First Lady for what?
By Ireoluwa Feyisayo ENIOJUKAN
First Ladyship in Nigeria is a phenomenon that requires serious attention. It is no longer news that Nigerians are infatuated with quest for respect which continues to fuel their desire to earn it through whatever means, crook, or hook. If Oga wife at home reigns supreme, commanding the driver and ‘maiguard’, if Oga wife for shop can send the apprentice to go shop for meat and tomatoes from the market, if the CEO’s wife could come to display power and authority at the office, you can imagine what the wife of the president, the ‘first lady’ as we call it here could do. Sometimes, these women are more powerful than their husbands who are presidents.
In 1985, Maryam Babangida created the “Office of the First Lady” and backed it with authority, the office started and sounded like a valid office that would be beneficial for the country’s economic growth. She was a pacesetter who successfully channeled the power in her office towards the advancement of women issues in the country. However, the first lady office has since then shown us that it is an office that simply empowers these women to wield powers and illegally loot government’s resources. While first ladies such as Maryam Babangida, Maryam Abacha, and Stella Obasanjo all explored the office to accrue state wealth and power at the expense of the masses, they also used the office to address the plights of women and children in the nation.
Since the newest democracy in 1999, almost all the first ladies have been accused of multiple allegations of corruption, money squandering, and abuse of power in tones beyond imagination. To be First Lady is to have access to the abuse of state fund. The colorful Stella Obasanjo was known for her class, flamboyance, and gentle voice even when speaking with annoyance. Stella, however, was very controversial in her dealings with public funds. One of the most popular allegations was in 2004 when she was accused of altering and cornering the figures meant for the hosting of the 2004 African games held in Nigeria in 2004. News has it that she died from complications of cosmetic surgery which took place in Spain, while still in office as the first lady.
Then came Turai Yar’dua, another quiet-looking woman whose, just like Stella, had a gentle and calm look. Despite being a quiet person who rarely made public comment or appearance, she was not exempted from this office of controversy.During the tenure of her husband, the then president, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, she was accused of conniving with the then Minister of FCT to convert a land that was allocated for the construction of an office for the African First Lady Peace Mission (AFLM), to herself. Another allegation that rocked her tenure was that she was the one making important decisions on the state of the nation. Although Yar’Adua denied the allegation, it became obvious when he became hospitalized abroad due to ill health. Turai practically insisted that the vice president Goodluck Jonathan should not be sworn in as the acting president while her husband was incapacitated and could not discharge his duty. She made decisions on behalf of her sick husband. Trurai was more vicious than her look.
What can I say about the most popular and controversial Patience Jonathan, popularly called Mama Peace by Nigerians? With her assent and grammatical blunders, she looked the least classy and fashionable. Made many humorous comments that became popular cultural contents and memes, especially among the youth. One of her wildly funny statements happened when she was addressing the press after the abduction of Chibok girls in 2014. An ordinary google search of the phrase: “There is God o” will send people into laughter. Mama Peace kept us entertained for many years. However, while she thought she would retire to her state to lavish the nation’s wealth that she had accrued to herself, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission forced her back to public reckoning by uncovering an amount of $20m that had been traced to her Skye Bank account. In a dramatic response, something Nigerians are used to already, the comedic ex-first lady claimed that the money was allocated to her office to use to settle medical bills in order to recover from complications of cosmetic surgery she had done outside of the country. Although multiple reports proved that she was an abuser of government fund, she entertained Nigerians with her spontaneous humour. A comic nation like Nigeria is always ready to accommodate new another comedian capable of battling the likes of Basket Mouth, only that Mama Peace had power and used the nation’s resources illegally, something Basket Mouth and his likes had no access to.
When the president, Muhamadu Buhari announced that Aisha Buhari would not be embracing the office of the first lady, the nation applauded her for her willingness to work without soiling her hands with the dirt that is embedded in the first lady office, but there was immediate change of tone from the masses when her alleged ostentatious lifestyle began to contradict that of modest lifestyle of her husband. She immediately started operating from the Office of the First Lady situated inside the Presidential Villa. Like her predecessors, Aisha Buhari had personal aides, security details and protocol officers, all paid for from the public’s coffers. Interestingly, she had a clash with her husband when she accused her husband, the president of allowing cabals to rule the nation through him. Buhari demanded that his wife should not perform beyond the space that has been given her: “[my wife] belongs to my kitchen and my living room, and the other room”. Overtly sexist comment from a leader of a country, he was attempting to curtail what he assumed was the woman overstepping her boundaries, as the first lady. Aside from other local allegations, there was report that after she took over as president of African First Ladies Peace Mission (AFLPM) bank accounts, Aisha Buhari boycotted the constitution of the AFLPM to make herself the sole signatory of the Naira and Dollar accounts belonging to the mission.
It always seems that these first ladies often compete to outdo their predecessors. The family of the present President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the self-acclaimed first family of the nation. Their children acting as such and even insinuating for the office of the first daughter or son of the nation, at least, that is what rumours say. Remi Tinubu, the “Iron Lady” is notoriously famous for her unruly behaviour during her time in the senate. Again, despite this scourging hardship in the nation, a reported sum of 1.5bn Naira was allegedly budgeted to purchase cars for the “First Lady’s Office” in the recent supplementary budget for 2023 (the office they pretended not be in existence). Like other rumours which leaders use to gauge if citizens will accept, it was denied from different quarters of the executives.
There also have been rumour about the creation of the office of First Lady of Senate President in the cabinet of the nation assembly. This rumour has been debunked by Eseme Eyiboh, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Senate President but if you were like me, you would take the debunking with a pinch of salt. This is because, it could have been a testing of the waters. The question is, what would have happened if the public had welcomed the idea? Anyway, I am not willing to spend time and ink on this, I am just compelled to comment on how desperate Nigerian politician wives could be towards corrupt wealth, power, and position.
In all this, all I can say is that the hypocritical behaviour of Nigeria’s past and present First Ladies is unmatched. It is an office that if scratched off, it will not have any negative effect on the economy of the nation, rather it will allow the funds going into the office to be redirected to areas of more importance and urgency. The question is, first lady office for what?
