First ladies of controversy

Since the return to democratic governance in 1999, Nigeria has had four first ladies who gave ample support to their husbands as presidents of the country.

From May 29, 1999, Stella Obasanjo held sway as the country’s first lady before her death on October 23, 2005. It was the turn of Turai Yar’Adua between May 29, 2007, and February 9, 2010.  Patience Jonathan came into the saddle from February 2010 and completed her tenure as the first lady on May 29, 2015, when her husband, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, lost in the presidential election.

Although Aisha, the wife of President Muhammadu Buhari, rejected the title of First Lady, she acts as one, making her the fourth since 1999.  Out of these four first ladies, whose tenures have been marred by controversies, the one that Nigerians are currently grappling with is Patience Jonathan, the wife of former President Jonathan.

Patience Jonathan arguably remains the most controversial first lady owing to her perceived lack of sophistication and bluntness. She kept Nigerians entertained for many years with her assent and blunders and became the crooner of “There is God o,” a clause that has become the butt of jokes on social media.

Mama Peace, as she is fondly called by her admirers, wielded significant influence in the former Peoples Democratic Party-led Federal Government. Her influence traversed the length and breadth of Aso Rock to her home state, Rivers, where she assumed a ‘godmother’ role, giving immense support to the election of Governor Nyesom Wike.

It will be recalled that the 59-year-old locked horns with the former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, in a battle of supremacy over the political structure of the state.  Two years ago, she took on Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, over his comments on the political crisis in Rivers State. Patience said Soyinka had become an embarrassment to his admirers with his diatribe against her.

Mrs. Jonathan attended the University of Port Harcourt, where she obtained a B.Ed in Biology and Psychology; she was an employee of the Bayelsa State Ministry of Education until 1999 when her husband became the deputy governor of the state.

One of the landmarks of her tenure as the first lady was on July 12, 2012, when she was appointed as a permanent secretary in Bayelsa State by Governor Seriake Dickson. The appointment sparked outrage because she had been on leave from the civil service for over 13 years since her husband became the deputy governor in 1999.

After the defeat of her husband in the 2015 presidential election, she maintained a quiet posture, making a few public appearances and refusing to make public comments, unlike before. But last week, the former first lady made a dramatic comeback into public discourse when the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission traced $20m to her Skye Bank account.

The discovery of the funds was a product of investigations into a money laundering case against a former Special Adviser on Domestic Affairs to ex-President Jonathan, Waripamowei Dudafa, to whom the EFCC had traced four company accounts which were frozen.