

The statement, released in Ado Ekiti states that “Our attention has been drawn to a social media widely circulated report suggesting that some Nigerian Governors’ Wives were in Dubai to surprise the First Lady of Nigeria, Dr. Aisha Buhari on the occasion of her birthday on the 17th of February 2022.

“For the avoidance of doubt, and in the interest of the public, the Nigerian Governors Wives were on the entourage of the First Lady of Nigeria, who was on an official trip to the UAE.

“The trip included visits to Dubai Expo 2020, and tours of the Dubai e-learning center, Dubai Youth Hub and meetings with Foundations and Agencies in UAE, who are interested in investing in education, health and technology in Africa, with priority given to women and young people.

“The trip coincided with the birthday of HE Aisha Buhari. On the morning of her birthday, which was February 17th, the delegation of Governors’ Wives paid a private visit to present a cake and flowers.

“After the brief presentation, we proceeded to attend the scheduled meetings for the day. We were, therefore, dismayed to see footage of the visit interpreted to mean Governors’ Wives left Nigeria for the sole purpose of celebrating HE’s birthday.

“This is not true and we find this assumption scandalous. We are all dedicated to supporting our spouses as well as our First Lady, and we would never be a party to anything that will bring embarrassment to them and ourselves.

“Our key learnings from our visit to the various agencies in Dubai and the briefings we received points to the need for Nigeria to scale up investments in education, science and technology and provide more opportunities for young people, who are the key to the future.

“We will continue to address these issues in our own work as well as advocate for increased commitments in these areas from our leaders.”