By Dele Momodu
Your Excellency please
let me start by emphasising the fact that this is my very first letter
to you since destiny elevated you and your husband to the highest
positions in Nigeria. It may be the last before your tenure expires on
May 29, 2015, and another begins with you or someone else in the saddle.
Despite all the controversies engulfing you and your husband, I had
resisted the temptation of writing you in the past for several, if not
many, reasons. Kindly permit me to expatiate a bit.
I’m a great admirer of strong, confident
and energetic women who cannot be bullied by the galaxy of male
chauvinists that litter the political landscape of Africa. As someone
who was brought up by my amazing mum, Omo Arotiwebiojo, an unlettered
woman and petty trader, I knew what it took to survive in a particularly
difficult terrain. Indeed, whilst some have impugned you for your
so-called lack of command of the English language, I have remained
partial to you because, like most of us, English is not your first
language, and your contributions have enriched our home-grown lexicon! I
can therefore imagine what you and our dear beloved President must have
gone through together, in thunder, lightning, rain and sunshine. The
hurly-burly of life must have thrown you hither and thither when there
was no one else around to share in your secret pain and anguish. But it
must have pleased God in His infinite mercy to raise you and your
husband up, like Jesus did to a dead Lazarus, as original examples of
uncommon transformation.
I must say, Ma, that I have a soft spot
for you for other reasons. I was told on good authority that you were a
more formidable politician and mobiliser of people and resources than
your husband. A few of your friends often regale how you have been a
solid pillar and a rock of Gibraltar behind the love of your life, Dr
Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan. It is said that you’re willing to
sacrifice your all for his sake and he has also reciprocated by
according you humongous respect and granting you such vast powers that
make onlookers see you as a de facto President in your own right. To God
be the glory.
I vividly recollect your relationship
with the former First Lady, Hajia Turai Yar’Adua. You gave her
tremendous respect and your taciturnity was legendary. Not much was
heard from you at that time and not many, except probably Bayelsans,
ever suspected that you had so much buried inside your heart and that
you were only waiting for the opportune time to vomit them. Even in the
days of tribulations when the cabal held sway and grabbed our nation by
the jugular, you and your husband handled the volatile situation with
maturity and remarkable equanimity. Some of us were ready to fight your
battle, and risked our lives, because we saw you as the underdogs who
must be rescued from the fangs of the political hyenas. We were further
emboldened by the facts of your husband’s man-in-the-street story, a
fairy-tale of sorts about a man from the Otuoke manger who had no shoes.
We were not just titillated but fascinated by such flashes of
inspiration.
Against all odds, your husband became
the substantive President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of
Nigeria after the demise of President Yar’Adua. Nigerians were happy
about the smooth transition of power and they even boasted that for the
first time we had not just another graduate but a PhD holder as
President. Sooner than later, as time sped by, it was time for your
husband to run his own race. Nigerians from all walks of life queued
behind him and he won without much ado. The goodwill he garnered was
awesomely massive and the people were very expectant about the “fresh
air” promised by him. Of course, to whom much is given, much is
expected.
It is nearly four years since that
momentous occasion and it is time for a re-examination and re-election.
But what should have been a simple walk-over for your sweetheart seems
to have developed k-leg. While your husband and those close to him would
want us to believe he is Nigeria’s best President ever, many Nigerians
feel he has under-performed and would want to try someone else. I have
seen you and your husband waka up and down this nation campaigning like
no man’s business. Many have likened the exercise to a student engaging
in last minute agberu (memorising) after failing to do so all along.
This is the crux of my epistle to you today.
I have read and heard so much about you
as a very powerful First Lady. I know that when you are at that level,
not many people can tell you the gospel truth. No one wants to offend
those in power. But I have decided to tell you the bitter reality once
and for all. I’m not writing out of any malice, since none can exist
between us. But for the sake of posterity, which I know beckons as
always; the fact must be told to you. The summary of what I’m about to
say is that you and your husband have frittered away most of your
goodwill. Had you retained your humility in power, may be you could have
avoided this commotion and conundrum of trying to achieve in two months
what you couldn’t in about five years. You would probably have avoided
the tragedy of trying to manipulate the electoral process, buying more
time and doing a catch-up on lost grounds.
If the actuality must be told Ma, the
whole trouble started the day you publicly ridiculed the Governor of
your home state. It was reported that you yanked a microphone out of his
hands and lambasted him like a recalcitrant school boy. In order not to
cause mayhem right there, the Governor was said to have left you to
your tantrums and went home quietly like a penitent student. That day,
you sowed the seed of discord that would later germinate and snowball
into a consuming fire. Though the Governor and your husband like true
gentlemen chose to carry on their damaged relationship as if all was
well, but the worst was on the way.
The battle for the soul and control of
your state would later spread to Abuja where your husband began to see
the Governor as an enemy who must be cut down to size. In the process of
trying to achieve that dream, more Governors joined the fray and in a
jiffy, the centre could no longer hold. I do not want to go into some
obvious details as I’m sure you know about the intrigues of power more
than me. But I must give one more example of how you laid the foundation
for today’s grand alliance against your husband.
