She burst, like a comet, upon the political skies in a strange but alluring trajectory from the coastal fringes of our collective consciousness to the centre spotlight of attention, admiration and predictable antagonism.
On May 5, 2010, upon the sad demise of the inimitable Umaru Yar’Adua, Dame Patience, spouse of his successor Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, became the first lady of this blessed land. The painful circumstance of that political transition, loaded as it were with ugly controversy, threw up an odious cloud of distrust and apprehension around the nation. The office of the first lady could not have been unaffected by these unsavoury developments. Yet, like a warming ray, her stoic presence- from that sorrow filled moment of national mourning- by the side of her grieving predecessor, telegraphed an inspiring message of common bereavement to the nation.
Light skinned with oval face and a chubby-bubbly presence, the first lady is described by close observers as a “no-nonsense person, who conducts herself with a great deal of detachment and her affairs with a heightened instinct for self- preservation.” Still, closer aides describe her as soft-natured, kind and caring. Those other contradictory signals may reflect, they submit, the natural dispositions of one who has been hurt severally by negative and unmindful media attacks. The euphoric elevation of an obscure deputy governor, in one of Nigeria’s lesser known southern states, had not quite subsided before the new governor’s wife was enmeshed in mind boggling tales of corruption and money laundering rackets. Till date, Dame Patience is most distressed that even though no case was established against her by any of the anti-corruption agencies, “her husband’s political opponents won’t stop sponsoring the orchestrated witch hunts against her by a section of the media.”
If the result of this is to make dull and remote, a naturally effervescent and outgoing personality, then the Nigeria media and public is clearly the worse for it.
Yet, these political setbacks parallel in some ways the pathos of Becoming a Woman in Okrika, classic documentary by Judith Gleason and Elisa Mereghetti (1991) of Iria, the Okrika coming of age ceremony. After receiving tutelage in the ways of the clan from older women, the young initiates endure a ritual chase by club wielding young men to cure them of girlish fantasies and prepare them for the realities of womanhood. Dame Patience’s brush with hostile media (wielding scandals, much like clubs?) marked a rude introduction to the toughness of the political game. That animosity did not abate with her husband’s victory at the 2011 polls when, after the inaugural ceremonies, a private visit to the Middle East, roused the baying press afresh. Nothing, it seemed, could let them cut her more slack. Those missteps notwithstanding, Dame Patience has managed, with great poise, to put a distinctive mark on the office of first lady of Nigeria and set a hard pace for others to emulate. Her very adroit gait suggests that she has learnt the ropes of becoming a political woman in Nigeria.
A teacher and devoted mother, Dame Patience’s foray into politics trailed Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s fortuitous journeys from deputy governor through governor to vice president and president. Thus, the same auguries moulded husband as well as wife for the higher responsibilities they now have. Even in Bayelsa, the local people aver, Dame Patience was de facto first lady because Mrs Alamieyeseigha rarely performed the role.
Arriving in Abuja as second fiddle to First Lady Hajia Tura’i Yar’Adua, Dame Patience had ample occasion to lend support to the top lady of the land, whose official schedules suffered from attending to the ailing president. Standing in for the first lady at a tourism event in Kebbi State, Dame Patience regaled the audience with knowledge of the local lingo and spread a message of the cultural affinity of all Nigerian people. In the aftermath of the “doctrine of necessity” that made Jonathan the acting president and preparatory to the hand of fate that shoved him into the presidential swivel chair, cynical questions had been raised in the media if his spouse could be officially tagged the “acting first lady” as well. In any event, time proved that Dame Patience having acted for so long in the supporting roles of acting first lady has acquired the full measure of the office and made of it a spectacular political brand image the likes of which has not been since before now in Nigeria.
Regular duties like launching the Nigerian Alliance for Clean Cookstoves in the last quarter of 2011 or partnering with Globacom to organise a national retreat on women development, peace and transformation in Ibom, Akwa Ibom early this year, form part of engagements that place the office of first lady at the direct centre of government activities to uplift the general welfare of the people. In the same manner also, the entire country is her constituency and her passion for the wellbeing of her fellow citizens may not always suffer much patience. This latter demeanour became manifest during an official visit in August 2010 to her home town, Okrika.
