Immediate past First lady, Hajia Turai Yar’Adua, First Lady, Mrs Patience Jonathan
•It’s a new low for Nigeria as two of her first wives do their laundry in public
IT is indeed unprecedented in the annals of Nigeria that two First Ladies – one serving, and her immediate predecessor – would dispute openly to the point of going to court to seek resolution. In like manner, it is unknown that Nigeria’s First Ladies would acquire choice parcels of land in the centre of the Federal Capital City in the name of a pet project. It is as well that this matter is coming up now that the country is in the midst of a constitution amendment exercise, as time is ripe to clearly define the roles of wives of presidents and governors in our polity.
Though the matter had been brewing for some time, it came to light last week. The immediate past First lady, Hajia Turai Yar’Adua, wife of the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, is currently in an Abuja court over a parcel of land right in the heart of the city. The prime property was said to have been acquired by Mrs Yar’Adua during her time as the First Lady, for the purpose of her pet project, Women and Youth Empowerment Foundation. According to reports, the land was duly allotted to her and she paid the requisite charges. She was also said to have been issued the titles to the land.
However, upon the change of guards when President Goodluck Jonathan mounted the saddle, the land title issued to Mrs Yar’Adua, which she had almost perfected, was revoked and the same property re-allotted to the current First Lady, Mrs Patience Jonathan, for the purpose of building the African First Ladies Peace Centre, the secretariat of the African First Ladies Peace Mission (AFLPM), which is the current pre-occupation of the incumbent First Lady.
Even though the erstwhile First Lady had gone to court to seek redress and an Abuja High Court had ordered a stay of action, the current lady of power had gone ahead to encroach on the land, turning the sod and moving in equipment for the construction of the high-rise edifice of the AFLPM office.
Apart from the public opprobrium of two first wives quarrelling publicly, numerous disturbing issues arise. First is the role of wives of presidents and governors in the polity. The time has come to clarify their status and spell out their limits during the tenure of their elected husbands. A code of conduct may well be in order if we do not wish to elevate it to a constitutional affair.
For instance, Mrs Jonathan has caused to be awarded, a N13billion contract for AFLPM secretariat while hundreds of millions of naira must have been expended in hosting the so-called African first ladies on a bogus peace mission. During the reign of Hajia Yar’Adua, a multi-billion naira cancer centre was initiated for which donations were extracted from contractors, businesses, ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), and various tiers of government. No centre was built and all the funds had gone with that administration. One can cite a dozen other examples.
In essence, the office of the First Lady, though not statutory, is sensitive. It is also easily susceptible to high abuse and corruption. There is neither accountability nor transparency in the activities of these women. Notably, these pet projects are often put in trusteeship of the first ladies and the huge assets acquired in the name of the people soon revert to the first ladies when they are out of office. This is not healthy and does not happen in better ordered places.
We urge Mrs Jonathan to purge herself of unbridled power show and impunity; she must obey the law and await the court process. The country under her husband’s watch is in turmoil; it is a time that requires sobriety and not jamborees. Need we add, that Nigerians also expect the president to call his wife to order.
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