• Hausa Edition
  • Podcast
  • Conferences
  • LeVogue Magazine
  • Business News
  • Print Advert Rates
  • Online Advert Rates
  • Contact Us
Sunday, June 29, 2025
Leadership Newspapers
Read in Hausa
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Health
  • Entertainment
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Football
  • Others
    • LeVogue Magazine
    • Conferences
    • National Economy
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Health
  • Entertainment
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Football
  • Others
    • LeVogue Magazine
    • Conferences
    • National Economy
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
Leadership Newspapers
No Result
View All Result

Aisha Buhari Flags Off Construction Of Armed Forces PTSD Centre

by Tarkaa David
3 years ago
in News
Aisha Buhari
Share on WhatsAppShare on FacebookShare on XTelegram

Wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari, has flagged off the construction of Armed Forces Post Traumatic Service Disorder (PTSD) Centre and pledged to commission the centre by May 2023.

Advertisement

She recalled her experiences of living with a retired military personnel without rehabilitation despite his ordeals that traumatised him and having to fail in his presidential bid for three consecutive times before eventually winning in 2015.

Speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony at the Muhammadu Buhari Cantonment, she commended the initiative by the Defence and Police Officers Wives Association (DEPOWA) but said it was the federal government’s responsibility to care for the mental health of its personnel.

She said PTSD as a mental health condition is triggered by the terrifying event, adding that it is a reality that many soldiers and military families have to live with.

“I understand the challenges associated with PTSD and its impact on military families and the nation. My husband served the Nigerian army for 27 years before he was overthrown by a coup d’etat. He fought a civil war for 30 months without rehabilitation. He ruled Nigeria for 20 months and he was detained for 40 months without any nature of offense.

RELATED

My Administration Sensitive To Economic Challenges – Tinubu

Tinubu, Abbas Bag Teachers’ Awards For Educational Transformation

3 minutes ago
Al-Habibiyyah Advocates Waqf As Solution To Societal Issues

Al-Habibiyyah Advocates Waqf As Solution To Societal Issues

4 minutes ago

“One year after he came out from detention, we were married. I clocked 19 years as his wife in his house, legitimately. So I suffer the consequences of the PTDS, because having gone through all these at the age of 19, to handle somebody who is a former President of Nigeria and the Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces. To tell the person that he is wrong. To tell him that he is wrong is the first mistake that you are making. So at the age of 19, I had to figure out how to tell somebody of his calibre that he’s wrong or he is right. And that was the beginning of my offence in his house.”

The First Lady while calling on aggrieved politicians to embrace peace disclosed that her husband only became president when his ambition became a movement.

“And contesting elections, 2003 to fail, 2007, 2011 and all without rehabilitation. I became a psychotherapist.

“And finally, the whole nation raced against it, against the misuse of power and bad governance.

“He only succeeded when it became a movement and here we are today. He ruled Nigeria before and is ruling Nigeria now and this is the last and the final.

“Failing elections three times was a big blow to every contestant and also those that have protested just yesterday, simple primary elections, they’re still living in a trauma.  You know the condition, which I tried to console them, I tried to talk to them, and some of them switched off their phones up till today, just for a primary election.

“You can imagine myself handling somebody at the age of 19, handling somebody that went through a war, coup d’etat and then elections, up on elections and then finally getting to the Villa 2015.

“Also, to tell them that this is wrong, this is right in Nigeria or in Africa in general, for a woman to tell a man it’s a problem. In that case. I want to use this opportunity to appreciate members of the armed forces for their sacrifices and contributions to the national building.”

She said while many service personnel paid the supreme price, others were either wounded physically or mentally.

“And we want to let them know that the whole nation is with them. The Centre for PTSD is important to members of the armed forces and beyond because soldiers are its primary victims affecting their relationships with colleagues, friends and loved ones as well as work and productivity, therefore fundraising is not a solution.”

She said the federal government that sent the soldiers to fight should take responsibility in taking care of their mental health after returning from the warfront.

“The soldiers that suffered from PTSD also are the responsibility of the whole armed forces. They should access from their budgets and build this centre. Mrs Irabor, it is no longer your project. It’s my project and the project of Mr. President. We’re going to work around the clock to make sure that the centre is built and commissioned before we leave office by the grace of God”.

Earlier in her welcome remarks, the DEPOWA president, Mrs Vickie Irabor, said the project was informed by her past experience of being married to a service personnel and stories from the barracks community.

