Photos of Nigeria's first lady wearing an expensive watch led some
Nigerians to ask whether they undermine President Buhari's "man of the
people" image.
In March, Muhammadu Buhari was elected as
Nigeria's new president after a campaign which took a strong
anti-corruption stance. Buhari underlined his humble credentials by
raising money from ordinary voters. He even had to stretch his finances
to pay the fee to register as a candidate.
This image was diluted
somewhat when his wife, Aisha Buhari, was pictured wearing an
expensive-looking watch at her husband's inauguration last week and
these images were shared on the Instagram account of the photographer
George Okoro.
Nigerian press described it as a Cartier Baignoire
Folle 18-carat white gold diamond timepiece that was estimated to cost
around $50,000 - more than £30,000 or about 10m Nigerian naira. Others,
however, pointed out that knockoff versions are available for as little
as $100.
Aisha Buhari's watch - the real version at least - retails for tens of thousands online
Aisha Buhari's watch - the real version at least - retails for tens of thousands online
Around
3,000 tweets mentioning the first lady's name and the word "watch" have
been posted. Many were critical and raised a sceptical eyebrow about
where Mrs Buhari might have got the money to buy such an expensive piece
of jewellery. "Aisha Buhari will be wearing a N10million watch and her
husband told us he borrowed money to buy his presidential nomination
form," said Twitter user Kate Vincent.
But others defended her:
"Aisha Buhari didn't use Nigeria's money to buy her watch so what
exactly is the problem? Am i missing something? Why is it a big deal?"
tweeted @SalaudeenNana.
Blog by Mike Wendling
http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-32991164
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