L-R: Aisha Buhari, Maryam Babangida &
Princess Diana
Efio-Ita Nyok|22 October 2016
Obudu, Cross River-born, and Lagos-based social commentator, Simon Utsu, renowned for his cerebral criticism of public trends, etc have taken yet another swipe at Aisha Buhari, President Muhammadu Buhari. This time around, maybe for the good reason.
Utsu is particularly interested in Aisha's attire. For him, Aisha fails to equate late
Maryam Babangida in terms of being a fashion icon. His grouse is with a first lady who barely adorns herself in African attires but European, etc —everything and anything foreign. Despite the knack for the foreign, Aisha still fails Utsu's test of being flamboyant. Hear him out:
'In the first picture, current first lady, Aisha Buhari is seen spotting a red/black and white gown. Picture was from her Belgium outing yesterday. From checks online, we got to find out it's a Salvatore Ferragamo designed outfit which goes for 2600 US dollars (about 1.5 million Naira).
'The second picture is a 90's picture of elegant former first lady, Maryam Babangida 'slaying' as she always did with an African print attire. It was taken during a visit of Princess Diana to Nigeria. Diana was equally a global fashion icon but in the pix, it's glaringly obvious that Maryam's fashion beat that of Diana on the day. Matter of fact, her outfit was most likely made by Folurunsho Alakija, who used to design her outfits for her back then', he opined.
'To make her fashion statement, Maryam never went about patronising Latino designers like some first ladies are now doing. Even in death, she remains a fashion icon. In fact, no African President's wife has been able to beat her to that till date. Paul Biya's (Cameroun President) wife comes a bit close though.
'And my commonsense advice to those who think class can be bought goes thus: No matter how many millions of US dollars you splash about on clothes, designer stuff and high range products, you can't buy class- kindly take note!', he concluded.
Do you agree with commentator Utsu? Is Aisha Buhari not fashionably flamboyant? As the Wife of the President of Africa's most populous nation, shouldn't Aisha don herself in African attires as a way of selling our brand in a global system of deliberate identity making and entrenchment? Or, should Aisha kontunu with foreign brands in her wardrobe?
Efio-Ita Nyok
Is a Blogger, the Editor & Publisher of NegroidHaven.org