She recalled “More than 20 years ago in Lagos, I stood with my five-year-old son waiting at the military wing of the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Ikeja with many thoughts running through my mind. Will my husband return to me alive, will he be injured, will I need to make life adjustments to cope with any issue we would face once the reality or outcome before me was known?

“Two years before this moment, my husband was deployed to Liberia and then to Sierra Leone under the auspices of ECOMOG to fight the war that later stabilized these countries. After such a long time away without much contact, I got the message that he was finally to return home. This was a long time before GSM phones and other communication tools were available in Nigeria and so my confirmation of life would only come if I saw him walking down the ramp of that C130 military aircraft.

“As I stood there that fateful sunny day, the first set to get off the plane were the bodies of our fallen heroes, wrapped up and my heart broke! Next set were wounded soldiers who were carried down from the plane with stretchers, with limbs wrapped up with white gauze, with shouts of excruciating pain, as they were laid on the soft green grass to be taken to Yaba Military hospital.

“Still, my husband was nowhere in sight and my thoughts went very far. I continued to wait and then the men who had survived this ordeal began to disembark. Finally, I saw him, though in quite an unrecognisable state. He had gotten considerably darker with extremely dry skin, but all these did not stop me from bowing my heart to thank God for bringing him back home, alive.

“Fast forward to my present role as president DEPOWA over two decades later and leading an association of women bound together by marriage to military and police officers in Nigeria, I was confronted by the image of that moment of waiting at the foot of the aircraft. It kept coming back and I allowed myself to think deeply not only about my experience that day, but that of my husband, the injured men, the wives who became widows, the children who became fatherless, the personnel who had to leave the service as a result of their injury, the trauma the men, the wives and children must have experienced and the many years that have passed with these unspoken experiences not discussed.

“The effects of these experiences in our barracks community and the extreme burden it placed on military families have kept me wondering “how did we survive these experiences as a community because they remained unspoken, unheard, and therefore untreated” I realized that indeed, all of us, the officers and men, wives and children were true victims of war and peacekeeping.”


We’ve got the edge. Get real-time reports, breaking scoops, and exclusive angles delivered straight to your phone. Don’t settle for stale news. Join LEADERSHIP NEWS on WhatsApp for 24/7 updates →

Join Our WhatsApp Channel

BREAKING NEWS: Nigerians can now earn US Dollars from the comfort of their homes with Ultra-Premium domains, acquire them for as low as $1700 and profit as much as $25,000. Click here to learn how you can earn US Dollars consistently.


Tags: Aisha Buhari
SendShareTweetShare
Previous Post

Runsewe Backs Move To Merge Govt Agencies

Next Post

Dubai Set To Host African Celebrities Kate Henshaw, Nedu Wazobia

Tarkaa David

Tarkaa David

You May Like

My Administration Sensitive To Economic Challenges – Tinubu
News

Tinubu, Abbas Bag Teachers’ Awards For Educational Transformation

2025/06/29
Al-Habibiyyah Advocates Waqf As Solution To Societal Issues
News

Al-Habibiyyah Advocates Waqf As Solution To Societal Issues

2025/06/29
Kogi Gov’t Awards N6.39bn Contract For Rehabilitation Of 106.36km Rural Roads
News

Kogi Govt Unveils Plan To Transform Health Sector

2025/06/29
‘Peace Returns To Rivers’, Wike, Fubara Declare After Meeting With Tinubu
News

Aikoriogie Hails Wike, Fubara’s Reconciliation

2025/06/29
The Viper That Eats Fellow Snakes
Backpage

The Viper That Eats Fellow Snakes

2025/06/29
Leaders Pay Tributes To Dantata
News

Leaders Pay Tributes To Dantata

2025/06/29
Leadership Conference advertisement

LATEST

Tinubu, Abbas Bag Teachers’ Awards For Educational Transformation

Al-Habibiyyah Advocates Waqf As Solution To Societal Issues

Kogi Govt Unveils Plan To Transform Health Sector

Aikoriogie Hails Wike, Fubara’s Reconciliation

The Viper That Eats Fellow Snakes

Leaders Pay Tributes To Dantata

Oil Prices Plunge 6% As Middle East Ceasefire Eases Supply Fears

New Afreximbank President To Restructure African Trade

Queen Mary Of Denmark Promises More Investment In Nigeria’s Port Infrastructure

Federal Gov’t Launches Life-jacket Safety Initiative

© 2025 Leadership Media Group - All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Health
  • Entertainment
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Football
  • Others
    • LeVogue Magazine
    • Conferences
    • National Economy
  • Contact Us

© 2025 Leadership Media Group - All Rights Reserved.