Dear Sir: We find it appalling to notice the way some issues of lawlessness, shameful public shows are being practiced in Nigeria as if such practices are enshrined in the laws of the country. It has gotten to the point where the people, have been made to swallow and accept whatever rubbish being dished out by the government, to be accepted as a norm, and therefore, nobody should question its relevance or importance. This is the exact problem with the title; “First Lady,” with its flashy trend and public show, that is ascribed to the wives of the Presidents, State Governors, Local Government Chairmen and even Councillors. What started as a way of exuding influence and power beside the man on the Executive hot seat, has now been turned into an avenue of wealth accumulation and waste of public funds.
Dear Sir: We find it appalling to notice the way some issues of lawlessness, shameful public shows are being practiced in Nigeria as if such practices are enshrined in the laws of the country. It has gotten to the point where the people, have been made to swallow and accept whatever rubbish being dished out by the government, to be accepted as a norm, and therefore, nobody should question its relevance or importance. This is the exact problem with the title; “First Lady,” with its flashy trend and public show, that is ascribed to the wives of the Presidents, State Governors, Local Government Chairmen and even Councillors. What started as a way of exuding influence and power beside the man on the Executive hot seat, has now been turned into an avenue of wealth accumulation and waste of public funds.
The rate at which the office of the First Lady, that has no iota of constitutional backing, is used by the government of the day to carry out some “sensitive government function,” is becoming a serious source of concern and nobody is asking questions. We were taken aback when recently, the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan was said to have commissioned the newly procured warship from the United States of America, by the Nigerian Navy; NNS Thunder, at the Naval Base, Apapa, Lagos. We could not help but ask: Why should the Office of the First Lady be the one to commission a sensitive national asset on Security? What constitutional bearing does the Office of the First lady have, to be given the responsibility to commission one of the country’s warship?
Since when has the office of the First Lady, which is occupied by the wife of the President, assume the responsibility of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria? If Mr. President is indisposed to commission the said NNS Thunder (as the Commander-in-Chief), we believe other government officials like the Vice President, the Minister of Defence etc, whose offices are recognised by the Nigerian Constitution; are there to appropriately represent the President in Commissioning the said warship. For us, the whole scenario is simply an abuse of power/office and misplacement of priority.
Since 1999, we have in countless occasions called on the Presidency to scrap the office of First Lady. But it appears we have been talking to brick walls, as the said office of the First Lady is daily gathering more storm that are obviously out of place, especially with the present government led by President Goodluck Jonathan, whose wife, Dame Patience Jonathan, is the number one culprit with others behind. However, we hope this time around, Mr. President will heed this genuine call and take the appropriate steps to have the supposed Office of the First Lady scrapped completely.
For a start, maintaining the so called Office of the First Lady is not a child’s play. They wield much power, wealth, and influence and access to them could open the door to unimaginable rewards. Although unelected and without any role in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, they strut the landscape with large convoys, complete with a retinue of aides. They are usually accompanied by officials on the payroll of government, and they have unfettered access to state funds property such as presidential jets, vehicles, buildings furniture etc, and perks like overseas travel.
As earlier noted, the wife of President Jonathan, Patience, is the ‘Chief culprit’ as she currently parades herself as the ‘First Lady’ of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. And at the State levels, the wives of the governors take the lower step on the ladder, a function which is replicated at the level of the local governments.
The crux of the matter is that the Office of First Lady in whatever levels of government is not enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and is not known to Nigerians as being a legitimate constituted and accepted Office. Yet, public funds are daily wasted through this office. His Excellency, President Goodluck Jonathan has promised to uphold the Rule of law and respect the Constitution as a cardinal principle.
Like we said, the so called “Office of the First Lady,” which President Jonathan’s wife occupies, has no place in the Constitution or on the list of the Federal Executive Bodies. It therefore stands to question where President Jonathan’s wife derives the powers to issue statements, commission sensitive security assets, and make pronouncements from an illegal office. It also belies good reasoning that Mr. President would attach Senior and junior government officials to such an office, even though he is well aware that this is in clear contravention of the constitution he swore to defend and obey.
For those of us who do not know, the so-called Office of the First Lady was made popular and known in the late 1960’s when Gen. Yakubu Gowon was Head of State. His wife, Mrs. Victoria Gowon, who was a trained Nurse, portrayed a lot of influence beside her husband, the General. This made her noticeable in the public’s eye, coupled with her various disguised philanthropic activities. Then came Gen.Murtala Mohammed (late), who had no time for the frivolous activities of the ‘Office of the First Lady,’ but was more interested in the acts of good governance. Gen. Mohammed, a no-nonsense brave soldier with the passion of improving the standard of living of the ordinary citizens paid no attention to the ‘Office of the First Lady’ and this relegated it to the background, making it nothing to write home about. Upon his calculated death, Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo (rtd) took over from his then boss and never gave impetus to the ‘Office of the First Lady,’ but rather strictly followed the footsteps of his predecessor, and ultimately handed power to a civilian, Alhaji Shehu Shagari. Shagari, being the first Executive President on 1st October 1979, did not take note of the ‘Office of the First Lady.’ Although some say this is as a result of his having many wives to contend with, however, the ‘Office of the First Lady’ remained dormant throughout his stay in office.