Let me put it this way. Never in the
history of Nigeria have I read of a First Lady responding to criticisms
in the frontal manner you attacked Professor Wole Soyinka over an issue
that you could easily have ignored. That singular act of unrestrained
combativeness was one of your worst public relations gaffes. Wole
Soyinka is one of those global icons that you can’t take on and win. If
for nothing, here was a man who at about 76 years of age trekked under
the scorching sun of Abuja to defend the rights of your husband when
many of the acolytes around you today were nowhere to be found. You were
not supposed to repay such selfless gestures with verbal blows. That
was when you finally lost me and I’m sure many others.
Let me remind you that virtually all
Nigerian leaders have been disparaged at one time or the other. It is
one of the heavy prices to pay in compensation for the privileges of
leadership. Just imagine how much some of us attacked President Ibrahim
Babangida, Chief Ernest Shonekan, General Sani Abacha and others over
the June 12 crisis. None of their wives ever hit back at the critics no
matter the degree of provocation. In fact, they acted perfectly normal
and even tried to build bridges of friendship instead of bombing the
castle. I remember with fond memories, Dr (Mrs) Maryam Ndidi Babangida,
who remained graceful to the very end. Mrs Maryam Abacha endured the
most blistering attacks against her husband in life and death. She has
since reconciled with many of her husband’s vociferous enemies. Hajia
Turai Yar’Adua was subjected to virulent criticism by many, and I
confess I was one of her knockers in the dying throes of the cabal, but
she wisely kept her own counsel and declined to join issues with anyone.
When it dawn on her that the battle was lost and won, she packed her
baggage out of Aso Rock without as much as a whimper.
If Justice Fati Abubakar was a selfish
woman and a poor adviser to her husband, General Abdulsalami Abubakar,
she would have insisted that they should not quit power within the one
year he promised to hand over to a democratically-elected President.
That government had more than enough resources to buy the ubiquitous
array of mercenaries but General Abubakar chose to go in peace and not
in pieces. It was such a rarity in Africa and till this day the General
is still enjoying a standing ovation for his vision.
I must also mention specifically Mrs
Stella Obasanjo, whose husband has always had a running battle with the
media and yet she maintained steady media frenzy in her own kingdom. She
was everyone’s friend and continues to be fondly remembered even in
death. I recollect one occasion when we travelled to Beverley Hills,
USA, with her, and her simplicity just wowed everyone. She made sure we
jumped in the cars and buses and headed out to a night club owned by Don
Cornelius. She was so down to earth. On her last trip to Ghana before
her unfortunate death, I had gone to pay her a visit at M-Plaza hotel
where she and President Obasanjo stayed. Despite my frosty relationship
with her husband, we sat in one corner chatting away as the President
attended to his own visitors. She never got involved in our endless
battles with Baba. I have cited these examples to show that you and your
husband are not alone in the barrage of criticisms and attacks. You
must rise up way above such pedestal. But sadly, you have not been able
to allow any comment pass you by, no matter how mundane.
I decided to write this open letter
after the spate of vocal terror you deployed in the last few days
against your husband’s opponents. In case some praise-singers told you
lies that what you did was right, I wish to assure you that you’ve done
almost irreparable damage to your husband’s presidential campaign. I
will now proceed to paraphrase about three of those satanic verses that
escaped from your tongue this week alone, but not in any particular
order.
The first shocker was when you said
before a crowd that those shouting the mantra of Change are not serious
and that as a matter of fact they should be stoned anywhere they shout
Change! I thought it was a joke until the video went viral. The next one
was when you spoke dispassionately about how your husband should be
praised and thanked for improving the welfare of the menacing Almajiri
kids in Northern Nigeria but you then went astray by insensitively and
inconsiderately saying that the Northerners are fond of bearing children
with reckless abandon and throwing them on the streets to fend for
themselves. You went further to say such things don’t happen in the part
of Nigeria you come from. I think that wasn’t very nice or tactful.
The last straw for me was when you
declared matter-of-factly that your husband’s main challenger, Major
General Muhammadu Buhari should not be voted in because he is “brain
dead”, according to you. That was extremely malevolent and sinister, to
say the least. It is not an elegant language to be used by any lady not
to mention the First Lady and certainly not about a former Head of State
of the same country that you are governing and from whose citizens you
are seeking a second term in office. However, I believe that this may
have been an innocent quip. Whilst some may be willing to forgive such
naivety, it is essential for you to quickly assure Nigerians that you
meant no harm and that despite the ill-feeling and bitterness that
politics and electioneering may engender you wish no evil to any man
least of all your husband’s leading rival and contender. There is
nothing wrong in admitting your mistake of commission or omission. It is
actually a sign of strength.
In conclusion, I think you need to offer
urgent apologies for those unguarded, unbecoming statements and try to
be more circumspect in the future. One of your best appellations that I
love most sincerely is that of Mama Peace. Please, don’t change it to
Mama War …!
May God continue to bless you and yours.
- This piece was written by Dele Momodu/Thisday
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