Furore over Presentation of Cake to First Lady in Dubai : Our Trip was Official - Erelu Bisi Fayemi

Our attention has been drawn to a social media post shared on the 1st of March

2022 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.

HE Erelu Bisi Fayemi

Chair, Nigeria Governors’ Wives Forum