₦airaland Forum

naptu2:
Much ado about handshakes (this is another old post that has been on my mind for years).

My British cousins were recently arguing over the question of who Boris Johnson shook hands with and who he didn’t shake hands with and that reminded me of an old post that I wanted to make but couldn’t because of lack of time.

President Buhari swore in new ministers a few months after he was inaugurated and some people noticed that he did not shake hands with some of the female ministers and they decided that he did not shake the female ministers’ hands because he was a religious extremist. They held this up as evidence that Buhari was going to “Islamise Nigeria” and declare Sharia law across the country.

I knew that their position was total nonsense because I knew that Buhari had shaken hands with women in the past, but more importantly, I knew why he didn’t shake hands with the female ministers (I’ve been there before).

I’m shocked that nobody has stated the real reason that he did not shake hands with the female ministers.

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My experience.

A lot of people in positions of authority came to my house when I was a kid and I shook hands with all of them. Of course I also bowed to them, but I shook hands with all of them. I also shook hands with the elderly people that came to my house, including my grandmother.

However, there were certain encounters that stuck in my mind. I remember a time that a new official was appointed to a certain position. My neighbour’s family was very influential in the institution that the official had just been appointed to head and so he paid a courtesy visit to their house and I was in their house on that day. They introduced me to him as **** son. He looked happy to see me, but something happened that stuck in my mind. I extended my hand for a handshake and there was a momentary look of surprise on his face. It lasted for less than half a second, but I noticed it. He said, “You want to shake the ****” (he mentioned his new title) and then he shook my hand.


There was another encounter that I remember. It was kind of a family event. I got to a certain house and the woman of the house was greeting everybody at the door. I bowed and shook hands with her as I greeted her. I could see a look of absolute shock on her face as I shook hands with her. Much later, my sister whispered to me, “Did you see how shocked she looked when you shook hands with her”?

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You see, in Yoruba culture, it is quite unusual for a much younger person to shake hands with a much older person. The younger person is expected to prostrate, stoop, bow, kneel or curtsey. The younger person will only shake the older person’s hand if the older person extends his hand for a handshake.

Similarly, it is unusual for a person in a much lower position in an organisation to shake hands with someone in a much higher positions/someone in a position of authority except if the person in a higher position extends his hand for a handshake.

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Many Muslim women do not shake hands with men that are not related to them. This can be awkward for a man who extends his hand to shake a woman. Therefore, many men do not extend their hands for a handshake except the woman extends her hand first.

Think about it the way that you would think about a hug. Would you hug a woman that you’ve just met for the first time? Would you hug a woman that you’ve just met for the first time if she extends her hands for a hug? You would probably respect the woman’s space and only hug her if she extends her hands for a hug, right?

Read this https://medium.com/@hana.jafar09/why-you-should-ask-before-hugging-someone-7825f503ac06

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Obasanjo

I was shocked when there was a furore about whether President Buhari shook hands with women, because President Olusegun Obasanjo had observed this practice in a very extreme manner and yet nobody complained.

I noticed that President Olusegun Obasanjo never shook hands with women who wore hijabs, even when the women extended their hands for a handshake. I noticed this for the first time during a national honours award ceremony. An honouree extended her hand for a handshake, but President Obasanjo clasped both of his hands together in front of his chest, instead of shaking hands with her. I later noticed that he did this to any woman that either wore a hijab or was from the far north, even if the woman was Christian and even if the woman extended her hand for a handshake. Yet nobody complained.

Buhari
New ministers were inaugurated in 2015 and an incident during the inauguration ceremony led to the ridiculous claim that President Buhari does not shake hands with women.

The protocol was that, after being sworn in, the minister would sign the register and then shake hands with President Buhari while smiling for the camera. It was Kemi Adeosun’s turn to shake hands with Buhari. Being a Yoruba woman, she waited for President Buhari, who is older and in a higher position of authority, to extend his hand for a handshake. President Buhari, being a northern muslim, waited for Kemi Adeosun, who is a woman, to extend her hand for a handshake. Therefore, because neither of them extended their hand first, there was no handshake.

People picked up on this and said that President Buhari does not shake hands with women and then it became a self-fulfilling prophesy. Other women, because they had heard that Buhari did not shake hands with women, did not extend their hands for a handshake when they met him and therefore, the rumours that Buhari did not shake hands with women continued.

Some people said that "Buhari's refusal to shake hands with women was proof that he was a religious extremist, a bigot and that he wanted to Islamise Nigeria".

I knew that this was just complete nonsense. How did I know? The musician, Onyeka Onwenu was a supporter of President Goodluck Jonathan and he appointed her to head an agency (I’ve forgotten the name of the agency). The members of the board of the agency went to meet and congratulate President Buhari soon after he was sworn in. This was before ministers were inaugurated. President Buhari shook hands with Onyeka Onwenu at that event.

