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 election, where her husband, Muhammadu, a retired 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 institutes
in the country.
Situated
along Camp Road, a high brow area of Ungwan-Rimi Government Residential Area in
Kaduna, Hanzy Spa and Hanzy Beauty Institute was always a beehive of activities
all week long. It is the first beauty institute in northern Nigeria, 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 March and his eventually swearing-in in
Abuja, 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 class, 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 the limelight and prefers to stay in the background
most of the time, she operated the business only as a professional and not as
wife of a former Head of State. 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, The
Essentials of Beauty Therapy.
Though,
now saddled with the bigger responsibility of giving her husband the needed
moral and emotional support required to bring massive transformation to 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.
Source: Punch Newspaper
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