Her Excellency, Madam President By Chido Onumah

Columnist: Chido Onumah
If there was any doubt that she is in charge of the country, it was
dispelledlast week with what could easily pass as a "presidential
address" by Her Excellency, Dame (Dr) Patience Faka Jonathan (PFJ).
I take issue with the way the First Lady of the Federal Republic has
carried herself since a combination of good luck and political
intrigue brought her to power as First Lady three years ago.
From being the inconspicuous wife of a vice president whose main job
was reading newspapers, PFJ has grown tothe most powerful First Lady
in the history of Nigeria and she is blithely usurping the power of
the president.
When the First Lady is more visible and vocal than the president, then
something is wrong. We thought we had it bad with Turai Yar'Adua.
While the late Umaru Yar'Adua of blessed memory was snoozing at the
Presidency, his wife and her cabal ran amok, almost imperiling the
country. When that grotesque absurdity came to an end in May 2010,
Nigerians heaved a sigh of relief. Little did they know that they
would look at the Turai Yar'Adua era with nostalgia.
Of course, like all power-besotted individuals, it is easy for the
First Lady to attribute her power and position tosome divine force.
And that was exactly what she did last week when she gathered some
sycophantic "menand women of God" led by Bishop God-do-well Awomapara
for a state visit at the Presidential Villa. Well, it looked like
"God-did-well" for his faithful servants at the end of the circus.
A few months ago, when Mrs. Jonathan returned from her
extendedhospitalization in Germany for an undisclosed illness, she
told us that she had been to the great beyond and back. We were
expecting "a new improved" and sober First Lady. If we expected that
experience to "teach her any lessons", it clearly did not.
Rather, PFJ has thrown herself into the political fray, bestriding the
political landscape like a colossus andcommitting one political faux
pas after another with relish. Of course, asa Nigerian, the First Lady
has interests. And there is nothing wrong in seeking to advance those
interests.But that desire has to be channeled through her husband, her
elected representatives or relevant public office holders.
When Nigerians voted for Goodluck Jonathan, they did not vote for him
and his wife. Patience Faka Jonathan was not on the ballot box during
the last general election. That is the tough lesson Mrs. Jonathan has
to learn and quickly too. It is sad enoughthat we have to live with
the quirks ofa rudderless Presidency; to add the inanities and
meddlesomeness of theFirst Lady is undoubtedly "double wahala".You
can't but pity Nigeria. Anyone who saw Mrs. Jonathan in her
imperialmajesty and splendor on the NigerianTelevision Authority (NTA)
last week reading the riot act to Nigerians on how to be good citizens
and followerswould be pardoned if she was mistaken for the president
and commander-in-chief. The audacity, the impudence! PFJ can be
messiah orsaviour to those who are in search of earthly messiahs and
saviours, but for goodness sake, as a nation, we do not deserve this
contempt for decency. Jonathan and her Dame have taken this side-show
that passes for governance too far.
Now is the time to curtail the paternalistic bravado of the First
Lady.The "mummy culture" that allows the First Lady to arrogate to
herself the role of "mother of the nation" which makes every Nigerian
a daughter or son, no matter how old or highly placed, is patently
undemocratic.
Reuben Abati, then chairman of the editorial board of The Guardian and
now spokesperson of the president and his First Lady, was right when
he wrote about Mrs. Jonathan's three years ago. "Many of our
compatriots, particularly persons in positions of privilege and
authority confuse this – the freedom to be free – with the right to be
disagreeable", Abati noted. "The 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
recklessor to ignore the etiquette required of office holders".
We know where Abati is eating from today and his current position on
the meddlesomeness of the First Lady, but that does not vitiate his
point. "When people suddenly find themselves in such position (as PFJ
found herself in May 2010), prepared or unprepared, anywhere in the
world, they are taken through a crash programme in finishing and
poise", Abati wrote three years in reference to First Lady and her
shenanigans during a visit to her hometown in Okrika, Rivers State.
What a difference three years make. I am not sure the First Lady has
taken the crash programmme Abati recommended three years ago. Whichis
why she has failed to realize, in the words of Abati, "that being the
wife ofan important man comes with seriousresponsibilities lest (you)
sabotage the same person that (you) should be supporting".
Patience Jonathan is consciously or unconsciously sabotaging President
Jonathan. The president may decide not act for reasons best known to
him.But as Abati noted, "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".
From Abati, we learnt that, "Under the Jonathan presidency, Dame
Patience Jonathan even got a special allocationin 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".
It is appalling that Senators of the Federal Republic, led by the
rascally Ahmed Rufai Sani Yerima, voted to keep a section of the
constitution which is not only discriminatory but puts the female
child at risk and therehasn't been as much as a whimper from the First
Lady, the so-called mother of the nation.
Yerima and the First Lady appear to have something in common. While
the apostle of child-bride – whose children would likely be in elite
schools outside Nigeria – seeks to undermine the secularity of the
country and imperil the future of our children, our omnipresent First
Lady has assumed powers not known to the constitution.
Please, "Madam President", listen to the wise counsel of Dr. Reuben
Abati. Do not push your Goodluck!
conumah@hotmail.com