Aisha Falke, a serial entrepreneur and publisher of the popular Nothern Hibiscus blog said she was shocked and livid when the trailer of the Real Housewives of Abuja trended on social media with her in it despite withdrawing from the project.
According to the leaker trailer, those to be featured in the show also included Ogwa Iweze, Hauwa Saidu Mohammed, popularly known as Jaruma, Ummeeta Rabiu and Princess Jennifer Umeh-Ubaka aka Princess Jecoco.
But the 38-year-old Aisha Falke, a mother of two and wife to Prof BY Abubakar, in a video post on her Instagram page on Wednesday, said she pulled out two days after an audition shoot on June 16 because she “wasn’t comfortable with so many things”.
She also said that she had jumped on the show, believing it would afford her a chance to change the negative narratives about the North and Hausa people.
“But not withstanding we have erred. We will never intentionally disrespect a community and a culture we all love and
are so proud of,” she said in the post.
The Real Housewives is an international reality television franchise with 12 instalments in the United States and 19 international versions.
Ms Iweze had earlier pulled out of the show citing “scheduling conflicts”.
See Aisha Falke’s video and transcript below:
Early this yearI got a call to appear on real house wives of Abuja.
We were contacted way before Lagos real house wives started tending, before the cat fights.
I was really excited to show my North, not the north shown to the world.
Not “Musa gateman’s” North, or the
heavy Hausa accent, comedians mimic.
I watch in horror as the North is being
dragged in the mud on social media on a
daily basis.
“Malo, useless people”
“Na aboki, what do you expect”
“Northerners are our problem, please let’s divide already”
“Cows”
“These northerners are religious bigots”
“Illiterates, they can’t even speak English”
“Terrorists”
“Na them na them”
“Those Northerners”
“GOD punish Lord Lugard for amalgamating us with these people”
It hurts.
So when an opportunity came to change
this narrative, we jumped on it.
We had an audition shoot on the 16th of June and two days later I pulled out, I
sent her a message apologizing for wasting her time. (I wasn’t comfortable
with so many things)
I was beyond shocked on the 2nd of
August when a leaked video went viral on social media and I was in it.
I was livid.
But not withstanding we have erred. We will never intentionally disrespect a community and a culture we all love and
are sooo proud of.
Yes
We need to tell our story, we need to change the narrative.
Aisha falke.
