In Nigeria, Mrs. Victoria Gowon re-defined the essence of First Ladyship. But, it was Maryam Babangida who celebrated the office and brought it to national reckoning. She it was that encouraged governors’ wives to step out of their cocoons to offer leadership to womenfolk and, in the process, offered rural women the much needed fillip to actualize themselves. Although some people have expressed reservation over what they describe as the overbearing influence of these First Ladies on affairs of the state, it is necessary to appreciate their role as purely complementary to their spouses and not usurpation of governance.
It is for these reasons that I find unnecessary and totally distracting the unwarranted criticisms of Nigeria’s First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, over her intervention in the insecurity in the North East. For the avoidance of doubt, Dame Patience Jonathan, as a Nigerian, reserves the right to seek solution to the abduction of more than 200 girls from Government Secondary School, Chibok. All the protests being organized by various groups seeking media attention are also geared towards the same goal. So why castigate a woman who is genuinely concerned about the welfare of children?
What the wife of the President did was simply to leverage on her position to seek a solution to a lingering crisis which attracted international attention and outrage. Ironically, those who have accused her of interference would have dubbed her an insensitive woman if she did not do anything. There is no record to show that those invited to parley were coerced to attend whatsoever.
As a mother, and indeed the mother of the nation, the First Lady felt genuinely concerned and employed her skills to ferret out information which otherwise would not have been given to security agencies.
Was it not as a result of her intervention that the WAEC authorities were able to release the names of some of the girls who registered for the just concluded examinations? Instead of applauding Dame Patience for her initiative, some have chosen to malign her over perceived inadequacies in procedure and protocol. That is totally unfair.
As an Ambassador privileged to have travelled and interacted with governments at highest levels, I have come to know that wives of presidents are, indeed, visible in times of national crisis.
They become a rallying point and source of hope and succour to distraught citizens. They offer their shoulders for the citizenry to cry upon while at the same time calming the frayed nerves of presidents who crave peace and tranquillity to act wisely at such trying times. In essence, wives of Presidents are not dismissed as meddlesome and interfering women during national emergencies.
However, it is very unfortunate that this particular Nigerian First Lady has been caught in the web of vicious politics spearheaded by those who erroneously believe that being in the opposition is tantamount to hurling abusive words at the President and his wife. It all started during the Rivers’ crisis when the opposition and pro-Amaechi groups tried to rope in Mrs Jonathan as the mastermind of an otherwise self-inflicted crisis.
Without proof and even in the face of denial by the First Lady, the accusers persisted. With the aid of an undiscerning section of the media, the First Lady was stereotyped as a meddlesome spouse purporting to supplant constituted authorities. That was in bad taste.
What also was in bad taste was the constant misinterpretation of the action of the First Lady. Even before the abduction of the Chibok girls, Dame Patience had undertaken peace advocacy visits to the six-geopolitical zones of the country. She also organised a peace rally in Abuja where women in their thousands gathered and denounced the activities of agents of insecurity and insurrection in Nigeria. Women prayed and wept for Nigeria. The message was clear that women are victims of every war and conflict as they lose husbands and sons.
But, instead of Nigerians appreciating this maternal intervention from our First Lady, some condemned her and, in fact, went as far as accusing her of campaigning for her husband. Ordinarily, such insensitive comment of ingratitude would have dampened the spirit of an uncommitted mother.
But not Dame Patience Jonathan as she shrugged off such criticisms as a burden she would have to bear with the president in making Nigeria better. For those who rail her for supporting her husband for a second tenure, I wonder, if it would have been all right for the First Lady to be rooting for the rival APC!
Be that as it may, we should learn to insulate and divorce politics from key national issues, especially when they touch on national security. The current insecurity in the land does not wear the colours of PDP, APC, LP or APGA. It threatens all of us. When the evil doers bombed Nyanya Motor Park, the bombs did not segregate on political or religious affiliations. Those who died were all Nigerians. Those who were injured and continued to feel the pains are equally Nigerians. As Nigeria’s First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan also feels the pain. That is why she has not relented in praying for peace and pleading with the insurgents to lay down their lives.
In fact, it is heretical for some people to deride her for declaring that God exists, (no matter how she said it). Without God, all the armies in the world would not solve our current security challenges. With all their might, America relies on God to win her many battles.
Israel is another nation which total reliance on God has saved it from enemies within its borders. It was, indeed, an act of faith for Dame Patience Jonathan to invoke the name of God to actualize her maternal intervention in the abduction of Chibok Girls. Enough of these hasslings against a concerned mother!
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