Babangida Aliyu: Men Also Belong to the Kitchen

Laleye Dipo in Minna

Former Niger State governor, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, has in response to President Muhammadu Buhari’s comments on the role of women in the society, said that men also belong to the kitchen.
Buhari had recently while reacting to the political statement credited to his wife, Aisha that a clique had taken over the administration of the country from her husband, said that his wife’s role should be limited to the kitchen, sitting room and the “other room”.

But the former governor, speaking in Minna at the weekend agreed that though the place of the woman is in the kitchen “men also belong to the kitchen”.

Aliyu, who spoke at the annual NDEDI lecture series organised by the Newgate College of Technology, defended his position by citing sections of the Islamic Holy book.

According to him, “It is actually the man that should be in the kitchen as provided in the Holy Quran,” adding that the woman should only be in the “inner room” while the men should provide all the needs of the woman, including making purchases from the market for the use of the family.
“Islam does not permit women to go out indiscriminately; they are to be in the house taking care of the children,” he said.

However, Aliyu said in a recession, the husband and the wife should support each other for the good of the family and the society.

He was silent, however, on if women should be allowed to take active part in politics or make political statements like those made by Mrs. Buhari.

Aliyu also said at the occasion that the era of men taking many wives was gone, noting that those that had married more than one wife and claimed that the scriptures allowed them to do so were ignorant of the tenets.

“What the Book says is that if you can be faithful and fair to two wives, you are allowed to take more than one wife. I don’t see how a man can be faithful and fair to more than one wife.
“We cannot afford to continue with this type of life unless we want to continue like our grandfathers, as marriage is not compulsory. Plan your lives so that you don’t get frustrated along the line,” he said.

The Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Professor Musbau Adeyemi, who was represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Administration, Professor Mohammed Sadiku, observed that the economic situation in the country had caught up with many universities.
According to him, while some universities were struggling to pay workers’ salaries, others had slashed the salaries of their staff by over 40 per cent, while some had not been able to pay at all for upwards of four months.