Below is an article written by Dr. Reuben Abati in The
Guardian of Thursday, 27th Aug, 2010. Read…
DEMOCRACY is readily associated
with freedom: the freedom to be free in many respects and increasingly in
Nigeria, many of our compatriots, particularly persons in positions of
privilege and authority confuse this with the right to be disagreeable. The
sober truth is that democracy is about rights and responsibilities, a
democratic dispensation therefore cannot be a licence for disagreeable conduct
as a norm; just as the possession of power in any form does not guarantee the
right to be reckless or to ignore the etiquette required of office holders.
Anyone in the corridors of power, either by chance or right, or appointment, is
expected to behave decorously.
Dame Patience Jonathan, as she is
now referred to, our President’s wife, failed the test this week in Okrika,
Rivers State. It is trite knowledge that there is a critical difference between
Yenagoa and Abuja, and a world of difference between being the wife of a Deputy
Governor/Governor/Vice president and being the wife of Nigeria’s No 1 citizen.
When people suddenly find themselves in such latter position, prepared or
unprepared, anywhere in the world, they
are taken through a crash programme in finishing and poise and made to realize
that being the wife of an important man comes with serious responsibilities
lest they sabotage the same person that they should be supporting.
If Dame Patience went through
such re-orientation, the course was incomplete. This week, we got a feedback
drawn from her visit to Rivers state to launch her NGO – the Women for Change Initiative, when she
ended up in Okrika, her home town. This homecoming became an egoistic show-off
as she openly contradicted the state Governor, offering him unsolicited lessons
on how to develop the Okrika water front and school system, in addition to
pointed comments on the use of the English language. The Governor had
reportedly insisted that his administration must demolish some houses which
adjoin the schools in Okrika in order to create a proper learning environment.
Dame Patience disagreed.
She then gave an unsolicited
lecture on the land tenure system telling the Governor: “I want you to get me
clear. I am from here. I know the problems of my people so I know what I am
talking…” The Governor tried to explain
his administration’s policy and the larger public interest. The Dame reportedly
cut him short: “But what I am telling you is that you always say you must demolish;
that word must you use is not good. It is by pleading. You appeal to the owners
of the compound because they will not go into exile. Land is a serious issue.”
Wao! “that word must..is not good.” We must all commit that to memory as we
re-learn Practical English according to Patience Jonathan!
If it is in the place of the
President’s wife to teach a state Governor how to run his state, it is
definitely not in her place to veto a state policy (the reason the governor
used the word “must”), not even her husband has such powers. It seemed as if
Dame Patience Jonathan was determined to impress her kith and kin. She told
them she had directed the governor not to demolish their houses. Then, she left
straight for the airport obviously
having overstayed her welcome and having behaved like a bad guest. She was scheduled to visit the prisons to
grant amnesty to some inmates (is that really her duty or something that should
be in her itinerary? ); she was also meant to commission some projects. The
face-off between her and the governor put paid to all that.
On the eve of her arrival, a
group which calls itself “the Okrika Political Stakeholders Forum” and “the
people of Kirikese” had actually placed an advert in the papers welcoming “our
amiable daughter and sister…to Rivers state and your home town Okrika.” They
also brought up the issue of “the land reclamation and shore protection project
at Oba Ama, Okrika being undertaken by the Rivers state government.” (Daily
Sun, August 23, 2010, p. 2). Either on
the strength of this advertorial or private consultations, Dame Patience must
have felt compelled to be a partisan stakeholder and intercessor. She needed to
put Rotimi Amaechi, the state Governor in his place and that was what did. She
recommended “pleading,” – that advice is actually meant for her. A state
Governor is a duly elected official; and in a Federal system, he is not
answerable to the President, and nowhere is the president granted the powers of
a Headmaster over state governors. In Okrika, Dame Patience behaved so
impatiently and spoke to Governor Amaechi as if he is on the staff of the
Presidency. It may not be her fault
though. Amaechi caused it all by bringing himself to such level by undertaking
to debrief Dame Patience about his administration’s programmes and activities
in the misguided hope of getting cheap political endorsement. He should have asked his wife to attend to
her. On the issue of land, Dame Patience should be reminded that the Land Use
Act, Section 1 thereof, says the state Governor holds the land in trust for the
people. Land matters in the state are beyond the ken of the wife of the
President!