Whilst displaying robust development plans for the Okrika waterfront to the first lady, Rotimi Amaechi, the state governor provoked her impassioned outburst. “You should not say must,” she cautioned. The demolition of personal property in a communal environment was a sensitive matter that needed to be addressed with human understanding rather than government fiat, Dame Patience challenged. Typically, sections of the press saw this in another light and choose rather, to censure the first lady for daring to disagree with the elected governor of the state. But the chiefs and people of the ancient town were quick to rally behind her: “We make bold to say that we stand by the position of the first lady, a woman who is bold to speak up for all who are victimised by state power,” Tari Sekibo, Odori Abaji VII, chairman of the Okrika Council of Chiefs said.
For all the media frenzy generated by the drama at the Okrika waterfront, the general public was quick to appreciate the candour with which Dame Patience addressed pertinent national questions. Her commitment and honesty rang loud especially on matters relating to bread and butter issues of poor women, mothers and common housewives around the country. Without raising any dust, she had won over the masses with her unceasing admonition for them to move “sof’ly sof’ly” but ever so assuredly on the paths to their self-development and emancipation.
This much was evidenced at the Women Summit held earlier in the same year. Much to the chagrin of several sophisticated attendees, the venue of the political rally to sensitize women to the unfolding political realities of the post Yar’Adua era resounded with vociferous songs of support for the first lady. “Women were singing and praising her. I don’t know what she has done so far to earn her such praises,” one of these elite women confessed to a national daily. She had not, like many of her class, reckoned with the far reaching impact of the first lady’s resolve to widen the space for women’s participation in politics. None of the first ladies before her had so visibly thrown their weight behind the political ambitions of their fellow women. Several of these aspiring female politicians had thus organised their supporters and rolled out the tambourines in song after song of praise and support.
Speaking to the same national daily, Amina Az-Zubair, special assistant to the president on Millennium Development Goals (MDG), said that the Summit was financed from the debt relief fund of the Ministry of Women Affairs and captured under a third plank of the MDG programme devoted to the election of women into elective offices. “The Summit was called to bring women together from different walks of life, particularly on the agenda of the 2011 elections. The mother of the nation was there to spearhead it and this is important because she has a message,” Az-Zubair disclosed. Further disclosure by the special assistant that her office would be supporting other activities for “empowering of women to take part in active politics,” signified that Dame Patience had done her homework very well.
Enter now the Women for Change Initiative: a radical shift from the Better Life for Rural Women, the Family Support Programme, the Child Care Trust and International Cancer Centre, all worthy projects established by her predecessors in office. Through her NGO, however, Dame Patience had initiated a movement to “promote women’s participation in all areas, including political, economic, social and other fields of endeavour.” Through this platform, Nigerian women could monitor and facilitate the actualisation of gender benchmarks in the country. Typically, however, sections of the media spent valuable space speculating on which other similarly named NGO had preceded the WCI to the Corporate Affairs Commission. In the run off to the April 2011 polls, a rallying demand of Dame Patience and the WCI was the reservation of 35% minimum of all political appointments for women. Not surprising, therefore, a host of very influential women activists rallied to her cause, including several governor’s wives and members of the federal executive council.
Ene Ede, executive director of Equity Advocates, a gender equality movement appreciated the mass appeal of the WCI and the grassroots approach of its dynamic leader, Dame Patience: “It involves a wide mixture of women: politicians, civil servants, activists, church people, leaders and members of different political parties, a whole lot of people. She (Dame Patience) has a passion for Nigerian women. She goes into homes and mixes with people freely and that is rare.”