Besides, I had seen Buhari shake hands with women when he was a military head of state in the mid-1980s.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Asmoh-gbBmQ

bluebay:
You stupid Sha.. If you tired of the country, why don't you leave?

kurupt1:
but is the Op an igbo??......once someone criticizes Buhari online he is labeled an igbo

bluebay:
Una too talk jor. I don't like Buhari but the truth must be said. Buhari is a Muslim man and it's not accepted to have hand shake with a woman. Especially a Nigerian lady who knows how it goes... The only Lady I have seen Buhari having handshake with, is Oshiomolehs New bride then.. no other lady. As per ignoring tinubus wife, look closely and you'll see him talking to her and she responded by bending for him.. make una still get sense abeg.

bluebay:
Una too talk jor. I don't like Buhari but the truth must be said. Buhari is a Muslim man and it's not accepted to have hand shake with a woman. Especially a Nigerian lady who knows how it goes... The only Lady I have seen Buhari having handshake with, is Oshiomolehs New bride then.. no other lady. As per ignoring tinubus wife, look closely and you'll see him talking to her and she responded by bending for him.. make una still get sense abeg.

Cyoung4real:
You can lie for Africa. I can upload more than 100 pictures of Muslim men shaking a woman, so stop that rubbish talk about religion yen yen yen

TheExecutioner:
Then why is he shaking hands with Theresa May of the United Kingdom? Or is she not a woman?

[img]https://images./1PnZqsYBkma8Fq2M7nYsDm.jpg[/img]

naptu2:
www.nairaland.com/attachments/10646472_buharihandshake4_jfif_jpeg266552d305300939fad0b8ab9ce81500

www.nairaland.com/attachments/10646473_buharihandshake_jfif_jpegc0415eec0bf85ef410b64e8a098d0c6f

www.nairaland.com/attachments/10646474_buharihandshake2_jfif_jpega4fb454ead5e60644583f3d01e31f42f

www.nairaland.com/attachments/10646475_buharihandshake3_jfif_jpeg76d5be71ca0301a3339750bcbfc0d58a

naptu2:
www.nairaland.com/attachments/10646472_buharihandshake4_jfif_jpeg266552d305300939fad0b8ab9ce81500

www.nairaland.com/attachments/10646473_buharihandshake_jfif_jpegc0415eec0bf85ef410b64e8a098d0c6f

www.nairaland.com/attachments/10646474_buharihandshake2_jfif_jpega4fb454ead5e60644583f3d01e31f42f

www.nairaland.com/attachments/10646475_buharihandshake3_jfif_jpeg76d5be71ca0301a3339750bcbfc0d58a

Abdul05:
The association of ibo tribalism go ahead

bluebay:
Are those Nigerian women? You seems not to understand me.. Buhari can't shake Nigerian women. Same as The royal family in Arab. They can shake hands with American Ladies but cant do that with Arab women ..

Cyoung4real:
Let me see your excuse now

bluebay:
For Christ sake, those women aren't Muslims na .

naptu2:
Kai! Shifting of the goalpost!

This is the Honourable Justice Zainab Adamu Bulkachuwa. She's a Nigerian and she's a Muslim, yet President Muhammadu Buhari is shaking hands with her.

Let me guess, she's too short so she doesn't count?

bluebay:
I give up .. Buhari is mad .. maybe it's because she's not politicians wife ..

naptu2:
That's why I tagged you in that post. The post explains the reason why he shakes some women and doesn't shake others.

By the way, he didn't snub Mrs Tinubu. She said, "Good morning sir" and curtsied. He called her, "Madam ***" (I didn't hear the second word. She smiled. He then asked, "How are you" and she replied, "Very well sir".

Anambralstson:
You guys keep deceiving yourselves, same way you were denying when he sacked Osebanjo aides, till today he hasn't resuscitated them, keep deceiving yourselves it will clear for your guys eyes soon.

wingmanIII:
Waoh! See grammar!
Are you sure you attended even an elementary School?

naptu2:
That's why I tagged you in that post. The post explains the reason why he shakes some women and doesn't shake others.

By the way, he didn't snub Mrs Tinubu. She said, "Good morning sir" and curtsied. He called her, "Madam ***" (I didn't hear the second word). She smiled. He then asked, "How are you" and she replied, "Very well sir".

bluebay:
Una too talk jor. I don't like Buhari but the truth must be said. Buhari is a Muslim man and it's not accepted to have hand shake with a woman. Especially a Nigerian lady who knows how it goes... The only Lady I have seen Buhari having handshake with, is Oshiomolehs New bride then.. no other lady. As per ignoring tinubus wife, look closely and you'll see him talking to her and she responded by bending for him.. make una still get sense abeg.

obiekunie2:
but why does he always do that to Nigerian women?

when he goes abroad he shakes foreign women like they are equals with him but when he is in Nigeria that's when he will remember its unislamic to shake hands with women or acknowledge their presence in public!

how will feel if that woman is his mother and somebody snubbed her like that!


walahi this buhari na serious illiterate and 'bigotic' idiot!


I no blame him sha i blame yoruba people wey dey give him morals to do nonsense!

Kachi188:
I think he acknowledged her with a nod...maybe Islamic rules made him not to extend her a handshake....who knows??

naptu2:
That's why I tagged you in that post. The post explains the reason why he shakes some women and doesn't shake others.

By the way, he didn't snub Mrs Tinubu. She said, "Good morning sir" and curtsied. He called her, [s]"Madam ***" (I didn't hear the second word). She smiled. He then asked, "How are you" and she replied, "Very well sir".[/s]

bluebay:
For Christ sake, those women aren't Muslims na .