African journalists replies President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria saying 'His Wife Belong Everywhere'

President Buhari and PM Angela Merkel

Ghanaian writer Elizabeth Ohene, who is an African journalist together with other journalists both Africans, reflected on President Buhari's comment against his wife, saying "she belongs to the kitchen, bedroom and the other room", but the Nigeria president was wrong in some aspects of the statement

Elizabeth Ohene continued as saying she was at a wedding in Washington DC past week, thinking about same topic, President Buhari brought up as it wasn't suppose to be a discussion of the public.

"My wife belongs in the kitchen, in the living room and in the other room."

Was it that president Buhari was trying politics is not his wife's business? that she is suppose to focus on things that has to do with family matters?

But what about the other room that doesn't have a name?

The president's spokesperson of president Buhari went on to say we should all of us to get a life and recognize that President Buhari was joking and we should not take his words seriously and I will keep this firmly in my mind.

President Buhari and Wife Aisha

So where does my family wedding come into the discussion, or maybe the legitimate question is where do marriage ceremonies belong? In the kitchen, in the living room or in the other room?
Keeping men out of it

In Ghana, marriages are the coming together of two families rather than the coming together of two individuals.

At the ceremony that I went to in Washington DC, Naabia the bride is my niece, the daughter of Ghanaian parents, who has lived her life so far in the Washington DC area.

John, the groom was born and bred by Texan parents with Italian, Scottish and Welsh roots.

I discovered during the weekend of the various ceremonies that John's family was not in the least bit fazed by the prospect of "the coming together of two families" as I had feared.

John's father was however very unhappy with the fact that according to Ghanaian custom, there was no place for men in the marriage ceremony; apart from the groom that is.

The entire Ghanaian traditional marriage ceremony is conducted by the women on both sides of the family and men are only allowed to sit in as spectators.

Elizabeth Ohene

"The things Aisha Buhari said in her interview with the BBC Hausa Service have probably been said by many other Nigerians and I suspect the president has heard them."

At the end of it all, I promised John's father I might consider leading a movement to change the discrimination against men in Ghana which shuts them out of playing roles in marriage ceremonies.

The events of this past week involving two very high profile wives have brought the issue very much to the fore for me.

The First Lady of the United States (Flotus) Michelle Obama and the First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Flofron) Aisha Buhari, within hours of each other had captured the headlines in the most spectacular manner.

The things Mrs Buhari said in her interview with the BBC Hausa Service have probably been said by many other Nigerians and I suspect the president has heard them.

He knows that the same words coming from his wife, however suddenly assume more significance.
Front room

Then there has been the dramatic intervention of Michelle Obama in the Donald Trump "locker-room" tape brouhaha.

With one speech, she elevated the US election debate to a higher, more dignified level.

Mrs Obama speaks from the kitchen, she speaks from the living room, she speaks from the street, she speaks from the campaign trail and yes, she speaks from "the other room" also known as the bedroom.

Dear Mr Buhari, we do not shy away from mentioning the bedroom.

Mrs Obama also speaks from the corporate boardroom and wherever she speaks, her words deserve to be listened to.

Aisha Buhari, like Michelle Obama, belongs in, and speaks from, the front room and we hear her.

I think I will support the continuing practice of limiting the marriage ceremony transactions to the females after all.

It emphasizes the point that wives belong in the front room.

Source: BBC-News.....

Some Nigerians reacted as well after Mr President made the speech including Nigeria footballer Mikel Obi through his tweeter account: