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Hajiya Turai Yar’Adua, the wife of late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, has dished out some tips to the incoming First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, on how to manage her husband when he's eventually sworn in as the president.
The former First Lady, who spoke in an interview with the BBC Hausa Service in Kaduna on Saturday, May 6, 2023, advised Oluremi to never stop advising the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, as others would only tell him things that soothe his ears.
Turai said this in response to questions on what her advice to the awaiting First Lady would be given that she herself occupied the same position for three years.
Oluremi, a Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) Pastor, will automatically become the First Lady once her husband is sworn in as the President and Commander-in-Chief of the country on May 29, 2023.
Meanwhile, the late Yar'dua's wife told Oluremi to prepare herself for ceaseless attacks, adding that she must always exhibit patience no matter the situation.
Turai's words: “Thanks be to Allah. My advice for her is that she should be patient and continuously be patient.
“This is because if her husband would be like Umaru, who stood for the right course, she would be the target. That was what happened to me.
“My husband was not taking alcohol, he does not go after women, he was not corrupt. So the only thing they could do to upset him because he loved his wife, was to attack his wife.
“So she should be patient and never relent in advising him. She is the only one that will genuinely advise him. Others would only tell him what he wants to hear.
“The wife is the only one that would give him information and ask him to investigate. She should leave other things to Allah.”
Recalling how she managed criticisms while her husband held sway, Turai said the good understanding she had with the late president helped her to navigate through the pitfalls that were placed in her way.
Continuing, the former First Lady said, “Well, even he (Yar’Adua) knew it was coming. So he often said, ‘Turai please be patient. This is the price you’ve to pay for being my wife’.
“But husbands love their wives. Anyone who would say my husband loves me; he too loves his wife. So it’s natural.
“Whatever he doesn’t like, I don’t like either. When I was First Lady, I was cooking. I cook food for him.
“Even though I met a kitchen, I set up my own kitchen and engaged a private cook who I paid.
“So if you have a good understanding with your wife and you don’t quarrel, they would say your wife dominates you. It’s nothing but understanding.”
Yar'Adua was the 13th Nigerian president and the first in the history of the country to be handed power by another democratically elected president.
He died on May 5, 2023, after a protracted battle with a kidney condition and his death ushered in his then-vice Goodluck Jonathan as Nigeria's president in 2010.