Aisha Buhari Rules Out Remarriage, Embraces Quieter Life After Husband’s Death
Former First Lady, Mrs Aisha Buhari, has said she has no intention of remarrying following the death of her husband, former President Muhammadu Buhari, describing the decision as a practical choice rather than a moral statement.
According to a newly released biography of the late president, Mrs Buhari explained that her decision was shaped by life experience and family considerations. “She will not remarry, she says, almost with a shrug,” the book recounts. “It is not a moral pronouncement so much as a pragmatic one: she has grandchildren; one husband was enough.”
The remarks are contained in From Soldier to Statesman: The Legacy of Muhammadu Buhari, a 600-page biography written by Dr Charles Omole and unveiled on Monday at the State House, Abuja.
The 22-chapter book traces Buhari’s life from his childhood in Daura, Katsina State, through his military and political career, to his death in a London hospital in mid-July 2025.
Omole notes that Aisha Buhari’s stance challenges the social expectations often placed on widows. “In a culture that sometimes reads remarriage as betrayal or saintliness, her answer refuses both scripts,” the book states. “It is simply a woman naming the contours of her future.”
According to the biography, the former First Lady plans to step away from the public glare and lead a quieter life centred on family, philanthropy and travel. She is expected to devote time to her grandchildren, charity work and personal engagements away from politics.
“Her plans are domestic and cosmopolitan at once,” Omole writes. “She will holiday with friends and associates. She will dote on grandchildren so they will remember her not as a moving figure behind tinted glass, but as a presence in their childhood rooms.”
The book adds that she will continue to run the Aisha Buhari Foundation, as well as the cardiovascular and medical centre in Kano, which has reportedly completed more than 200 medical procedures.
“She will host, collaborate, and extend the same ethic of care that animated her politics into a quieter, more sustainable hospitality,” Omole said.
The author described her decision as a personal reset after years in the public and political spotlight. “If the republic expects a politics of eternal return, she offers a politics of departure instead: let others take the stage; let the house heal,” he wrote.
Reflecting on her years as First Lady, Omole observed that Aisha Buhari’s marriage brought both opportunity and strain. “For Aisha Buhari, her marriage served as both a refuge and a trial. It gave her a platform to voice her opinions, only to punish her for doing so. It opened doors to decision-making spaces, but those spaces became unwelcoming.”
After divorcing his first wife in 1988, Muhammadu Buhari married Aisha Halilu on December 2, 1989. Born in 1971 in Adamawa State, Aisha Buhari became First Lady in 2015 when her husband was elected president.
EDITOR
Sam Udekwe is a journalist working in the News and Current Affairs department, Enugu State Broadcasting Service (ESBS) Enugu. He is well trained in all genres of journalistic venture.
Mr Sam read Mass Communication, graduating all with Distinction in National Diploma, Higher National Diploma and Postgraduate Diploma at IMT, Enugu and Madonna University, Okija, Anambra state, as well as M.Sc Mass Communication with Second Class(Upper Division) at National Open University of Nigeria.
He is the immediate past NUJ Chairman, Enugu state.
samowailo@gmail.com
