Aisha Halilu Buhari

On February 17, 1971, in Adamawa State, northeastern Nigeria, Aisha Halilu was born.Alhaji Muhammadu Ribadu, her grandfather, served as Nigeria's first defense minister. Aisha's mother is a branch of the illustrious farming Ankali family, while her father was a civil engineer. In Adamawa State, Aisha Buhari attended both primary and secondary education.Aisha married Muhammadu Buhari on December 2, 1989, who had five kids from a previous union with Safinatu Yusuf. Together, Aisha and Muhammadu Buhari have five kids and a grandchild.

Aisha Buhari holds a master's degree in international affairs and strategic studies from the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna, and a bachelor of arts degree in public administration from Ambrose Alli University (AAU).The Carlton Institute of Beauty Therapy, in Windsor, England, awarded Aisha Buhari a diploma in beauty therapy. Aisha Buhari has a post-graduate qualification from the French Academy Esthetique Beauty Institute in cosmetology and beauty.Aisha Buhari belongs to the International Health and Beauty Council as well as the United Kingdom Vocational Training and Charitable Trust.

As the founder/managing director of Hanzy Spa and the principal of Hanzy Beauty Institute, a beauty salon in Kaduna and Abuja, Mrs. Aisha Buhari has successfully ran a thriving business for years. Aisha Buhari is an expert in beauty therapy and cosmetology for the National Basic Technical Education (NBTE),and she has contributed to the formulation of the NBTE's small and medium enterprise curriculum. After her husband was elected president of Nigeria, Aisha Buhari shuttered her beauty parlor.

Through community mobilization and health promotion, Aisha Buhari's initiative Future Assured aims to carry on her advocacy work for the health and well-being of women and children. The need to improve the current low health outcomes for women, children, and other vulnerable groups in the Nigerian population led to the creation of Aisha. At a stakeholders conference held at the presidential villa and a public launch of Future Assured initiatives on the fringes of the UN General Assembly in New York on September 29, 2015, she reaffirmed her dedication to this endeavor.

In July 2014, after a suicide bombing and an alleged murder attempt on her husband, Aisha encouraged Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to step down as president of Nigeria.

Aisha Buhari is a passionate supporter of women's and children's rights, and she made this a key issue during her husband's election campaign in 2015. Aisha has underlined on numerous occasions the need of basic and secondary education for young girls before marriage, stating that she thinks no girl should get married before the age of 17.She has also voiced her opposition to homosexuality and underage marriage.

Aisha Buhari met with some of the moms of the kidnapped Chibok girls on June 12, 2015 and on April 14, 2016, she donated the earnings from her book to the families of the Chibok girls, the Buni Yadi boys killed in 2014, and malnourished children.

Aisha Buhari declared in October 2016 that she would not support her husband in the upcoming election unless he took control of his administration. In response, he said, "I don't know which party my wife belongs to, but she belongs to my kitchen, my living room, and the other room."