Soft-spoken
but extremely eloquent, there are many things that make Aisha Buhari, wife of
Nigeria’s new president thick. Blessed with an infectious smile; many, often as
a result of her warm disposition, underrate the power that lies in her.
Though,
only soaring in popularity in recent months especially in the build up to the
March 28 presidential elections where her husband, Muhammadu, a retired
military general and former Head of State, coasted to an overwhelming victory,
Aisha has always been a known face especially among people who seek to pamper
their bodies. The First Lady, until recently, owned one of the biggest spas and
beauty institute in the country. Situated along Camp Road, a high brow area of
Ungwan-Rimi Government Residential Area in Kaduna State, Hanzy Spa and Hanzy
Beauty Institute was always a beehive of activities all week long. It is the
first beauty institute in Northern Nigeria and is a National Board of Technical
Education accredited vocational training centre and registered by the Ministry
of Education with the aim of exploring the untapped wealth in the emerging
beauty industry.
However,
since the victory of her husband in late March before his swearing-in in Abuja,
the nation’s capital, on Friday, Aisha has since closed down the beauty parlour
to take up the new role of Nigeria’s First Lady. The spa and beauty institute
patronised by individuals across cla$$, was sighted close to the private
residence of the immediate past Vice President, Namadi Sambo. The institute was
consulted by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation/Kaduna Refining and
Petrochemical Company to help train individuals under its Youth Empowerment and
Skill Acquisition Programme.
But as
popular and strategically-placed as the spa and beauty institute was, not many
knew Aisha was the brains behind it. Like her more popular husband who is famed
for shying away from limelight and prefers to stay at the background most of
the time, she operated the business only as a professional and not as wife of a
former Head of State at the time. Many clients, who visited the place and also
came across her, attested to how simple and impressive at customers’ relations
she was.
But Aisha
didn’t just venture into the business of pampering people’s skin and bodies –
she worked very hard to learn the tricks of the business and how to succeed in
it. A trained esthetician who obtained a diploma in Beauty Therapy from the
Carlton Institute of Beauty Therapy, Windsor, United Kingdom and a certificate
course from the French Beauty School, Esthetique Academie Dubai, she is a
member of the United Kingdom’s Vocational Training and Charitable Trust and the
International Health and Beauty Council.
In an
interview she granted Thisday Style last year, the beautiful Adamawa State-born
mother of five said: “I’m a very busy person who does her things quietly. I
keep to my profession as an esthetician, managing my spa and beauty institute
both in Kaduna and Abuja. I also personally perform some advanced facial
treatments like mesotherapy, gold facial and application of TCA etc. I have a
number of documentations on my experience in this area including writing a book
titled “The Essentials of Beauty Therapy.”
Though,
now saddled with the bigger responsibility of giving her ageing husband the
needed mor*l and emotional support required to bring ma$$ive transformation in
a country craving for change, Aisha’s training and experience as a beauty
expert could come to bear in the colouration of things within her control in
the coming weeks. For neighbours close to the First Lady’s now closed beauty
institute, they would miss the atmosphere she brought to the area.