Then during the time of Maj. Gen. Mohammed Buhari (rtd), who toppled the civilian government, there was nothing like the Office of the First Lady with its attendant ceremonious activities. It was all military affair. But everything concerning the so called Office of the First Lady was revitalized and given more muscles to operate (much more than Gowon’s regime), when Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (rtd) came into power in August 27. 1985. His wife, Miriam Babangida (late), carried the First Lady status on her shoulder as if it was a crown, and toured most parts of the world, living an affluent and flamboyant lifestyle, wasting public funds on disguised government activities said to help the needy in the society. Then came Gen. Sani Abacha (late), with his stringent autocratic selfish policies/degrees that brought untold pain to the masses, just like his predecessor had done while in office.
Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar’s brief stay in office, did not give much room for his wife as the First Lady, to be noticed by the Nigerian Public. And when former president Olusegun Obasanjo came back in 1999 as a civilian, he promised Nigerians in the first week of his administration that he was not going to be wasteful like the military regimes, and that he was going to scrap the Office of the First Lady since the position does not exist in the Nigerian Constitution. But surprisingly, as time passed by, Obasanjo swallowed his words like others and allow his late wife, Stella Obasanjo, whom he preferred to be first amongst others, to carry the First Lady status to another dimension with different NGOs. And of cause, the wives of the State Governors and Council Chairmen towed the same line through these years till today.
Surprisingly, there is a Ministry of Women Affairs, staffed by a full complement of civil servants and headed by an Honourable Minister. Generally, President Jonathan’s wife public function, as the so-called ‘First Lady,’ amount to a duplication of functions of the Ministry. Mr. President’s wife has also represented Nigeria at high level meetings around the country and overseas. It is worthy to mention here that the outcomes of such interactions can be readily challenged in court as illegal and of no effect.
Some have argued that the projects of first ladies and governor’s wives are non-governmental in nature. However, Nigerians would like to know who pays the Special advisers, Special assistants, Protocol Officers, physicians, security and Personal Aides usually attached to the wives of Presidents and Governors. At whose expense does President Jonathan’s wife travel around the country and overseas? This makes Nigerians worried about President Jonathan’s avowed commitment to probity and transparency. We believe Nigerians will be glad if Mr. President could publish the sources of financing of his wife’s activities as ‘First Lady’ since he succeeded the late President Umaru Yar’Adua. This would be a great achievement for his administration.
Sometime late 2010, a national newspaper reported that President Jonathan’s wife accompanied him to the United Nations General Assembly with 23 aides. These included her steward, security aides, personal physician, protocol officers and four of her friends. In March 2011, an aircraft that conveyed her to Sokoto State for a visit to the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, reportedly developed a fault. Another aircraft had to be flown from Abuja to Sokoto to pick her and members of her entourage. Mr. President, these are some of the things that constitute a needless drain on the nation’s resources. And like we said, it is not in the nation’s interest for President Jonathan’s wife to occupy an office that has no Constitutional or legal backing.
We believe the wives of our Executive leaders can still be very powerful and influential at the home background of their husbands as leaders. There are Ministries and Commissions like we have stated, that are doing what the so-called “First Ladies’ are doing today, hence it is all duplication of duties. We believe whatever public services that are intended by the wives of the various Heads of government, such public services should be handled by these Ministries or done through the ‘Head of government,’ as long as the office is constitutionally recognised. The best place that the wife of Mr. President and the wives of state governors and local government Chairmen should be seen and heard are during ceremonies and occasions that requires their presence beside their husbands. Mr. President should not hesitate to have the so-called Office of the First Lady scrapped in its entirety, including their NGOs, Pet Projects and whatever Foundations (that are funded with public funds) under these offices.
Nigerians are not happy at the flamboyance displayed by Mr. President’s wife and other holders of such offices at the state and local government levels. They are even given ample airtime on state-owned television and radio stations, at the expense of Nigerian tax payers. On our roads, the convoys of the so-called ‘First Ladies’ cause agonies for other road users. We all recall how horrified people were at the extravagance displayed by the former first lady of the Philippines, Imelda Marcos. Due to the absence of public records in Nigeria, it is difficult to know if the extravagance of our so-called first ladies is at per or has surpassed the record left by Imelda.
Conclusively, we urgently call on President Goodluck Jonathan to consider it expedient to ask his wife to stop parading herself within the ambit of the supposed Office of the First Lady. Mr. President should withdraw all paraphernalia attached to this illegal office and direct his deputy’s wife and the wives of governors and their deputies and local government Chairmen to do same. If the President should feel a compelling need for such an office, it should be subjected to public hearing by the National Assembly where Nigerians will offer their views on the desirability of such at a time of competing needs and scarce resources. We know some of the aides of Mr. President may ask him to ignore this request but we can assure him that soon, Nigerians will demand scrutiny of the activities of his wife, in her capacity as the so-called ‘First Lady,’ through the instrumentality of the FOI Act. However, let us be truthful with ourselves and do the right thing as suggested. This we urge.
Sincerely,
Zik Gbemre, JP
National Coordinator
To: President Goodluck Jonathan
Office of the President of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria,
Aso Rock Villa,
Asokoro District,
Abuja.
February 02, 2012
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