Abisola Progress
The Nigerian Governors Wife Forum NGWF has refuted certain allegation widely circulated on social media that the forum travelled to Dubai,United Arab Emirates UAE to celebrate the birthday of the first lady Mrs Aishat Buhari .
The NGWF in a press statement signed by the Chairperson and the wife of Ekiti state governor Erelu Bisi Fayemi explained that the Nigerian governors wives were actually on official trip to the UAE on crucial issues in the interest of the country, the forum added that the journey however coincided with the birthday of the wife of the President.
The statement reads in part:
“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”