The wife of the President of
Nigeria, or a state Governor, or a local council chairman, is not a state
official. The same applies to husbands if the gender is reversed. He or she is
unknown to the constitution or the governance structure. Recent history has however made it a
convention to have the spouses of persons in such positions under the guise of
providing support, play some ceremonial roles. This has been routinely abused.
Under the Jonathan presidency, Dame Patience Jonathan even got a special
allocation in the original budget for the 2010 Golden jubilee anniversary
whereas she has no official, financial reporting responsibilities! The
international standard is that spouses in these circumstances must not only
appear but be seen to be above board like Caesar’s wife. They must not
misbehave like Marie Antoinette.
When Cherie Blair, wife of former
British PM, Tony Blair started buying up houses, apartments and antique furniture,
the public raised questions. It didn’t matter that she was a professional in
her own right, a Queen’s Counsel with a traceable source of income. There were
also questions about the scope of Hillary Clinton’s influence during her
husband’s Presidency: Americans wanted to be sure that it was the man they
elected that was in charge, not his wife. A couple of weeks ago, the American
public was up in arms against Michelle Obama and her poll rating dropped
drastically after a visit to Spain where she and her daughter reportedly stayed
in a $7, 000 a night hotel.
Much earlier, Nancy Reagan was
also the butt of public criticism, with people asking: who is she? And this is
not a female thing. In Britain, Prince Phillip, the Queen’s husband, is
constantly criticized for putting his foot in his mouth. He once said for
example that “British women can’t cook.”
He told a visiting Nigerian President, all dressed up in babariga (name
withheld): “you look like you’re ready for bed.” During a state visit to China,
he told British students: “if you stay much longer, you’all be slitty-eyed.”
Prince Phillip’s supporters insist that he is honest, but the majority ask: how
is the Queen coping with such a man who is perpetually saying something
offensive? There may be persons who defend Dame Patience’s aggressive style,
but some of us ask: how is the President coping?
Since Dr Jonathan assumed office,
he and his wife have been practically on the road. The Dame has travelled from
one state to the other, under the auspices of the Women for Change Initiative.
In every state she tells the women to vote and “make sure your vote counts if
you like my husband.” Is she now a partisan politician? The Jonathans must be
told that Nigeria does not have a co-Presidency. We have only one president and
his name is Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. And by the way, what does Dame Patience
Jonathan do for a living? She obviously does not have to deal with the
challenges of rotation and zoning in her home, unlike the three wives of the
Adamawa Governor, Murtala Nyako for whom zoning and rotation have become
topical subjects or the wives of South African President Jacob Zuma – that is
why she can afford to be so meddlesome!
When she misbehaves as she did in
Okrika, she creates the impression that her husband is not in control of his
own home. First ladies are prominent figures but their conduct is an eternal
subject of public interest. In Nigeria, there was Victoria Gowon, there was
also Ajoke Muhammed: dignified and restrained.
There was Maryam Babangida – she was influential but no one could accuse
her of verbal recklessness; Mrs
Abdusalami Abubakar was a court judge,
totally self-effacing, No major social party was complete without Mrs Stella
Obasanjo, yet she controlled her tongue. Mrs Turai Yar’Adua was described as
the power behind the throne and she proved that during the period of her
husband’s illness but she was carefully reticent. At the state level, there was
Remi Tinubu in Lagos state and Onari Duke in Cross River state who have both
conducted themselves responsibly in and out of office. The new First Lady likes
to travel, party, and talk outside the script. People are beginning to learn to
read her lips in order to understand her husband. Dame Patience must not push
her Goodluck.
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