Many agreed at the time that this veteran activist had said it all: An exceptional personality had joined the issues riddled gender movement and infused it with new warmth and vibrancy. Her antecedents had little to say about the near revolutionary spark that she brought with her. As wife of the deputy governor of Bayelsa State, she maintained a quiet, presence, except at functions when she represented the first lady of the state. The transition to the Bayelsa Government Lodge in 2005 marked her significant metamorphosis from quiet observer to influential and effective advocate of women’s rights. She set up the Aruera Reachout Foundation to cater for the downtrodden women of Bayelsa, especially widows. Her foundation engaged them in catering, sewing, hat and bead making and the production of plantain and bean flours. The foundation also built a tuberculosis and leprosy facility at the state capital, Yenegoa.
It remained to be seen whether President Jonathan could reclaim the people’s mandate and live up to the ‘affirmative action’ of giving 35% of appointments to women. In the fullness of time, both questions were resolved in the affirmative. The verdict of the Nigerian people at the April 2012 polls has since been upheld by the courts in the land. Evidence continues to mount however, about the significant impact of the 35% appointments drive for women as Dame Patience and her indefatigable lieutenants of the WCI push through several affirmative actions to bolster peace and douse tension in the land.
At a Campaign for Peace Rally in March 2012, at the Oyo State capital, Governor Abiola Ajimobi praised Dame Patience for her “innovative and highly applauded women empowerment initiatives” and effectively enrolled her into the “history books as one of the champions of women liberation in our continent.”
Commending further her “clarion call on African leaders to expand the turf of the democratic process, so as to allow women the right and space of involvement in the democratic process,” the Oyo State governor applauded her “commendable nudging of your better half, our president, in an all-round fulfillment of his promise of giving 35 per cent appointive positions to women.” Imitation being the best form of admiration, the governor of the ACN controlled state admitted that, “the Office of the First Lady of Oyo State has significantly sought to follow Your Excellency’s footprints at the federal level.”
The nationwide Thank You and Peace Advocacy Campaign, embarked on by Dame Patience marked yet another significant initiative on her part. The Campaign round the state capitals and Abuja called attention to the deplorable level of wanton violence occasioned by ethnic and religious conflicts around the nation. It tallied also with the first lady’s submission at the launch of WCI that women were at the receiving end of all forms of violence in society. On that occasion also, Dame Patience had told women not to sit on the fence on issues related to violence, but to speak out against such vices for the good of the country. The first lady’s brave nationwide rally in spite of the daunting security risks to her person and entourage put yet another bright feather on resplendent head gear. Her rallying title of Mother of the Nation seemed the more merited for all her patriotic troubles and Governor Ajimobi did not mince words in acknowledging this. His glowing words of commendation re-echoed everywhere as the rally lasted around the country.
That singular mission at a dark period in our contemporary history dovetailed into an increasing awareness of the important function of the first lady of Nigeria and indeed every other nation. Mrs. Janet Museveni, first lady of Uganda acknowledged this fact at a state banquet for her sister first ladies at the Speke Resort Munyonyo, Uganda. "For a long time, a myth existed that First Ladies were women of leisure, who did not do anything. I think most people now realise that the real life of a First Lady in Africa is in the community services work you have exhibited in your respective countries," said Mrs. Museveni to the audience that included Dame Patience.
Earlier in the day, Dame Patience, accompanied on the trip by the first ladies of Abia and Kogi States had met with Mrs. Museveni, and discussed issues related to improving maternal and child health in Nigeria and Uganda. This, from all accounts was an extension of the WCI mandate to champion the cause of women everywhere.
"I am particularly concerned about the education of women, especially the girl-child so that they can take their rightful position in the scheme of things", Dame Patience had said at the launch of the WCI in 2010. These concerns are at par with the theme of worldwide celebrations that marked International Women’s Day 2012. It bears evidence of her remarkable insight into to the challenges confronting society at this critical point in history.
It goes without saying therefore that Nigeria has found a rare gem in the person of Dame Patience Goodluck Jonathan; a woman most suited and primed to confront the issues of the day as they affect our women folk with creativity, passion, remarkable self-assurance and dogged sense of duty.
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