President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of new six aides for the Office of the First Lady.
A statement conveying this by the Director of Information to First Lady of Nigeria, Mr Suleiman Haruna, said the appointments took immediate effect.
The appointees are Dr Mairo Almakura, Special Assistant on African First Ladies Peace Mission (AFLPM), Muhammed Albishir – Special Assistant on Organization of African First Ladies for Development (OAFLAD), Wole Aboderin – Special Assistant on Non-Governmental Organizations, Barr. Aiyu Abdullahi – Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Zainab Kazeem – Special Assistant on Domestic and Social Events and Funke Adesiyan – Personal Assistant on Domestic and Social Events
The appointments were announced barely a few hours after a delegation from the governors’ wives forum paid the Nigerian First Lady, Aisha Buhari a courtesy visit.
The First Lady, Aisha Buhari while addressing the delegation expressed her resolve to construct a regional secretariat for the African First Ladies Peace Mission (AFLPM).
The Mission, which was established after the Beijing Conference of 1995, has been in the custody of Nigeria, with leadership rotating among African First Ladies.
She made the pledge during a solidarity visit by First Ladies from the states at the Presidential Villa on Wednesday, 16th October 2019.
“I have successfully secured 2.7 hectares of land in Abuja for this purpose and the foundation laying will soon be conducted in the presence of African First Ladies,” said Mrs Buhari.
Speaking on the advocacy project for the improvement of maternal and child health, which is supported by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and implemented by Future Assured Programme in partnership with the states First Ladies, Mrs Buhari said it will come to an end on December 2019.
She used the opportunity to commend the wives of governors for the good work they have been doing in their various states, and the successful collaboration they did with Future Assured, calling on the new First Ladies to do the same. She called on them not to succumb to distractions by social media.
Commenting on the videos circulating on social networks, Mrs Buhari extended her apology to her children, her immediate family members and all well-meaning Nigerians over the embarrassment that the videos had caused.
She expressed appreciation to the President for approving a new set of aides to assist her in carrying out her various responsibilities.
Earlier, First Lady of Borno State, Mrs Falmata Umara Zulum representing Northern First Ladies Forum and Mrs Betsy Obaseki, representing Southern First Ladies Forum spoke during the occasion.
Mrs Zulum said they were at the Villa to welcome her back after a long absence, and expressed their unalloyed loyalty and support to her initiatives especially through the Future Assured Programme, which she said has made her a role model even to other African women.
