Political Correctness, First Lady Aisha Buhari And Bulama’s Cartoon -By Musa Kalim Gambo

At a time when the increase in the pump price of petrol threatens to add salt to the open socio-economic wound of Covid-19 to the common man in Nigeria, Mustapha Bulama’s cartoons bring comic relief to the table; that the common man or talaka who still reads newspapers or surfs social media may laugh at the creative satirization of his pains.

Bulama’s recent depiction of a lady, whom the spokesperson of Nigeria’s First Lady Aisha Buhari later claimed to be his boss, was certainly incising to the First Lady. The spokesperson, according to BBC Hausa, claimed that the cartoon was unfair to her daughter’s wedding. This is given the fact that the cartoon featured a caricature of a woman who looked like the First Lady displaying a wedding picture of her daughter to a people who were already drowning in a pool of what Bulama labeled as poverty.

As a matter of reality, this imagery is a direct metaphor of the situation of Nigerians today. People are hungry, therefore it is provocative to witness the first family dine and dance for whatever reason, not even in celebration of one of the first daughters’ wedding. According to the First Lady’s spokesperson, the ostentatious wedding ceremony was not insensitive to the harsh economic situation in the country.

In the First Lady’s Nigeria, wedding parties or anything the First Family does has no relationship with the current economic situation in the country. That is why a cartoon like what Bulama drew will appear unfair to her. After all, why would Bulama want to call attention to the suffering of Nigerians simply because the president’s daughter is getting married? Isn’t it unfair? Well, I think it is fair to remind Mr. President and Mrs. First Lady that someone will go to bed with an empty stomach tonight because university academic staff have been on strike for almost five months, because these staff have not been paid their salaries for some months now, because the newly increased pump price of petrol has triggered an increase in the price of some goods in the market. And because under the watch of her husband, it is now practically difficult for the talakato buy a mudu of maize, not to mention rice which has suddenly become an elitist food.

A quick glance at a few of Bulama’s recent cartoons suggests that he has been a satirist and critic of developments in the Nigerian government and the Northern region, where he comes from, for quite some time, but Bulama became more popular, I think through his online pages. His seemingly playful expression of humor in the face of adversity often triggers thought-provoking smiles and laughter. The Nigerian authorities are not in the habit of responding to public criticisms, but given the popularity and potency of Bulama’s cartoons, he cannot be ignored as a public opinion influencer. However, this is no longer a time when public opinion matters to the Aso Rock. By the way, who needs public opinion? No one is asking for votes for the next election anymore. Say whatever you wish, Aso Rock is deaf, it is literally inanimate like a rock, and it no longer hears anything or anyone. The rock sees no one, not even the Nigerians drowning in the pool of poverty, with some skulls floating while the First Lady displays pictures of her daughter’s flamboyant wedding, as depicted by Bulama in his cartoon.

If Bulama stops sketching provocative cartoons for political correctness or to please Aso Rock, he will no longer be relevant, his fans will walk away from his as majority of supporters of Aso Rock have done. By the way, there was a time he was fair to the Aso Rock, when he expressed optimism in the government that was fixing what he depicted as a broken car. Now he joins the rest of the public to express dismay at a government that has taken a soft and comfortable seat and uses a toothpick to remove remnants of meat from its mouth while the rest of the nation finds it difficult to afford the price of maize.

–Musa Kalim Gambo writes from Zaria